Our rural district is not just a place on the map, this is a tapestry woven with hard work, determination, and unity. The tall lodgepole pines, the significant swampy wetlands, and the endless dirt roads are a beautiful legacy also to the unique culture of deep South Georgia. Growing up working at Roberson Tractor Company, I started putting cultivators together in the fifth grade, later I began installing some of the first irrigation in this area onto the sandy soil of Berrien County, and eventually I was put on the ‘grain bin crew,’ but my joy was delivering tractors back to the farms after they were repaired. My father was an ultimate example of a businessman who could employ 25 workers in two towns, endure an agricultural recession, keep a family together, become president of the chamber of commerce, as well as find the next football coach for the high school. I learned politics and negotiations right at the dinner table.