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Five inducted into Agriculture Hall of Fame Saturday, Mar 15, 2008 By John Lyon Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - The Arkansas Farm Bureau honored five Arkansans, two of them posthumously, with induction Friday into the Arkansas Agriculture Hall of Fame. Inducted at the Hall of Fame's 20th annual luncheon were the late George Dunklin of Pine Bluff, the late Esther Hill Chapin of Trumann, Leland Stratton of Stuttgart, C. Michael French of Conway and Bill Dorough of Sweet Home. The capital "A" in Arkansas is for agriculture, said Milo Shult, a member of the Agriculture Hall of Fame Committee, during remarks at the luncheon at Embassy Suites Hotel in west Little Rock. "When you really look at it, it's not the natural resources we have. It's really the people who make a difference in what happens in agriculture in our state," he said. Dunklin, who died in May 2007 at 89, was president of Planters Cotton Oil Mill in Pine Bluff for 43 years before he retired in 2005. Chapin, who died in November 1991 at 91, established the Judd Hill Foundation to promote research, experimentation, education and conservation in agriculture. She and her husband, Sam, also operated a row-crop operation in Poinsett County. Stratton, 92, owns Stratton Seed Co., the largest seed production, conditioning and marketing company in the South. The company got its start when Stratton and a partner purchased a small seed plant in Stuttgart in 1948. French, 56, is associate director for programs with the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service. Dorough, 79, served for 30 years as livestock director for the Arkansas State Fair, starting in 1973. He also owned a 70-head dairy cattle operation in Sweet Home for 25 years. One of the nominees was already in two other halls of fame. Dunklin has been inducted into the Arkansas Tennis Hall of Fame and was the first male tennis player inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame. "It's an amazing tribute to achieve to have your father be in any hall of fame, but for your dad to be in three halls of fame is simply amazing," said Dunklin's son, George Dunklin Jr. of Humphrey. |
