Vick and Faye Blackstone
Vick and Faye Blackstone came to Florida as traveling rodeo performers and made the state their home, dedicating themselves to agricultural pursuits and to passing on their knowledge of horses and cattle to future generations.
Among Vick's many remarkable achievements was being named several times Florida Rodeo Cowboy of the Year by virtue of earning the most points in five different rodeo events. Faye was a nationally famous barrel racer and trick rider, known for inventing feats such as the daring "back fender drag," which she performed on horseback in numerous wild west shows. In 1982, after 30 years of championship rodeo competition, the couple was honored with their industry's highest award: Vick was inducted into the National Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame, and Fay into the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame. They are still the only couple to have shared this honor.
Vick and Faye often worked in parallel, as when he was the director of the Cattlemen's Association and she the director of the Cattlewomen's Association. Other times they both worked for the Parrish United Methodist Church. Overall, their contributions to their community and to Florida agriculture were significant, and they received many honors for their work.
In 1988, the Manatee Board of County Commissioners named a recreational park "Vick and Faye Blackstone Park." In 1993, Faye was presented with the Tad Lucas Award for Outstanding Achievement by the National Cowboy Hall of Fame. Vick was named Man of the Year in 1970 by the Rodeo Hall of Fame. And in 1985, the Florida Senate and House passed joint resolutions citing Vick Blackstone for Outstanding Service to Florida Agriculture.
Faye was born June 3, 1915. The daughter of farmers and ranchers, she started riding horses at age 3. By the time she was done with high school, Faye was an accomplished trick rider and beginning a career that would see her touring the country as a feature act of the Gene Autry Wild West Show.
Vick was born December 12, 1913, one of 13 children in a farming and ranching family in Medina, Texas. Leaving home at age 13, he became a ranch hand at a large cattle operation, and by age 17 became so good at breaking horses that he joined the professional rodeo circuit. He met Faye while competing at a rodeo in 1937, and they were married on horseback. Having moved to Florida, Vick and Faye managed an 11,000-acre cattle ranch until retiring from the business in 1974, after which they managed their own citrus grove and small ranch until Vick's death in 1987. Since then, she has carried on their work by continuing to help others in need and giving special support to children and children's organizations.
Vick left behind a reputation as a celebrated rodeo performer, rancher, and friend of Florida youth. Faye at 88 years old still lives in Parrish, where she continues to mow her pasture from atop her diesel tractor and ride horseback nearly every day.
A farmer for four decades, Thomas "Richard" Barber Jr.'s career has been one of service to Florida agriculture and to the nation's peanut industry.
Barber has been president of the Marion County Farm Bureau twice and was part of the initial group that formed the Florida Peanut Producers Association, an organization in which he also served as president. Among many other involvements in agriculture, he has served on the Board of Directors of the Florida Watermelon Growers Association, Florida Peanut Advisory Board, Florida Foundation Seed Producers, North Florida Farm Credit Service, National Peanut Council, and the National Peanut Growers Group.
In February 2000, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman appointed Barber to a three-year term representing Florida on the National Peanut Board. That year, Barber was also appointed Chairman of the Research Committee for the National Peanut Board. In 2001, Agriculture Commissioner Charles H. Bronson appointed Barber to a four-year term on the Florida Agricultural Advisory Council. One of his proudest achievements was being recognized as the 1995 Sunbelt Expo Florida Farmer of the Year.
Barber was born in Ocala on August 23, 1938, into an agricultural tradition passed on by his parents, both of whom came from farming families. In high school he was active in the Future Farmers of America, and that experience led him to get his bachelor's degree in agriculture from the University of Florida in 1961, which led to a career in farming peanuts, watermelon, and cattle.
He began growing watemelons in 1963 and peanuts in 1969. As the years went by, he bought more land and put farms together to increase their efficiency. In 1979, Barber had the first crop rotation in Marion County approved by the Soil Conservation Service: Bahia-melons-rye for cattle grazing; peanuts-rye for cattle; peanuts-rye for cattle; Bahia for seed and grazing for five years; and then back to the same rotation, keeping the soil covered with crop at all times. His farming practices also include using less herbicide than called for on the label and cultivating peanuts when possible. In 1997, he started strip till peanuts, which is a new environmental practice that stops wind erosion and conserves moisture.
