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PGA bestows Lifetime Achievement Awards
Both received standing ovations from the crowd gathered in the dining room of Baywood Greens. The Individual Freedom Award goes to “an elected official who understands that the primary function of government is the protection of our individual freedoms.” PGA Executive Director Rich Collins began the awards segment of the evening by describing elected officials – many of whom attended the event – as heroes who are always “under intense pressure to take our individual freedoms away.” Sussex Councilman Vance Phillips, who hails from Laurel as does Venables, introduced the senator and presented the award. “This man challenged the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) back in 1989 and 1990 when he felt the agency was overstepping its authority in establishing a variety of fees. He won that battle and helped bring some sense back to government,” said Phillips. “We may need him to make some challenges again with more rules coming out now about land use. He’s an avid fisherman who believes that you can protect the environment without destroying the economy and he’s willing to search for a reasonable balance between environment protection, protection of property rights and reasonable development.” In accepting the award, Venables – a retired general contractor – said that he had never had any political intentions. “I talked to Sen. [Richard] Cordrey. He told me the most important thing about being an elected official is to have good common sense. My mom and dad raised me the old-fashioned way, and I thought that at least I had some common sense. For me, the two most important things are our freedom of speech – to be able to speak out against what you don’t like – and private property rights. After I challenged DNREC in the state Supreme Court and affirmed that agencies can’t impose taxes, levies or fees without a three-fifths vote of the legislature, Gov. Castle called me and said ‘Bob, you were right.’ “Now we’re looking at 134 pages of new regulations for the Inland Bays. I met with Secretary John Hughes and told him these regs are absolutely unworkable. This may end up in the Supreme Court as well. And Secretary of Agriculture [Michael] Scuse talking about shutting down all private wastewater treatment plants – that raised my salt so – I lost my temper. This would decrease the value of a farmer’s land outside the growth zone to $3,000 per acre while the farmer with land in the growth zone can get $50,000. That would be a taking. Thurman (Senate Majority leader Thurman Adams) jumped on him. Scuse hasn’t been back in the office since and he’s quit eatin’ chicken and dumplings with us too. I’m sure that bill’s not going anywhere,” said Venables. The Positive Growth Alliance Lifetime Achievement Award is presented to “a person who has achieved notable improvements in their quality of life for themselves, their family and their community. While working toward their goals, this person has consistently applied optimism, creativity, entrepreneurship, and a superior work ethic to overcome the challenges all of us face.” Charles Howard, a lifetime friend of Joe Hudson, presented the award to a man whose face has become familiar to many in recent years in his role as chairman of the board of Beebe Medical Center. “From the first time I knew who he was, I wanted to be like Joe Hudson,” said Howard, who started off as a diesel mechanic for the Pilots Association before launching a successful real estate career. He is from a family with 12 children – the eighth child and the seventh son. His sister also had 12 children, as did his grandmother. He learned early about sharing and being patient – especially waiting in line for the outhouse. He’s a Lewes High School graduate where he played tackle on the football team. The only thing not real about Joe is his front teeth. He lost them during the 1947 football game between Lewes and Rehoboth Beach,” said Howard. “Joe’s first love is flying and he built a successful aerial spraying business with as many as seven planes in his fleet. By the 1960s, he was farming more than 5,000 acres of land in addition to operating his spraying company. Then he got his Securities and Exchange license and became involved with the Heather Agency in Dover. A typical day in those years for Joe was 4 a.m. at the airport to get the spraying operation underway for the day, 9 a.m. at the Heather Agency, 1 p.m. at the farm, and back at the airport at 5:30 p.m. to maintain the planes. He had also gotten his mechanic’s license so he was certified to keep his planes up to standard. Then he moved into real estate.” Howard noted that Hudson joined the board of Beebe Medical Center in 1986 and assumed chairmanship of the board in 1988 – a position that is virtually a full-time job and which he continues to hold. “In the middle of all that,” said Howard, “Joe gave up one of his kidneys for a sister who was dying and gave her an additional 12 years of life as a result. He has this almost divine gift of accepting and treating people like family.” Hudson accepted the award with his characteristic humility. “There are plenty of people out there who do more than I,” said Hudson. “I’m not sure I deserve this but it is a lot of fun.”
According to the Positive Growth Alliance website at www.pgalliance.org, “The Positive Growth Alliance works with government officials and the public to enhance and improve property rights and business conditions and to defend private business from excessive government intrusion. Our motto is, ‘enhancing the quality of life through economic growth.’”
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