Lon Mann Honored as Top Ginner by NCGA

SAN DIEGO, CA - Lon Mann, partner in McClendon Mann & Felton Gin Company in Marianna, AR, and a past president of the National Cotton Council of America, is the recipient of the 2000 Horace Hayden Cotton Ginner of the Year Award.

Dr. Andrew G. Jordan, director of Technical Services for the NCC and Executive Director of the Cotton Foundation, received the 2000 Distinguished Service Award. The awards were presented at the recent NCGA annual meeting, held in conjunction with the National Cotton Council' 62nd anniversary meeting in San Diego, CA.

The Horace Hayden award is presented to the ginner providing outstanding leadership to the U.S. cotton industry, superior customer service and civic contributions. The Distinguished Service Award is given on behalf of the U.S. cotton ginning industry to the individual making outstanding contributions to the industry and to NCGA.

Mann, a graduate of the University of Arkansas, is a third generation ginner and farmer who has been involved in the ginning business his entire adult life. He was a leader in the revitalization of the NCGA and served as its president. He served as president of the Mid-South Ginners Council, the forerunner of the Southern Ginners Association, among numerous ginning association activities. He is past president of the Agricultural Council of Arkansas, has been inducted into the Arkansas Agricultural Hall of Fame, is a recipient of the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service "Cotton Achievement" award and the Harry Baker Award from the NCC.

Mann also served as Chairman of the Board of Methodist Hospital and Health Systems in Memphis, TN; trustee of the NCC's Cotton Foundation and president of his local school district.

In presenting the award, outgoing NCGA President Myrl Mitchell said Mann "strives to provide outstanding service to his customers, and through the years he has provided the best and latest in modern ginning technology. He has instigated educational programs for farmers to encourage them to produce more cotton because of its economic advantage relative to other crops. He has served this industry and his community tirelessly and unselfishly."

Jordan, who graduated from the University of Georgia, joined the NCC in 1976. He has served in numerous advisory roles throughout the agricultural community, including more than 40 program reviews of state and federal agricultural research units, secretary of the U.S.-Mexico Winter Nursery for cotton germplasm research, technical advisor to the International Cotton Advisory Committee and President of the Agricultural Research Institute. In 1995, he was awarded the Mayfield Cotton Engineering Award.

Elected 2001-02 NCGA officers are: president, Richard Bransford, Lonoke, AR; first vice president, Michael Hooper, Buttonwillow, CA; second vice president, Richard Holder, Kinston, NC; and third vice president, Sid Brough, Edroy, TX. Myrl Mitchell, Lenorah, TX, now serves as board chairman and Bill Norman, Memphis, TN, is executive vice president.