With an understanding of the necessity for political involvement, Barber has lobbied at the state and national level since 1969, and for the past 30 years has made personal contact with many elected officials at all levels of government to whom he advocated agriculture business and issues. In 1998, through his contact with members of the Constitutional Revision Commission, he was able to add his influence to keep the Commissioner of Agriculture as a member of the Florida Cabinet with voting authority and a voice for agriculture. Barber worked for the Food Quality Protection Act in 1999 to allow agriculture to have the chemicals needed to protect and preserve crops and animals, and during the same year for a bill that would allow farmers and ranchers to set aside money to pay for potential crop losses.
Barber has used the strength of the organizations to which he belongs to channel his views and improve the industry he loves. He believes in the land and its products, and that one should give back to the land more than one takes from it.
Barber and his wife, Pamela, live in Ocala. They have one son, two daughters, and four grandchildren.
During his long and distinguished career as a tobacco farmer and horticulturist, Donald Farris May made numerous and significant contributions to Florida's agricultural industry. Whether he was working to develop irrigation systems, fertilizers, mechanization, or plant propagation, May was an innovative leader in the area of tobacco production, and "from the seed bed to the packing house" was always trying to improve the quality of the product and the financial base of the industry. It was while he was still involved in the tobacco industry that he orchestrated the development of the Florida Hybrid Seed Company to improve cigar leaf tobacco production by developing hybrid seeds, which he made available to all tobacco growers in the area.
But as tobacco production moved to Central America in the late 1960s, May and his brother and partner, Fount, realized the necessity of diversification and were the first in Gadsden County to break away from the tobacco farming tradition when they converted one of their farms to a wholesale nursery in 1971. Container-grown plants were a new concept then, but May, with the help of his two sons and two nephews, began building the new business. With a philosophy of "anything they can do, we can do better," they built a three-acre production into a 100-acre nursery in just eight years.
As May learned the nursery business, he continued to maintain an open-door policy, regularly sharing his findings with others in the industry who asked for information on the latest products or techniques. As a result, nurserymen came to rely on May for the cutting-edge technology of container production. Because of his influence, the nursery industry today is a vital part of the Gadsden County economy.
May was born in Quincy on February 18, 1917. He died on March 22, 1992.
Graduating from Quincy High School in 1935, he went on to earn a bachelors degree in agriculture from the University of Florida. May served his country during World War II as a U.S. Air Force flight instructor for B-24 and B-29 aircraft. After the war, he would go on to become the president of May Tobacco Company, Florida Hybrid Seed Company, and May Nursery, Inc.
Active in many professional societies throughout his career, May was a board member of the Georgia-Florida Leaf Tobacco Growers Association and on its organization committee; president of the West Florida Livestock Association; and president and a member of the board of directors of the Gadsden County Farm Bureau. He was also a member of the Southern Nurserymen's Association, the American Association of Nurserymen, and the International Plant Propagation Society.
May's service to Florida agriculture was recognized by many farming and business organizations. Among his many honors, he received a Florida Department of Commerce Small Business Award; an Outstanding Farmer Award from the Gadsden County Farm Bureau; and was inducted into the Florida Nurseryman and Growers Association Hall of Fame.
May was an elder in the First Presbyterian Church, chairman of the Gadsden Association of Retarded Citizens, and board member of the Boy Scouts of America. He was also a contributing member of Gadsden Arts, Inc., and the Quincy Music Theater.
Montsdeoca was born into an agricultural lifestyle shaped by his father, who was a Florida Agricultural Extension Agent in Glades and Okeechobee counties from 1930-1971, working with the Seminole Indian tribe in Brighton to establish a successful cattle operation that focused on herd and pasture management. Following in his father's footsteps, Montsdeoca maintained a relationship with the tribe, focusing on fertilization and liming of the reservation's pastures. He managed the family cattle ranch as a successful business enterprise by using environmentally sensitive and economically sustainable management techniques, most notably his involvement in the development of fair and uniform standards for the lime industry and his role in the development of Best Management Practices for nitrates.
His personal service and advice to the Florida Legislature and policy makers over the years, as well as his leadership on numerous statewide advisory councils, greatly advanced Florida's agriculture while promoting compatibility with conservation of he state's natural resources. Montsdeoca's practical approach to resolving conflict resulted in four generations of Florida's political and policy development leadership seeking his advice to resolve some of the state's most pressing agricultural, environmental, and economic issues. Policies developed under Montsdeoca often achieved the difficult balance between commercial agriculture interests and the need to protect Florida's unique land and water resources.
