[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 21]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 29682]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  TRIBUTE TO R.J. NATHE & SONS OF DADE CITY, FLORIDA ON 50TH YEAR IN 
                                BUSINESS

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. GINNY BROWN-WAITE

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, November 5, 2007

  Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida. Madam Speaker, throughout America, 
small businesses and entrepreneurs work each day to help our nation 
prosper. One of these companies, R.J. Nathe & Sons of Dade City, 
Florida is celebrating their fiftieth anniversary this year. As one of 
the outstanding corporate citizens in Pasco County, the Nathe family 
deserves recognition for 50 years of giving back to the community.
  In October of 1957, cousins R.J. Nathe and Walter Gude decided to go 
into the land clearing business, naming the company Nathe and Gude 
Landclering. Using an initial family loan to start the company, the 
cousins went out and put a down payment on 2 used bulldozers and 2 old 
pickup trucks. Reaching out to the growing citrus crop industry in 
Central Florida, they had plenty of proposed work until a bad freeze 
stopped their growing business in its tracks.
  Once the cousins got back on their feet, they soon realized that 
while land clearing would make them money, the real business potential 
came from logging the timber that came off of the land they cleared. 
Over the years the business diversified even further to include 
extensive cattle and citrus operations.
  When they incorporated the firm in 1980, the cousins decided to 
shorten the name to Nathe & Gude, Inc. in 1993 the Nathe family split 
with Gude, allowing Gude to take the cattle operation and the Nathe 
family keeping the original logging and land clearing part. The 
following year J.R. brought his 5 sons into the business and changed 
the name to R.J. Nathe & Sons, Inc. A very important part of the 
growing business is J.R.'s wife, Patsy, who keeps everyone coordinated 
and productive.
  Over the years R.J. Nathe & Sons, Inc. has been recognized for its 
involvement in business and community actives. They have received 
numerous awards including Florida Logger of the Year in 1996, 
continuing on to win the Southeastern title and runner up for National 
Logger of the Year in 1997.
  Along with timber harvesting and land clearing, Nathe & Sons now 
offers demolition and custom sawmilling. The business has strived to 
build strong customer relationships based on fairness, honesty and 
quality service. With a company motto of, ``Treating everyone's land as 
if our own,'' it is clear that Nathe & Sons has a commitment to 
customers that is necessary to maintain an outstanding reputation in 
the Dade City community. I congratulate Patsy and J.R. and the entire 
family on their first fifty years of service in Pasco County and look 
forward to working with them over the next 50 years.

                          ____________________