Outstanding Chicken Growers Are Honored at Booster BBQ
By DCA
June 5, 2024 – Delmarva Chicken Association presented awards to three people – Mary Lou Brown, Calvin Keeler, and Gov. John Carney – whose support, work and advocacy have been crucial to the success of Delmarva’s $4.4 billion chicken community. The chicken industry on Delmarva supports 1,213 family farms and more than 18,800 chicken company employees, along with hundreds of allied businesses.
The awards were presented during the fourth annual Booster BBQ, an event for DCA members and invited guests at the Delaware State Fairgrounds. More than 750 DCA members and others in the chicken community attended the event, which featured barbecued chicken donated by Allen Harim prepared and served by Greenwood Volunteer Fire Company and Harrington Fire Company Ladies Auxiliary, ice cream from Vanderwende’s, door prizes, more than 50 vendors, lawn games and more.
The J. Frank Gordy Delmarva Distinguished Citizen Award: Mary Lou Brown
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Since 1956, Delmarva Chicken Association has recognized a person who has served the chicken industry and the community with distinction. This award is named after one of the founders of DCA and our first executive secretary, and it recognizes those who are active members of DCA and other chicken industry organizations, who contribute time and services to the chicken community, and participate in civic and community betterment. This year, the J. Frank Gordy Delmarva Distinguished Citizen Award was presented to Mary Lou Brown, a chicken grower in Dorchester County, Md. who joined DCA’s board of directors in 2019 and serves as our first vice president today.
Brown was raised on a dairy farm in Bucks County, Pennsylvania and relocated in 1973 to Queen Anne’s County, Maryland. She graduated from the University of Delaware with a degree in Agriculture Economics and Agriculture Education. She taught vocational agriculture for three years and then returned to Queen Anne’s County and worked as a 4-H Program Assistant for almost ten years. In 2001, she began growing chickens with her late husband, Bill.
“I found I had the ability to do the poultry, plus do service work, plus raise the kids. I could be active in all these organizations. I wanted to be active in church, active in what the kids were doing, and helping out at schools, and that type of thing. It gave me the freedom to do that, plus take care of the chickens,” Brown said of the family’s decision to invest in a broiler farm. “Every opportunity I get, I promote the industry. I think it’s important that our community knows, our neighbors know, what we’re doing and how we’re doing it. The community needs to understand what we do, and how we keep chickens as healthy as possible.”
The Edward H. Ralph Medal of Achievement: Calvin Keeler
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The Edward H. Ralph DCA Medal of Achievement, named after Ed Ralph, DCA’s first full-time executive director, goes to a non-elected person for outstanding service on behalf of Delmarva’s chicken community. The award was presented this year to Calvin Keeler, a University of Delaware professor of animal and food sciences who joined the UD faculty in 1988. For several years, Keeler served as the interim dean of College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at UD.
Keeler’s research and outreach activities focus on avian genomics and molecular immunology and respiratory viruses of poultry and birds. He has worked closely with Delmarva Chicken Association leaders on avian disease diagnostic protocols and planning for the National Meeting on Poultry Health, Processing, and Live Production.
“Being here in the Department of Animal and Food Sciences, so closely aligned with the industry, allowed me to do not only basic research and molecular biology, but work with people in the industry to do applied work, to work on vaccine development, and to work on applications, and to draw on expertise from people with a lot of different disciplines,” Keeler said. “It really enhanced and broadened the perspective of my research program. “I came to realize that I have the best job in the world… The collaboration between the university, state governments, and the Delaware Chicken Association and the poultry industry is such a powerful collaborative effort that maintains the industry on the Delmarva. It’s just been amazing to have been a part of that and to learn from that.”
The DCA Medal of Achievement: Gov. John Carney
The DCA Medal of Achievement goes to an elected official for outstanding cooperation with, and service to, Delmarva’s chicken community. This year, DCA awarded Delaware Gov. John Carney with the DCA Medal of Achievement. Carney, whose final term as Delaware’s 74th governor will come to a close in January, has a consistent track record of responsiveness to the chicken community. Led by secretaries and staff in the Delaware Department of Agriculture, his administration has worked with chicken growers to help them meet permitting requirements that protect water and air quality while ensuring farmers aren’t burdened with unnecessary regulation. When the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the supply chain and put chicken growers at risk of economic harm, Carney’s administration set aside federal funds from the CARES Act to offer relief grants to chicken growers.
As a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 2011 to 2017, Carney also worked to improve economic conditions for the chicken community and to open new markets for chicken around the world. “The poultry industry on Delmarva is second to none, and it’s because of the long-standing working relationships that we have across state lines, especially when it comes to supporting our family farms,” Carney said in 2020.
About Delmarva Chicken Association
Delmarva Chicken Association, founded in 1948, has been the Delmarva chicken industry’s voice as the premier membership association focusing on advocacy, education and member relations for more than 75 years. DCA’s vision is to be the most-respected chicken organization in the United States.
