Raybon Anderson was inducted into the Georgia Agricultural Hall of Fame Saturday in Athens, but he wasn’t there. A previous engagement – the wedding of a grandson – took precedence over his own honor.

So, Billy Hickman and many of Anderson’s family, friends and colleagues decided to stage a local ceremony Thursday to celebrate the achievements and contributions that earned Anderson’s enshrinement into the Georgia Agricultural Hall of Fame.

Elder Randy Waters, Anderson’s pastor at Statesboro Primitive Baptist Church, began the event with a blessing.

“Look around at the men and women in this place that come to celebrate with brother Raybon this honor he’s about to receive,” Waters told the crowd of about 100 inside the Bulloch County Center for Agriculture on Langston Chapel Road. “I know, Lord, he doesn’t feel worthy of it. But Lord, he is. We need more Raybon Anderson’s. He has a courageous and faithful heart.”

For Anderson, the Hall of Fame honor is the professional culmination of a lifetime devoted to agriculture.

Born on a farm in Nevils, Anderson told the Statesboro Herald in an interview in 2018: “Being raised on a farm gets in your blood. You just can’t get it out of your blood.”

Several video-taped messages were played to the crowd at Thursday’s event, praising Anderson for his induction.

“When I look up Georgia agriculture in the dictionary, it’s spelled R-A-Y-B-O-N,” former Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue said in a pre-taped message. “Congratulations for a well-deserved honor. A hall-of-famer for sure. Thanks for plowing the way for many of us to come behind and stand on your shoulders advocating for Georgia agriculture.”

“Mr. Raybon, you’ve truly been a man of the people and for the people in your years of service to this state,” Speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives Jon Burns said. “To Statesboro and Bulloch County, as chairman of the county commission leading and helping Statesboro and Bulloch County to put its best foot forward, you’ve been there for your local community. … All those things are a great example for all of us to follow and to emulate your caring, your compassion and your service to others.”

“Raybon has set himself apart with his many leadership roles and organizations, including the Board of Natural Resources, the Georgia National Fairgrounds Association, the Georgia Agribusiness Council, the Department of Transportation Board and countless more,” said Georgia Governor Brian Kemp. “Through this service, Raybon has impacted (his) community and given back to the agriculture industry as a whole.”

After high school, Anderson went to work with the United States Department of Agriculture. He met many people all over the state, as well as working with farmers all across the county and surrounding areas. And his passion for agriculture revealed a void he believed needed to be filled.

“I saw a need for one organization that could help the farmer with all of his agricultural needs, fertilizer, ag chemicals – any services and products that a farmer needed, all in one location,” Anderson said. “Horse supplies – serving the farmer covers a lot of things.”

In 1963, he founded Bulloch Fertilizer Inc. to provide local producers with all their agricultural needs, from fertilizer and agricultural chemicals to services and livestock products, in one location.

“I never looked back,” Anderson said of his decision to open the business. “I’ve enjoyed every day. Some of our clients have been with us since the very first month we were in business.”

Following a short video at Thursday’s event about his life and career, a humble and emotional Anderson thanked everyone for their support.

“This has been such a good community to be part of and to work hard and to feel like we’re always working together,” Anderson said. “People would often tell me ‘We appreciate what you do’ and I would say, ‘No, no, no. It’s what we do.’ Nobody is big enough to do it all. It always takes a we.”

Anderson built Bulloch Fertilizer’s new office on its current site in 1993. And in 2007, he and his son Mike opened Anderson’s General Store, first as a smaller operation near the office on West Main, and then as a larger store on Highway 80 East.

From the beginning Anderson said he has followed the simple advice his grandfather gave him when he started the business: “Be honest. Be sincere. Always serve your customer with a smile. Always do what you tell them you’re going to do.”

And, for Anderson, there was never any doubt about who was guiding his path.

“I was raised to believe that you serve the Old Master first, family next, then business. As long as you serve the Ole Master first and family next, then everything will fall into place.”