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The Delta Council Annual Meeting has historically been a "red-letter" day for citizens in the Delta BY HUGH D. PALMER Delta Business Journal
From the sporting of new cotton fashion to a national message from a recognized speaker, the Delta Council Annual meeting draws people from all parts of the Delta and others who want to be a part—if only for one day—of our unique region. However, Delta Council President Griffin Norquist, Jr., recognized the significance of the two featured guests at this year’s event. "On the stage at previous Delta Council meetings, many great statesmen, famous authors, athletic heroes, and natives of the Mississippi Delta who have gone on to national and international acclaim, have joined us for our day. However, I would suspect that never before have we served as host for two featured guests who have a greater impact on critical national and global policies that affect this country than we have with us today. "I am deeply honored that the top military officer in the United States Armed Forces agreed to keynote the 63rd Annual Meeting of Delta Council. Additionally, we are extremely pleased that our close friend and keynote speaker from last year’s meeting agreed to join us today in order to introduce General Shelton. Even though he has had pressing demands upon him relative to his Senate leadership position, it should be emphasized that Majority Leader Trent Lott has never once taken his eye off of the needs of Mississippi, as the first order of business." Delta Council was founded in 1935 to address problems in Northwest Mississippi associated with flood control, highway improvement, agriculture and agricultural research. Since that time, Delta Council’s program of work has expanded to include many areas of vital importance to the region and its people. Today, over 60 years later, Delta Council’s Committee structure has expanded to include Advisory Research, Aquaculture, Educational Policy, Forestry and Wildlife Resources, Flood Control, Highway Improvement, Ginning and Cotton Quality Improvement, Rice and Small Grains, Soil Conservation, Soybean and Feed Grains, and Water Resources. In 1956, Delta Council leadership recognized the need in the region’s economy to expand, and established a full-time economic development effort in the region. The Development Department was established to help meet these needs. This department, supported by contributions from area Boards of Supervisors as well as by agricultural business and professional leaders through the "Delta 1000" program, remains competitive with other areas of the nation. It is worth noting that Secretary of State Dean Acheson announced the principles of the Marshall Plan at the Delta Council meeting in 1947, one of the greatest post-war achievements of our country. In 1952, the year he won the Nobel Prize, William Faulkner made one of his few public speeches, and possibly his most famous, at a Delta Council Annual Meeting about the responsibilities of freedom. "I decline to believe that the only true heirs of Benjamin Franklin, Booker T. Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson, Paul Bunyon, Johnny Appleseed, Robert E. Lee and Helen Keller are the ones denying and protesting in the newspaper headlines over mink coats and oil tankers and federal indictments for corruption in public office," Faulkner said. "I believe that the true heirs of the old, tough durable fathers are still capable of responsibility and self-respect, if only they can remember them again." George Bush and Bill Clinton spoke from the Delta Council platform; rocket pioneer Wernher von Braun and later, astronaut Alan Shepard, spoke to captivated audiences about this country’s fascination with space; businessmen such as David Rockefeller have appeared; as well as national political figures from all regions of the country. The format of the meeting has changed very little over the years, although the meeting once lasted all day and, instead of Delta-raised catfish, barbecued chicken was the main course. "The Delta Council Annual Meeting is an excellent place for people from around the Delta to come together, visit, and listen to a speaker who they otherwise would not have the opportunity to hear," said Norquist. "It is a great tradition in the region that is much anticipated." DBJ |
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