Original article written by Luka Krneta for The Derrick on 26 December 2025
Shared with permission

Warren Thomas – the Venango Area Chamber of Commerce’s 2025 Citizen of the Year – holds one of the hundreds of lambs he owns at Baytree Farm in Emlenton

There was a simple aspiration with which Warren Thomas became fixated during his youth, and it’s one typically not associated with a kid growing up in suburban Pittsburgh. — “I always wanted to be farmer.”

So, Thomas kept chasing his dream until it brought him about 80 miles north to Emlenton, where he has been living the dream for the past 55 years operating Baytree Farm, from where he sells the lambs of his grass-fed sheep.

And, due to his work in agriculture, along with his community involvement throughout Venango County, it was announced this week by the Venango Area Chamber of Commerce that Thomas has been recognized as its 2025 Citizen of the Year. The nonprofit cited his “lifetime of leadership, service, and commitment to strengthening Venango County.”

The chamber, along with Thomas’ wife, Liz, didn’t let on about the upcoming honor that was to be bestowed upon him.

“About three weeks ago I didn’t know a thing about it,” Thomas told the newspaper. Then, one day as Thomas was about to leave the house, he said his wife told him “You can’t leave. There’s someone coming to see you,” but she wouldn’t reveal who was due to arrive.

“Well, I thought, ‘This is kind of stupid,’” Thomas said.

Soon after, a vehicle pulled up to his home. To his surprise, he saw Susan Williams, the chamber’s president and chief executive officer, and Kat Thompson, the chamber’s vice president, getting out of it.

“I couldn’t imagine why Susan and Kat would be coming to see me,” Thomas said, “and then we sat at the kitchen table; Susan said, ‘OK, this is good,’ and I was told about the award.”

What wasn’t a surprise to him about the news was the fact that the chamber chose a farmer as its Citizen of the Year, as he described Williams as being “very inclusive of agriculture.”

The chamber, in its announcement, explained Baytree Farm is known well beyond Venango County, as it has received “strong demand” for its 100% grass-fed lamb in the Pittsburgh region and from buyers selling into New York City’s “highly discerning markets.”

In addition to livestock, the chamber noted, the farm produces pumpkins and fall decorations and serves as “a welcoming place for education and community connection — especially during its annual Fall Festival, which brings families together for hands-on learning and celebration of the region’s agricultural heritage.”

Why Venango County?

After earning his degree in dairy husbandry from Delaware Valley University in Doylestown, Thomas worked as an apprentice in southern Butler County while keeping that long-held dream of one day owning his own farm, and, hopefully, not far from the Pittsburgh area.

However, he said, “the closer you got to Pittsburgh the higher the price. I wanted to stay close. I chose Venango County, frankly, because of the (affordable) price of land. Specifically, it worked out on paper and it has worked out very well.”

Baytree Farm operated as a dairy farm during its first 20 years before transitioning to a grass-fed lamb farm because, Thomas said, dairy farming just wasn’t sustainable.

“Being a first-generation farmer is one of my greatest achievements,” he said. “I started with absolutely nothing and paid off the mortgage. We worked hard. We dedicated ourselves to this, and I succeeded where most wouldn’t even try.”

Another proud aspect Thomas has about his business is that it is operated with conservation in mind, in that he uses no chemical fertilizers.

As for the name “Baytree?”

“Well,” he said, “if you’re familiar with Pittsburgh, there’s a street on the North Side by the same name. I just thought it would be a cool name for a farm.”

Community involvement

According to the chamber, Thomas has served in various civic and nonprofit roles, including his current role of Bridge Builders Community Foundations’ board chair, as he helps guide philanthropic investments, and supports individuals, nonprofits and community initiatives throughout the region.

“Community Foundations has been a second passion,” said Thomas, who has served with the organization for the past 10 years. “They are doing what we all should be doing — giving back to our community.”

The satisfaction he receives through his role on the nonprofit’s board is his cognizance of the “the legacy people leave with their donations and investments,” and then moving forward with “the responsibility to make sure those wishes are carried out. I’m excited about the future.”

According to the chamber, other community organizations and panels on which he has been serving on throughout the years include the Oil Region Alliance of Business, Industry & Tourism board; Venango County Tax Assessment board; Venango County Land Bank board; and the McElhattan Challenge advisory board.

The chamber noted Thomas also has a commitment to food access and sustainability, which “is reflected in his leadership of local gardening and agriculture initiatives.”

In addition, the chamber said, he played a “key role” in expanding community garden efforts throughout the county and established the Community Garden Fund at Community Foundations. He continues that work through partnerships that connect local farms with food pantries and families in need.

Going back to well before he owned Baytree Farm, Thomas advocated for the agricultural community, and continues to do so today as an active supporter of the Farm Bureau.

His proudest accomplishment in that advocacy role was his work with agricultural groups to get the Pennsylvania Farmland and Forest Land Assessment Act of 1974 — better known as “Clean and Green” — passed.

“When I got out of college in the early ‘70s, Clean and Green” legislation was coming to Pennsylvania; so I worked with farm groups to get it passed,” Thomas said.

“Clean and Green reduces property taxes on farm property if you are an active farmer. In Venango County, the exemptions don’t make as much of a difference; in urban areas, though, it makes a difference in that (farms) don’t pay as much of a rate as do malls, for example.”

How it feels

The realization of being recognized with the Citizen of the Year award has left Thomas humbled to the point where “I’m trying to think what I am going to say” when the award is presented to him Feb. 25 during the chamber’s annual dinner at Cross Creek Resort.

What he is not at a loss of words for is how he feels about being a Venango County resident, businessman and active member of the community.

“I’m so blessed to live here, work here and raise my family here,” he said. “I realize we have problems we still need to work on, but we are blessed to be here.”

LUKA KRNETA, news editor of The Derrick and The News-Herald, can be reached at 814-677-8367 or at lukakrneta.thederrick@gmail.com.