Friday's Internet Edition, March 12, 2010.
holds final meeting
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| THIRD PLACE – Those earning the third place award at the annual Invention Convention were (l-r) Harley Rogers, Sean Montgomery, Catherine Kinsey, and Chelsea Owen. |
The April meeting featured a look at the impact of agriculture in our community - how much business and revenue it brings into our county and in what direction are we going with agriculture endeavors. The evening started with a presentation on the current water issues and the TMDL information presented by Texas AgriLife Extension Service Agent Whit Weems who has been working closely with this issue. He also gave a comparison report showing the impact of agriculture dollars in our community.
Jack Graham, owner of Rainbow World Exotics, gave a report on his business how it evolved from a small operation to a nationwide business. He explained growth opportunities, expansion and marketing, and quality control. Jack’s business is an ideal example of expanding a small agriculture business.
Shirley Gerald with the Texas AgriLife Extension Service presented a short program on agriculture agencies and assistance available in our community.
Wildlife is opening lots of doors to economic gain in our area, so Jim Kenton spoke to the group on hunting and wildlife watching opportunities. He told about ways that landowners can increase the productivity of their land to raise better, higher quality animals. He spoke about cedar clearing and control burns to improve the land.
Scott Weatherford gave the group some ideas on what cattlemen might be doing to better market their animals. With the higher costs of feed, fertilizer, and fuel, it is important to find every extra value dollar to add to the market price.
Everyone enjoyed the last speaker as long-time Hamilton resident, Ollie Zschiesche, gave a look back in time telling how huge the cotton industry was in Hamilton County, how it was raised, and then how the market declined until the final cotton gin closed.
The meeting ended with a brief project report, and everyone will be looking forward to the class graduation to be held at the Santa Teresa Ranch on May 27th. This class has done a fantastic job of bonding and working together on community projects during their time together. Hamilton now has beautiful Christmas lights around the square, Hamilton County had a great 150th Birthday Party celebration, lots of PR for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Training Center coming into the county, plus lots of other class projects have been completed by this class. Hamilton will be very blessed to add this group of individuals to growing list of Leadership Hamilton graduates!