Hogan family and Ashley Helton honored for contributions to White County agriculture

The business legacy of Leroy and Margaret Hogan is being honored with their induction to the White County Agriculture Hall of Fame, and a dedication to supporting the local agriculture industry and ag-related programs for youth has earned Ashley Helton this year’s Friend of Agriculture Award.

The honorees were recognized at the annual White County Farm-City Breakfast Nov. 18.

Agriculture Hall of Fame – Leroy and Margaret Hogan (Hogan Lumber Company)

Leroy Hogan and Margaret Burns Hogan continue to leave an ongoing legacy that hard work pays off in White County.

The couple, who married in 1951, achieve success as a team. Margaret handled the administrative aspects of the businesses and Leroy handled the physical labor.

The Hogans developed several different businesses that included a grocery store, poultry houses and sawmills. They are remembered by many not only as successful business owners, but also as kind and compassionate people that would help anyone in need.

Their first business venture was Hogan Grocery.  Margaret took care of the daily aspects of running the store while Leroy would head to the woods to work at the sawmill as he had done since he was a child.

The Hogans eventually began poultry farming, taking care of five chicken houses. Leroy would work with the sawmill, then come home to help in the chicken houses.

This family business involved the Hogans and their  three children, Rebecca, Tommy and Jimmy, who all would pitch in with daily work and chores.

The Hogan family’s third business was where they discovered their calling in life. They built a lumber yard beside their home in 1973, naming the business Hogan Lumber Company. They started with one sawmill and around eight employees.

Their oldest son, Tommy, who had just graduated high school, began the sawmill adventure with his parents. The youngest son, Jimmy, joined them in 1980 after finishing high school.

Education was very important to Leroy and Margaret since Leroy had to quit school at such a young age to go to work. Their daughter, Rebecca Hogan Giles, graduated from the University of Georgia with a bachelor of science in Education Degree in 1974 and later earned  a master’s degree and an educational specialist degree.

Under Leroy and Margaret’s leadership, Hogan Lumber Company eventually expanded to three sawmills with about 55 employees. Leroy had an eye for finding the most profitable tracts of timber and would keep the mills going. Margaret would scale the logs and take care of all other responsibilities around the lumber yard.

The two sons, Tommy and Jimmy, established Hogan Brothers Sawdust & Shavings in 1982. They would deliver the sawdust and shavings produced at the lumber yard to the poultry houses and horse farms.  These two were not only the owners of the company, they were shaving truck drivers as well, hauling roughly 70 loads per week throughout surrounding counties.

Margaret passed away unexpectedly in October 1991 at age 59. Leroy, Tommy and Jimmy continued running the businesses but truly missed Margaret’s knowledge and excellent leadership.

The Hogans got involved with racing around 1989, when Tommy and Jimmy began Hogan Motorsports.   They would travel throughout the Southeast with different racing series. The brothers were the operation leaders of the race team.  Tommy’s son, Jason, was one of the many drivers over the years, with Hogan Lumber Company being the main sponsor during their racing career.

Leroy passed away in July 2016 at age 87. He was still a huge part of the daily operations of the company up to a few years before he passed.

Hogan Lumber Company and Hogan Sawdust & Shavings continue operating as successful businesses in Cleveland. They receive logs and chip wood from logging operations from Georgia to South Carolina.

They continue to ship lumber out on a weekly basis, and they also haul shavings and sawdust to poultry houses and horse farms daily.

The work and effort to keep the businesses going is all done in hopes to honor the legacy of the hard work and dedication of Leroy and Margaret Hogan.

Friend of Agriculture – Ashley Helton

Ashley Helton’s interest in livestock began at a young age. He was active in White County FFA, serving as president his senior year.

Due to is interest in showing livestock, a local livestock show was held for the first time in many years.  He started a herd of 14 registered Angus heifers while in high school and still has bloodlines from those cows in his herd of 30.

Helton took an opportunity to join London Farms in 1995, where he has become a jack-of-all-trades. He is associated with all aspects of the operation from equipment management, cattle development and breeding and forage production.

Because of his love for agriculture, he doesn’t consider what he does to be a job.

Helton is an active sponsor for the White County Dairy Show team, which he helped develop around 2000.  He assists with transporting livestock from the farm to the shows, as well as aiding students with preparing their heifers for the show ring.

In addition, Helton was instrumental in helping to develop the White County AgriScience Center by serving on the planning committee. He worked with White County FFA alumni to secure and build a fence around the perimeter for the safety of livestock housed at the facility. When agriculture teachers saw a need for a smaller enclosed barn for show animals, Helton was instrumental in gathering workers to get the project completed.

Helton invests in the community’s youth by volunteering for the fourth-grade Kids Fun and Farm Day, Leadership White Agriculture tours, White County Farm Bureau Ag in the Classroom and White County AgriFest. He enjoys spreading his love of agriculture by sharing his knowledge.

Helton also serves on boards of directors for White County Farmers Exchange Board and the White County Chamber of Commerce Ag Committee.