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The following is Part 1 of a series of articles which are excerpts taken directly from a nine-page paper that former MCA director “Red” Beard penned back in 1994. It is important that we learn about our history and all the leaders who came before us. For those of us who had the pleasure of knowing “Red” knows that he did not filter his comments much, so the disclaimer is to please read this for entertainment and appreciate all the hard work people did to make our association last this long and be highly respected. A few editorial changes were made for a variety reasons. We also must recognize the author of this article as he was quite a character, but also a statesman who loved this industry.
Looking Back
…a brief history of the Mississippi Concrete Industries Association
by
G. B. “Red” Beard
April, 1994
"It has been suggested that before I get too old and forgetful -- some would say that I am already there -- that I put together some sort of history of the Mississippi Concrete Industries Association and its predecessors. So, with the help of a few other old and forgetful members, I'll try.
I will apologize in advance for facts that I represent to be correct that are not, for names that I forget to mention, and for omitting important items that should have been included.
The predecessor to the Mississippi Concrete Industries Association was called the Mississippi Ready Mix Concrete Association. The records indicate that it was incorporated on the 13th of August 1957, with W. I. Hoffpaier (Mississippi Materials Company), J. W. Kornrumpf (American Sand and Gravel}, and John R. Bunch, Jr., (Bunch Concrete) as the incorporators. While no list of the young organization's membership has been kept, I understand that the above, along with Henry Brevard (B & B Concrete), Carl Stephens (Union Lumber Company), Joe Boardman, Sr. (Coast Materials), Kaye Hollister (Concrete Products), Brock Day (Jackson Ready Mix). George Nichols (Jackson Ready Mix), Sam Gholson (Mississippi Materials Company), "Bo" Walker (Concrete Products of Cleveland), and possibly some others were among the early members.
There is no record of meetings by this group. Apparently, there were some held, however. Rumor has it that the group fell into disarray for some unknown reason.
The next record of meetings is of one held as an "organizational meeting" on April 29, 1964, at the Robert E. Lee Hotel. Some of the attendees at this meeting were most of the people already mentioned, along with Heyward Green (Green Brothers Gravel Company) B. O. (Bee) Elliott, Jr. (Elliott Building Supply), Joe Boardman, Jr. (Coast Materials), Jack Harris (Meridian Concrete Company), Bill Hoss (Hoss Ready Mix), J. O. Lewis (American Sand and Gravel), Bud Hall (Senatobia Ready Mix), Buddy Hardy (Vicksburg Concrete), Keith Williams (Vicksburg Concrete), Otho Tatum (Tatum Ready Mix), and others whose names have slipped away.
A convention was held at the Broadwater Beach Hotel in January 1966. We have a newspaper clipping, saved by Joe Boardman, Jr., that recounts this meeting, which was my first. I recall that I had my first encounter with Bee Elliott at this meeting. Joe Boardman, who was the current president, had a death in his family and was unable to attend. Bee Elliott, fresh out of Ole Miss, and about as cocky as anyone just graduated from Ole Miss has ever been, presided. Bee and I began a friendship that endures to this day, although he is probably one of the big reasons for my strong aversion to most Ole Miss graduates. Bobby Worsham of Corinth (Worsham Ready-Mix) only served to intensify that aversion.
The 1966 meeting was followed by another meeting at the Broadwater in January 1967. George Nichols of Jackson Ready Mix was president that year.
After, or during the 1966 meeting, we employed a man named Dudley Mitchell as Executive Secretary. Mitchell served in this same post for the newly organized Mississippi Building Contractors Association, and his wife was the office secretary for both groups. I recall that some time during this period, I got a call from George Nichols to come to a hurry-up meeting in Jackson. [We made a change of leadership at this meeting.]
After this setback, everyone put some extra money in the pot, and thanks to help from the Master Builders Company, we were able to employ T. J. "Ted" Farish. Master Builders continued to subsidize T. J.'s salary, so that we could keep him, and get the organization going.
The early years were good years, although not nearly as productive as the latter years have been. T. J. kept us together, kept an office open, held a couple of meetings each year, and had a few promotion sessions on specialty construction, such as "lift slab," which was new at the time.
In those days, the very active Portland Cement Association (PCA) did almost all of the promotion for concrete. PCA had a staff of three in Mississippi at the time who spent most of their time around the Robert E. Lee Hotel and the Sun and Sand, working with the Highway Department. You will recall that the Highway Department used concrete for almost all the major highways back then.
The first directory was published in 1968, and we have copies of all that have been printed since that date."
STAY TUNED FOR PART 2 FROM “RED” BEARD IN A FUTURE NEWSLETTER!
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