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He
was born in Ironaton, a community just outside of the Talladega city
limits which he explained was an iron ore town in the early 1900s where
commerce was alive and well. The community boasted a train depot,
hotels, a foundry and stores, but as time progressed the bustling little
town turned into more of a ghost town. Blackburn said his family moved
to Talladega in 1978. But before he and his family made the move,
Blackburn’s dad found him a job at the local farmer’s Co-op.
"Daddy
went by there to pick up some feed and he asked [the manager] if he
needed any help and he said yes. I went to work the next morning,"
he said.
Thus
began the 16-year-old’s career with the Co-op. Earning only $2.15 an
hour, Blackburn began by working in the warehouse loading feed and
performing any other necessary task. To meet the demands of area
farmers, he started driving trucks for fertilizer and chemical
application, a skill he basically taught himself.
"Nobody
showed me a thing. I learned myself. There were so many people farming
back then, they were lucky if their fields got sprayed within two weeks
after they asked for it. They were patient with me while I was learning;
they knew I was young," he said.
Blackburn
must have been a pretty good teacher for himself because he explained
that on one particular occasion he sprayed an impressive 345 acres in
one day.
Now,
Blackburn said he enjoys dry fertilizer application more that any other
task he performs at the Co-op.
"I
don’t mind liquid [application] when everything’s going right,"
he said. "But when that truck goes to messing up, it seems like I
get more on me than on the field."
After
30 years of work and 8 management changes, you can only imagine the
changes he’s seen at the Co-op. But Blackburn said one of the biggest
changes he’s noticed is the decrease in full-time farming operations
and therefore a new type of clientele.
"One
of the biggest changes was the amount of farmers who went out of
business. I don’t know if there are 10 full-time farmers we service
now. There are more, like me, who hobby farm. I was just a kid when I
first came to work, but it seemed like there were about 100 farmers back
then," Blackburn said.
Like
many of his customers, he enjoys farming as a side operation. Blackburn
bought his first cow when he was just 12-years-old, a purchase he
amusingly recalls since he paid $40 for the cow and then sold it shortly
after for $120. Since his initial purchase, Blackburn said he’s bought
and sold cattle and has a hay production operation, hobbies that have
directly contributed to his work at the Co-op.
"You’ve
got to enjoy what you do. I’ve always enjoyed farming, so working at
the Co-op fits me to a T," he said.
Blackburn’s
30 years of service has helped him develop camaraderie with the
clientele of Talladega County Exchange. He described the store’s
patrons as "some of the best customers you could ask for."
Talladega veterinarian, Dr. Dale Lowry, agreed that the respect is
mutual.
"Mike
is one of the finest people I’ve ever met," Lowry said. "He’s
always willing to help folks."
Thirty
years may be a long time, but Blackburn doesn’t plan on hanging his
hat up just yet. He said he plans on working there "as long as he
can and as long as they’ll have me."
Presently
he is recuperating from an operation, but he’s anxious to get out of
the house and back to the store.
"You
think about sitting in this house seven days a week. It gets mighty
boring sitting around here and there’s only so much T.V. you can
watch," he said.
One
thing is certain, the customers and employees of Talladega County
Exchange are just as ready for him to be back.
Grace
Smith is an associate editor for AFC Cooperative Farming News. |
