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Harris County Beekeepers Association |
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By HCBA Member, Nancy M. Kelly
October 25, 2008 - Everyone arrived in the banquet room of Juanito’s Mexican Restaurant in Pearland, Texas, with a smile and a light heart, ready for a celebratory evening. It is the 100th Anniversary of the Harris County Beekeepers Association (HCBA) and as President, Don Angle, often said in the days leading up to the event, “a 100th Anniversary only happens once in a lifetime!”; everyone was ready to celebrate in high style.
Some members arrived as early as 5 p.m., eager to get started visiting with old friends. As I walked in prepared to put the finishing touches on the evening’s decorations, I saw Bill and Pat Whittington and several others sitting around a table swapping stories, and Harry Reichart was alphabetizing and laying out the association name tags for everyone to pick up.
Association Treasurer, Chris Baca, buzzed in wearing full Honey Bee regalia! He magically morphed back into his professional-looking self after a while; even though the weather was “Southeast Texas Autumn” in character, the bee suit was a little warm for the event.
A slideshow depicting some of the Harris County Beekeepers Association’s history played continuously in the background during the event, containing over 300 photos and other documents donated by various association members and accompanied by songs related to ‘honey’ or ‘bees’ by artists from Tom Petty to old gospel groups. Derek Furstenwerth did a great job of preparing the background entertainment.
Our program began with a welcome from President Don Angle and an invocation by member Don Cox, who asked that our ‘hearts be full of joy and our hives be full of honey;’ Amen! We missed the quiet words of our chaplain, R. B. Crellin, recently injured in a car accident and unable to join us for this auspicious event. We hear he’s OK, just minor injuries, and he’s recovering well. We hope to see him back soon!
Dinner was served - Rachael Seida, reigning Texas Honey Queen and American Honey Queen, was in attendance and shared pictures and stories of her travels as the Honey Queen.
Edward Priest, Texas Beekeepers Association’s Area One Director, which includes the Harris County area, spoke briefly about the importance of local beekeepers’ organizations. He noted he and his wife were probably the only Baptist ‘Priests’ we would meet that day!
Finally, our special guest, Dr. John G. Thomas addressed the group. Dr. Thomas is Extension Entomologist – Emeritus for Texas Agricultural Extension Service, Texas A&M University. Though he’s retired, he is still the state’s foremost authority on honey bees, and a great storyteller to boot. Having been around a while, he remembers Harris County Beekeepers Association from about 50 years ago! He recalled his first visit to the Harris County Beekeepers Association in the 1960’s. Bill and Pat Whittington were there, and Clarence Shepherd joined later.
All speakers agreed the greatest challenges in the future are helping hobby beekeepers learn how to keep honey bees and to get young people interested in the process.
Annual awards were given, and the recipients recognized. The Beekeeper of the Year is Harold Kristoff; Don Angle noted Harold not only met all the criteria necessary for the
Our first annual Photo of the Year Award went to Clifford Zernicek for his photo depicting three worker bees on top of a hive. Only five photos were entered this year; we hope to have more entered next year, as the photos go into the Harris County Beekeepers Association’s library for use in our educational activities.
HCBA members Harry Reichart, David Patterson, and George Rodriguez each received a “Presidential Award” for their varied and consistent contributions to the betterment of the Association and beekeeping in general.
The Association awarded a Lifetime Membership Award to Dr. John G. Thomas, in recognition of his continuing support and willingness to educate beekeepers over the years.
President Don Angle’s closing remarks began with praise for the people who have helped the Association grow by 35 – 40% over the last year. These include Deborah Rankin, who is responsible for our new and improved website and also our wonderful newsletter, The Honey Bee Times; she’s brought us into a new era using available technology to its fullest to communicate with and educate our membership, as well as the general public. The huge task of hosting the Texas Beekeepers Association Convention in Galveston last year really helped the association to grow and become more effective as a group of people working together to achieve a goal. Don christened HCBA as a group having “True Grit”: the ability to carry a project from start to finish on a strictly volunteer basis, taking problems and challenges in stride along with the good times.
HCBA has certainly taken on a number of projects this past year: from staffing and managing booths at the Houston Livestock Show and the Strawberry Festival to our field trip to Whittington’s Honey Farm, and then ending up the year by putting on this wonderful 100th Anniversary celebration. We began selling honey once a month at Midtown Farmers’ Market and helped Wabash Feed Store get started selling beekeeping products locally. We developed an educational program schedule for our monthly membership meetings to help new beekeepers get started and to gain from the wealth of knowledge held by our seasoned beekeepers. HCBA will continue along this path next year and for many years thereafter, with the contribution of each and every member toward achieving our goal of getting and keeping people involved in beekeeping.
We will continue to exhibit “True Grit” by taking on challenges and pursuing them to their ends; if HCBA says they’ll do it, they’ll get it done! |
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HCBA President Don Angle (left) with HCBA Beekeeper of the Year Award recipient, Harold Kristof and wife, Harriet Kristof. |
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Dr. John G. Thomas, Extension Entomologist-Emeritus, Texas A & M University (right) receives Lifetime Membership in HCBA. |
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HCBA member, David Patterson, receives Presidential Award. |
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HCBA member, George Rodriguez (right) receives Presidential Award. |
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Texas and American Honey Queen, Rachael Seida, with HCBA Presidential Award recipient, Harry Reichart. |
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Photo of the Year Award recipient, Clifford Zernicek (left) with HCBA 2nd Vice President, Jeff Ballard. |
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Happy 100th Anniversary, HCBA! |
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Photos by HCBA 1st Vice President, Kara Buster. |
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HCBA 100th Anniversary Celebration |