Hill, Merritt receive Texas Agricultural Lifetime Leadership awards

AUSTIN — A Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Marcus Hill of Watuga, and a Distinguished Alumnus Award was presented to Garry Merritt of Leakey recently by Texas Agricultural Lifetime Leadership, also known as TALL, a program of the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.

The awards were presented at a “Tribute to Texas Leadership” reception held at the Austin Club in Austin, according to Dr. Jim Mazurkiewicz, TALL director. Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller was the keynote speaker.

“TALL would not be where it is today without Marcus Hill’s guidance, support, mentorship and love for education,” Mazurkiewicz said. “He is truly an ambassador for Texas agriculture and an advocate for teaching the next generation.”

Hill, chairman of the board of Ag Workers Finance Company since 1992, has been active in various facets of Texas agriculture since 1971, when he joined Agricultural Workers Mutual Auto Insurance Company. He also graduated from Texas A&M University in 1971 with a bachelor’s in agricultural education.

He was a founding member of the TALL program and has served on the Advisory Board since its inception in 1987. Hill has supported the program financially every year, Mazurkiewicz said, and has recruited TALL applicants, board members and sponsors. In addition, he has served on the TALL participant selection committee and serves as a mentor and advisor to the program.

Merritt, Real County judge, completed the TALL program in 2012 and parlayed his experiences toward establishing the Pioneers Youth Leadership Program in Leakey. The program focuses on seven aspects of leadership: attitude, persistence, respect, passion, character, teamwork and service.

Students in the program complete three community service projects in the fall and conduct programs for elementary and middle school students on water conservation, entrepreneurship and leadership. They also write a business plan to compete for $24,000 in scholarships and cash awards at the San Antonio Livestock Show and Rodeo.

Pioneers Youth Leadership Program started with 19 students in Real County and now has 145 students throughout 10 counties, Mazurkiewicz noted.

“Garry was inspired by the TALL program model of bringing together a group of passionate, strong-minded people and working with them to give the training, experience and contacts they could use to make a difference in the world,” he said.

For more information about TALL, see http://tall.tamu.edu/.