L.G. (Bo) Herndon of Herndon Farms in Lyons, GA, was recently inducted in the Vidalia Onion Hall of Fame. He is shown here with his mother (left) and longtime employee Carolyn Wilkes.

Alan Sikes of Sikes Farms in Collins, GA, was named Grower of the Year, while industry pioneer L.G. (Bo) Herndon Jr. of Herndon Farms in Lyons, GA, was inducted into the Hall of Fame at the recent Vidalia Onion Committee annual banquet.

Mr. Sikes grew up in a farming family, explained his wife Tracy Sikes, who added, “Instead of playing sports after school, he got to pick corn or tobacco or peanuts. And sometimes he got to get out of school early to do it.”

Playing hooky to work apparently did Mr. Sikes no harm. After graduating from Reidsville (GA) High School, he earned bachelor of science and master of education degrees at the University of Georgia. He then joined the Georgia Extension service and ran the 4-H Camp at Jekyll Island for two years.

A random connection made on a hunting trip out West then led to a very different path: Mr. Sikes moved to Alaska and spent five years as a commercial pilot for a charter service out of Anchorage before returning to farming in Georgia in the mid-1990s.

Seventeen years ago he aligned his farming operation with Shuman Produce Inc. in Reidsville, GA, and it led to a partnership that has yielded dividends for both sides.

“We are so proud to partner with Alan Sikes and his family,” said John Shuman, president of Shuman Produce. “He is truly among the best in quality and reputation in the Vidalia industry, and he has earned this distinction through his continued dedication to growing the highest quality and sweetest onions available in the Vidalia industry. We have been committed to each other’s business for more than 17 years, and we are very grateful for the opportunity to work together.”

Mr. Herndon has been an industry pioneer and tireless supporter of the Vidalia Onion Committee, finding himself at the forefront of tackling industry obstacles for most of the last 25 years. Mr. Herndon was instrumental in the implementation of CA storage in the early 1990s; preventing growers outside the region from producing and mislabeling other varieties as Vidalias; and changing sales units to 40-pound cartons from 50-pound cartons.

Mr. Herndon’s peers say that he has often put the needs of the industry above those of his own company, and he currently sits on the advisory panel for the Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture, and he recently finished his second term as president of the Georgia Fruit & Vegetable Association.

Mr. Herndon’s nephew and business partner, Jason Herndon, said the Hall of Fame award is “not about what you have done for yourself, but instead what you have done for the industry” and reflects a reputation built through “honor, respect and integrity. If it’s important to the industry, it’s important to him, and I think we all know he is going to shoot straight and tell it like it is.”

“I’m just a worker,” Bo Herndon said. “My mama said when I was born I was just like a little rubber ball, I never stopped bouncing, and I guess I’ve never stopped bouncing. I’ve always worked hard and when they ask me to run the committee and do these other things, I’ve never been one to just take a job and be called chairman or president or board member just to get my picture taken or be in the paper, I’ve always wanted to step up and to do the job. If the recognition comes, it comes, but that’s not why I did it. I don’t want to take all the credit for it. I never called on one grower out there to help me do anything that they didn’t step up and help me. I love my family, they stand behind me. I have a wonderful wife, and I wouldn’t be where I’m at without her. She loved me and stood behind me and when I came in at night and needed to talk about all these problems, she was there to guide and help me and was all the time praying for me. When you’ve got good folks praying for you, you can do anything.”