Agri-Tourism Presentation Files
January 14th, 2008 by Pat
Last week, I was given an opportunity to present at a West Virginia Department of Agriculture “short-course”. The presentation focused on how everyone, including small agriculture-based companies, can benefit from having a website.
It was a special opportunity for me to give back a tiny bit to a community that played an important part in my family heritage.
My goal in making these types of presentations is to help other businesses succeed. This particular presentation had additional meaning, as I meant it to be a small tribute to my late Grandfather who was very important to me. If you could humor me for just a moment, I would like to share a story about him.
My Grandfather grew up in lumberjack camps across the state of West Virginia and his high school years working on a family farm in Doddridge County. In that era, education was a secondary priority and in order to continue in school my Grandfather was required to first complete his daily farm chores.
He worked his way through high school in that way, and then with the help of others he worked his way through college and earned a degree in Agriculture from West Virginia University.
He spent time in the Pacific Rim during World War II and then taught Vocational Agriculture at Cairo High School until 1975. Each summer my Grandfather would give his students a summer project, in many cases it was to grow a particular crop.
Some years ago, a former student of my Grandfather’s approached me and shared a story:
I cannot recall what the crop was that this student was growing that year. However, he told me that he was working one day in the field and looked across the field to see my Grandfather walking towards him.
He told me, “I thought, ‘Oh, no, here comes Mr. Strader to grade my project’ and I wasn’t ready to be graded.”
My grandfather walked across the field, and approached the student. The man told me that when he came up to him, he simply greeted him and said, “I was just stopping in to see if I could help.”
He had went out of his way to try and help. He was wanting to impart a small bit of his knowledge in order to help his student learn something that may benefit him in the future.
That is the basis for my desire to help people. To share something I know, that could help a business succeed.
It may seem corny and trivial, but to me my presentation was a small tribute to my Grandfather. A man I respected and loved and learned a great deal from. I miss him everyday.
Ironically, the day of the presentation….was his birthday.
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