Montsdeoca's achievements in these areas have been widely recognized. In 2000, the University of Florida's College of Agricultural and Life Sciences honored him with their Award of Distinction for Service to Florida Agriculture. The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services awarded him a Citation for Distinguished Service in 1990. The Florida Association of County Agriculture Agents named him Outstanding Agriculturist Award in 1981. He was the recipient of the Agribusiness Institute of Florida's White Hat Award in 1985, the same year he received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Florida.
His long-standing service to such organizations as the Florida Fertilizer Technical Committee, Florida Pesticide Technical Committee, Florida Agricultural Advisory Committee, and National Lime Rock Institute helped ensure that fertilizer and agrichemical issues in Florida would be managed in a way fair to agricultural producers and other affected industries. As president of Loch Harbour Utilities, Montsdeoca has helped rural electric and other utility services to provide economic and social opportunities to its rural clientele. Always ready to offer his service to the agricultural community, Montsdeoca sponsored numerous university short courses, served on several Florida Agriculture Hall of Fame committees, and hosted many political receptions.
Montsdeoca was born in Avon Park on April 25, 1928. He graduated from the University of Florida's College of Physical Education in 1950, where he excelled at football and baseball and was outstanding Senior Athlete. In 1984, he was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame.
In his community, he was affiliated with the First Presbyterian Church in Ocala and the Florida Club. Retaining his interest in college sports, he served four years as president of the Gator Boosters and served on the Board of Directors and Finance Committee of the University of Florida Athletic Association.
Montsdeoca is survived by his wife, Yvonne (Blue), who lives in Ocala.
A Florida newspaper once called Robert Nelson Morris "The Banker with Muddy Boots" because of his hands-on involvement with the agricultural community. Devoting much of his own time in the service of Florida agriculture, Morris has been active for almost half a century, working at the local and state level to help farmers, growers and ranchers improve their products, marketing, and credit.
While educating Florida agriculturists on ways to keep credit institutions interested in the agriculture industry, Morris has labored tirelessly trying to keep credit resources available to agriculture. He was also a member of the Hillsborough County Extension Overall Advisory Council for 25 years, where he worked to reinforce the importance of County Extension to members of local government and ensure that their attention stayed focused on agricultural issues.
To further promote local agricultural interests, Morris has worked with many farm organizations, including the Florida Cattlemen's Association, Florida Farm Bureau, Florida Association of Conservation District Supervisors, and community groups such as state and local chambers of commerce. Morris was one of the originators and was a driving force in the creation of the Florida Agricultural Hall of Fame, an organization in which he served for 14 years in various roles, including president, treasurer, and historian. He has been on the Hall of Fame's board of directors since that organization's beginning 25 years ago.
Morris was born on September 5, 1926, in Barren County, Ky., and grew up on a dairy, tobacco, and grain farm in south central Kentucky, near Glasgow, where he learned to harvest and milk by hand and to grow crops by cultivating with a hoe or by walking behind a mule. Childhood lessons of learning to "make the best better" came from his parents' examples and from membership in the local 4-H club, where he was an active member. He also learned that while "old ways" should be quickly replaced when "new ways" can make the product and the farmer's life better, he also learned that innovations aren't always better just because they are new.
After earning a bachelor's degree in agriculture from the University of Kentucky, he held a series of important agricultural positions, including Assistant County Agent for the Florida Agricultural Extension Service and Coordinator of Soil and Water for the Florida Department of Agriculture, where he directed and secured funding for more than 50 soil and water districts throughout the state.
While growing up, Morris developed an interest in finance from an uncle, who was a local banker, and that influence would eventually point Morris' career toward banking. For 30 years, he worked in positions that included serving as vice president of commercial loans for several major Florida Banks while at other times acting as a self-employed financial consultant to a variety of agricultural clients, such as a family-run sugarcane operation and a group of Florida strawberry growers.
His lifelong contributions to Florida agriculture have seen him in service to organizations such as the Hillsborough County Cattlemen's Association, the Florida Association of Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisors, and the Florida Chapter of the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers.
Morris' many awards include Who's Who in Agricultural Banking, 1966; Florida Governor's Award in Soil Conservation, 1967; Agriculturist of the Year, Florida Association of County Extension Agents, 1997; Hillsborough County Harvest Award in Agricultural Finance, 1993; and President's Award, Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce, 1980.
Morris and his wife live in Tampa. They have three children.
