Here, Chicky, Chickyy!

Below are the pictures of my visit to Dogwood Hill Farm. It is Bryce and Kathleen Prevette's Poultry Farm located in Statesville, NC. It was pretty cool to be able to get a behind the scenes look at how eggs start at a poultry farm and go through a thorough process of sorting and labeling to finally reach the distribution centers. 

This is Bryce Prevette, co-owner of the Poultry Farm. Hear he is showing us all the data that they must take down about the fertility of the hens. 

UP CLOSE and PERSONAL

He clearly didn't want his picture taken. 

The Prevette's receive the hens at around 22 weeks old, and then they begin laying eggs at around 24 weeks. It takes around 21 days for the eggs to hatch.

This is the contraption that collects the eggs laid by the hens.

Isn't this an insane sight to see! There are around 9,000 hens and 1,000 roosters in this chicken house.

They collect the eggs around 4 times a day and each hen lays around an egg a day.

Kathleen Prevette, co-owner of the Poultry Farm, teaches us about the process behind the sorting and numbering of eggs.

Here, they put the date on the egg and number each one so that the company they send the eggs to know which farm they come from.

 That's a lot of eggs!

Mr. Prevette and his son sharing a laugh.

The inside of the egg. The small white dot in the middle (it's a little difficult to see), is the beginnings of a future baby chicken.

Beautiful view of the Blue Ridge Mountains at the Privette Farm.

Where does your MILK come from?

   Last week I had the pleasure of going on an Agricultural Tour of Statesville and the surrounding area. We visited an array of local farms, all of which included businesses that grow and sell trees, harvest fresh crops, milk cows and ship their milk across the nation, and lastly, house hens and roosters and ship eggs out for production. The event was put on by the Chamber in conjunction with the Cooperative Extension Service and sponsored by Carolina Farm Credit. My co-worker, Val, did a great job at organizing the event - we all had a blast!

Below are the pictures from the Dairy Farm:

Baby cow, who when is grown will join the other cows to be milked. 

Two precious cows laying around at the farm in their pen.

Caught this one licking her behind!

 This one's eyes are absolutely gorgeous! 

She's sticking her tongue out at me!!!

Here begins the milking process:

The cows are somehow tricked into going into these stalls to get milked twice daily.

Then the ducts on the cow's udder are cleaned, and the milking pipes are put on so that the milk can be pumped.

The milking contraption automatically releases itself from the cow's utter and then the ducts are disinfected before the cows are sent back to the farm.  

Finally, the milk is put in a huge storing truck and shipped across the nation. Rocky Creek Dairy Farms ships their milk to different factors in order to be made into milk, ice cream, etc., sold in stores near you. 

Staring me down!

All lined up: ducks in a row! 

 This one needs a Kleenex.

Want a quick look of downtown Charlotte?

   Last Wednesday I had the chance to visit downtown Charlotte, since I am working in Statesville for the summer and am only about 45 minutes North of the city. While not initially for pleasure, the trip quickly turned into a nice touristy visit. I was able to take a little tour of downtown Charlotte and see some of the businesses that line the streets of the Queen City. I loved all the quaint little shops and restaurants and my favorite stop: the Belk Theatre. Although I was not able to go inside, I was able to see it from the outside and take a look at all the banners posted on the windows promoting their performances. Hopefully I can go back to see Lion King sometime this summer!!! If you are interested here's their link: http://theatercharlotte.com/?gclid=COLHid-A8bcCFWRp7Aod9TEAYQ.

Belk theatre from the streets of downtown Charlotte.

 View of the IMAX theatre from atop a parking deck. 

I think this is where I would live...love the look of these apartments!

   I made another quick stop at the near-by Starbucks and learned that I should not go to Starbucks in the CITY in the MORNING! The line was crazyy long - well, at least for a small-town Southern girl who walks in her local Starbucks and is known by name and is served right away. The photo doesn't do it justice...

Line at Starbucks in downtown Charlotte.

   Lastly, I was able to get a couple pictures of a near-by skyscraper that caught my eye. The design was extremely intricate and I loved the structure of the building - my nerdy artistic eye came into play. To the left of the building they had a Charlotte philanthropy museum. I was not able to go inside, ***note, if you are planning on visiting the museums downtown or the Belk Theatre, they don't open until 10. The museum looked really cool from the window and is definitely a place I hope to visit on my next trip to Charlotte.

 Building in downtown Charlotte, museum is to the left. 

 

What's in a Family Name...

    Once a month, a member of the Chamber of Commerce hosts our event called "Business After Hours," in which all the Chamber members are invited to meet & greet, and enjoy dinner & drinks. It's a fun way to get over hump day and meet some new faces as well as catch up with old ones. 
   I had the pleasure of talking with a fellow Statesville graduate, who moved away for college, and is back home working for our local paper, the Statesville Record & Landmark. I also had the pleasure of meeting his friend and learning that he too was added to the workforce at the Landmark, as well as another one of their friends who is also a Statesville High graduate. It's nice to see fellow Statesvillians moving back here to work and to be able to read their native voices' in the Sunday paper. 
    Now, to speak on the focus of the event, the Black Automotive Group hosted last month's Business After Hours, in their newly re-done facility. It was absolutely gorgeous inside with a new modern look to the offices and an open floor plan to the building space where the customers can comfortably sit, walk around, or look at showcased cars. 
   I had the pleasure of speaking with Mr. Larry Black, the past owner of Black Automotive Group, and was able to get the inside scoop on how he has been able to keep the company running for all these years, 62 to be more exact. The business has been in the family for years, and now his son successfully runs it, furthering the legacy of the Black family and the family run nature of the company. 
   After sitting down to talk with Mr. Black, an extremely humble man, with a good-natured personality that makes you want to sit and talk to him for hours- I think the most unruly person could have a conversation with him and enjoy it, or at least come away having learning something - he let me in on a little secret. He told me his dad made their business a success by focusing on the customers. Why yes, he loved the cars and selling cars, but he made people his top priority. Larry stated that all he had to do was follow in his footsteps to keep the business on track, 

"My father was loved by everybody; 

he had no enemies, and I have tried to be just like him." 

  Mr. Black discussed the importance of client care and how he made the focus of the company on making sure the customer leaves happy and satisfied. After learning about his lovely family, one daughter being a fellow Furman Paladin, and learning that we share the same street address, he ended our conversation by sharing a small statement with a lot of meaning behind it,

 "What you give, you get."

 -Mr. Larry Black, previous owner of Black Automotive Group

   This was his business philosophy that has brought and kept Black Automotive Group, a warm friendly, small-town car dealer with big-town success, where it is today, and where it will clearly be staying in the future generations to come, with his son currently managing the business. After seeing Mr. Black share warm smiles, handshakes and meaningful conversations with friends and customers at the event, I believe his five word phrase had more meaning behind it than a simple business outlook: he shared with me a life-long lesson - his life philosophy, a good one at that. 
   

I was excited to catch some of the night on film. Here are the pictures below:

 The food and drinks were catered by 

Debbie's Heavenly Touch Catering

 

 

 

Black Automotive Group's new facility

Visit Black Automotive Group's website for more information: http://www.blackautomotivegroup.com/index.htm.

Also, check out the caterer's website at debbiesheavenlytouchcatering.com.