BATESVILLE — “Shocked” and “humbled” are just two of the adjectives Fred V. Denison Sr. and his wife, Dorothy “Sue” Denison, used to describe their feelings when they learned they had been named the 2016 North Central District Farm Family of the Year.
The Denisons, who were first named the 2016 Independence County Farm Family of the Year, will now compete against seven other district winners for the state title, which will be announced Dec. 8 at the Farm Family of the Year Luncheon at the Wyndham Riverfront Hotel in North Little Rock.
“I was in a state of shock,” Fred said with a laugh. “After the judges left that day, I told my family we had just about as much of a chance winning as a snowball in a hot place.
“My youngest granddaughter told Sue, ‘Nana, I think we’re going to win. She had more faith than I did. It is quite a humbling experience. It’s quite an honor.”
Sue said they received the news over the telephone from Molly Dykes, coordinator of the Arkansas Farm Family of the Year Program for the Arkansas Farm Bureau, one of the sponsors of the program.
“Molly said, ‘You have won the North Central District,’” Sue said. “I said, ‘What?’ And she said it again. … ‘You have won the North Central District. The judges had nothing but good stuff to say about you.’
“I was shocked. I still get chill bumps when I think about it. We had no idea we would win. … We didn’t even think about it. We’re just plain people.”
Fred added, “There’s nothing fancy about us. We are just who we are.”
Fred Sr., 72, and Sue, 73, share the honors with their sons, Fred V. Denison Jr., 47, and “Bobby” Gene Denison, 45, and their families.
Fred Sr. and Sue, who have been married 52 years, have been farming 41 years. They currently own 1,000 acres.
They have a cow/calf operation that consists of 30 head of Black Angus and American British White Park cattle, 12 head of yearlings and 21 head of calves.
Fred Sr. said the White Park breed of cattle is the oldest breed in England.
“The Romans brought them to England when they conquered that part of the world,” he said, adding that the breed survived and evolved over the years. “I did a lot of research before I bought any. They have not been in this country for too many years. They calve easily, provide great milk and good beef.”
The Denisons also have a wheat-straw square-bale operation.
“We baled over 20,000 bales in the 1980s, but this year, after 36 years, I cut back to 2,500 bales,” Fred Sr. said.
“Most of the calves are sold at the sale barns,” he said. “Very few are sold privately at the farm. Straw is sold to lots of retail outlets.
“My sons and I also own over 600 acres of row-crop ground. This acreage is rented out for share-cropping. Basically, we provide irrigation pumps, gear heads and underground pipe to pivots.”
Fred Sr. said his sons grew up working with him on the farm but now have their own careers. Both have homes on the farm.
“They help out in the hay, and they work in the straw business in lots of ways, such as running hauling crews, loading out, delivering and selling,” he said. “They still help me move cattle and do other things that have to be done in the cattle business when they have time.”
Fred Jr. and his wife, Kelly, have one daughter, Kori, 15. Fred Jr. teaches math at Southside High School and coaches volleyball and bowling. Kelly teaches fifth-grade social studies at Southside Middle School. Kori is a ninth-grader at Southside High School, where she is involved in choir and drama. She also takes ballet and tap-dance lessons, plays the piano and is active in community theater.
Bobby and his wife, Jennifer, have one daughter, Katie, 13, and one son, Adam, 10. Bobby is a physical therapist and is co-owner of the Batesville Therapy Clinic, with additional locations in Melbourne and Cave City. Jennifer works from home doing billing for White River Medical Center. Katie plays softball and volleyball, and Adam plays basketball and baseball.
“The grandchildren enjoy living on the farm and doing different activities on the farm, like fishing in the ponds, riding their bikes and four-wheelers, and hiking in the fields and woods,” Fred Sr. said. “They like petting the bottle-fed calves and help feed them. They also have had, and now have, a new set of pet chickens. They have pet cats, also.”
Fred Sr. is the son of the late Walter Henderson Denison and Mabel Renell Driskill Denison.
“My father purchased the first 1,000 acres of our farm in 1939,” Fred Sr. said. “Over the next 10 years, he increased the farm to over 1,400 acres. After his death in 1949, my mother carried on with the farm. She rented the row-crop land and hired help to grow cattle and some hogs on the hill ground. In 1975, she asked me to partner with her in the cow/calf operation. I remained partners with her in the operation until her death in 1981. From then on, I have continued the operation.”
Fred Sr. graduated from Southside High School in 1962 and from Arkansas State Teachers College (now the University of Central Arkansas) in Conway in 1966.
“I returned [to Southside] … and taught there for 38 years. For 28 of those years, I taught half-time industrial arts and half-time math,” he said.
“I liked to build and fix things, and I was good at math. The only foreign language I had was English, and I struggled with it. The last 10 years I taught straight math. I retired 12 years ago and have been on the school board for the past 10 years,” Fred Sr. said.
“I’m a glutton for punishment,” he said with a smile.
“I miss the kids, but that’s about all. The documentation a teacher has to do now is ridiculous. They want proof of teaching. … They would get the proof if they followed the students for five or six years after graduation. If they are gainfully employed at that time, [the teachers] succeeded,” he said.
“Farming has become my full-time job,” Fred Sr. said, smiling, “but my best brag is about my grandchildren. They are all A students, besides their other activities.”
In addition to serving on the Southside School Board, Fred Sr. is a member of the Independence County Farm Service Agency Board of Directors and the Southside Public Water Authority Board of Directors and a trustee at Southside United Methodist Church, where the family attends services and participates in many activities.
Sue has raised a garden for many years and cans and freezes the summer’s harvest. She also organizes a “corn day” around the first of July.
“Everybody gets together to put up the sweet corn,” she said. “We freeze it. It’s a special, fun day.”
Fred Sr. has become interested in genealogy since he retired.
“My grandfather was in the Civil War. Not too many people living today can say that,” Fred Sr. said.
“My father was born in 1886 and was 83 when he died in 1949. I was only 5 when he died. I was the 17th child from my father and the fourth child from my mother. I am the only one still living,” Fred Sr. said.
“My mother was only about 30 when they married and about 34 when I was born; my father was 77 when I was born,” he said.
“My father’s father, Joseph Mercurius Denison, was a Confederate soldier,” Fred Sr. said, adding that his grandfather served in the 25th Arkansas Infantry.
Fred Sr. said his grandfather is buried in Conway. Information on findagrave.com shows Joseph Mercurius Denison is buried in the Oak Grove Cemetery in Conway.
“I’m sure I must have been there when I was younger. I had an uncle and two aunts who lived in Conway, and I would visit them during the summers,” Fred Sr. said.
“I’d like to go to that cemetery again,” he said. “It seems the older I get, the more interested I am in genealogy, … in the history of the Denisons. There is a Denison Society that traces one branch of the family back to Mystic, Connecticut. Some kinfolk here in town have visited the homestead there, but other researchers say our line came in through Virginia.
“I’ve even had my DNA tested, but I haven’t received the results yet. I’m interested to see what that has to say.”