[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 194 (Monday, December 10, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H9771-H9772]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     HONORING CHARLIE ODELL LOVETTE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
North Carolina (Ms. Foxx) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Mr. Charlie Odell Lovette of 
Wilkes County in North Carolina's Fifth District. Recently, Mr. Lovette 
was posthumously inducted into the Wilkes County Agriculture Hall of 
Fame and 3 miles of Highway NC-16 North were officially renamed in his 
honor.
  In addition to being a pioneer of the U.S. poultry industry, Mr. 
Lovette was an active leader in the community and advocated for the 
construction of what is now his namesake, C.O. Lovette Highway, 
connecting Wilkesboro to Millers Creek. Although he passed away in 
1978, Mr. Lovette's legacy is fondly remembered and livelihoods 
continue to thrive along trails he blazed.
  Charlie Lovette's life is a shining example of the American Dream 
that North Carolinians remain proud of and hopeful for. At the young 
age of 14, Lovette left home to drive trucks for his uncle, 
distributing farm products in the foothills and mountains of Wilkes. In 
the summers, he put his farming skills to use.
  At age 19, he returned to public school to improve his skills to be 
able to turn his work experiences into a business of his own. Starting 
with a horse-drawn wagon to sell apples and working at R.J. Reynolds 
Tobacco, Mr. Lovette was able to acquire necessary startup capital to 
contribute to the foundation of the modern poultry industry. He bought 
the first truck in his enterprise in 1924 and developed a weekly 
schedule of buying barnyard chickens, butter, eggs, hams, dried apples, 
honey, and other produce from country stores to sell in Charlotte and 
Winston-Salem. His business provided a market for local farms to sell 
and trade their products to produce family farm income.
  This same year, Mr. Lovette married the love of his life, Ruth 
Bumgarner. Ruth deserves just as much credit as her husband for being a 
steadfast pillar of support in his business endeavors and encouraging 
him to succeed.
  During this time, chicken production progressed from barnyard 
chickens to hothouse chickens, and Lovette was an early adopter of this 
farming innovation. In 1928, he built one of the first hothouse chicken 
houses on his farm, with capacity for 250 birds. A portion of that 
chicken house is now on display at the Wilkes Heritage Museum.
  Hothouse chicken farming increased rapidly in western Wilkes in the 
1930s and 1940s. During World War II, processing plants were built in 
the major cities on the East Coast to supply the war effort, and live 
chickens were delivered to these plants from Wilkes by Mr. Lovette's 
trucks.
  In 1946, Mr. Lovette sold his live chicken business to his oldest 
son, C. Fred Lovette. However, Charlie continued to run a smaller farm-
raised food products business and started Lovette Egg Company in North 
Wilkesboro with his partner, J.C. Bumgarner.
  Fifteen years later, Fred Lovette consolidated all the chicken and 
egg operations to form Holly Farms Poultry Industries. During the 
1970s, Holly Farms Poultry Industries became the largest chicken 
company in the world, with chicken operations in North Carolina, 
Virginia, Maryland, and Texas. Additionally, it was the first chicken 
brand nationally distributed in the United States.
  Not only was Mr. Lovette a smart businessman with a strong work 
ethic, he was also known for his good character. If profits were higher 
than expected, he passed on extra earnings to his suppliers. He was an 
adored father of seven who, alongside Ruth, instilled values of faith 
into the Lovette family, and he was an active member of Pleasant Home 
Baptist Church. Charlie and Ruth were a team in every endeavor and 
extended their business success not just to their children, but also to 
their siblings and many nieces and nephews who lived on the farm and 
worked at Lovette Poultry Company.

  The Wilkes farming community has been the beneficiary of Mr. 
Lovette's courage to take risks and his determination to succeed. In 
1989, Holly Farms was acquired by Tyson Foods, and in Wilkes, the 
industry still generates more than $300 million in gross annual 
revenue, employs 3,300 people, and supports 200 family farms.

[[Page H9772]]

  With a lot of hard work and limited means, Mr. Lovette became a 
pioneer of the poultry industry, and his legacy is enshrined in the 
Wilkes community. He is an example for us all of the endless 
possibilities in our country and what the seeds of big dreams, with the 
support and collaboration of family and community, can grow into.

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