Norma Gamblin holds grandson Cash, while Phil Gamblin holds grandson Clifton, on
their dairy farm in rural southeast Hopkins County. The Phil and Norma Gamblin Family
have been named Parade Marshals for the 49th Annual Dairy Festival Parade, Saturday.
Phil and Norma Gamblin Named
Parade Marshals For 49th Annual
Dairy Festival Parade
by: Bobby McDonald
It will be longtime dairy farmers, Phil and Norma Gamblin and their family, that will be leading the 49th Annual Dairy Festival Parade, on Saturday, as it winds its way through Sulphur Springs, in salute of the multi-million dollar Hopkins County Dairy Industry. The Gamblins, like many Hopkins County couples, entered the dairy business shortly after they graduated high school and married.
Well, that was over 34 years ago and Phil and Norma are still "raising cows and kids" on their dairy farm in the Greenpond Community, southeast of Sulphur Springs. Both Phil and Norma are from generational Hopkins County farming families and were reared in the dairy industry, as a way of life. They've reared their two sons in the industry and are working on the upbringing of two grandsons, as they follow Norma and Phil around the farm on a daily basis. "I guess you could say that this is the only life we know," expressed Norma, as she took a break from feeding baby calves. "I grew-up on my Daddy's dairy farm and then went strait to working on our own!"
Norma still is "in charge" of the calf raising on the Gamblin Dairy Farm. "I get them up big enough to wean from milk and eating good, and then I turn them over to Walt and Phil," expressed, Norma, referring to her son and husband. "I get them all started and then they take over!"
Yes, and Norma has two grandsons, Clifton and Cash, who are following in her footsteps and making sure that she "is doing everything right!"
"My family began in the dairy business, on this farm in the 1960's," relates Phil. "My dad was driving a Foremost Milk Truck and decided that me and my brother needed something to do! So, he went in the dairy business to keep us out of trouble!"
Due to the untimely death of Jim Gamblin, when Phil was only 17 years old, Phil had to "grow-up" pretty fast. "It was my mother, my brother, who had been injured in an accident, and myself that were faced with operating the dairy, when my Dad died," remembers Phil. "We were milking 40 or 50 cows, a normal herd for the times and it was our livelyhood!"
Phil began adding cows to the herd and as the years have progressed, he and Norma have taken over the operation and built the herd to some 195 milking cows, all the heifers that are required for replacement, and the farming operation that accompanies a modern dairy farm.
"I guess the best advice that my Dad left me with was telling me that the best thing a dairyman could do was to marry a girl that knew how to milk cows!" quips Phil. "Well, I married her from over in the Reilly Springs Community and me and Norma have been milking cows ever since!"
Norma's family, the Billy Reeds, had entered the dairy business, when Norma was just an infant in 1956. Norma knew what the life entailed and like most girls in Hopkins County either made the decision that she would be a dairy farmer's wife or go to work in town, when they started dating in 1972. "I like the outdoors and enjoy seeing the calves grow and mature, feeling that I've made a difference in the family business," states Norma. "It's a feeling of satisfaction to know that you're contributing to the farm every day and working with your family!"
Well, with two sons, Brent and Walt, the Gamblin family grew and both boys were exposed to the dairy industry from their infancy. "The boys followed me around feeding baby calves in their strollers," allowed Norma. "And, it was only natural that they would advance from driving toy tractors to the real thing, when they got old enough. Both boys worked through school and college, on the family farm. We really never encouraged them to join us in the dairy business, but they always knew that the opportunity was there, if they chose this lifestyle!"
"We have one son who is involved in the dairy business and the other one decided to do something entirely different and that's the way we reared them, to do what makes them happy," explains Phil. "Brent, our eldest son, is a professional counselor with the Texas State Prison System, and I guess got his training talking to the cows and figuring out complicated situations on a dairy farm!"
Brent and his wife, Angela, live in nearby Como, with son, Clifton, and are regular visitors to the Gamblin Dairy, as they see the benefits of rearing a child on a farm.
Younger son, Walt and his wife, Jessica, along with their son, Cash, are part of the Gamblin Dairy operation. "Walt didn't first think he wanted to join the dairy, but after college, when he started looking at careers, found his way back here," explains Phil. "He went to fireman's school for a couple of days and came home and decided that the farm life was what he wanted!"
"Walt coming back to work with us on the dairy farm a few years back has encouraged us to look at the operation and make some changes," allows Norma. "Walt is always looking at the new and modern ways of doing things and has made us all sit down and see how we can implement new ideas into the operation. One of the best things we have done is converting our feeding system to feeding the milking herd on the outside of the barn!"
"We grow our own silage, both rye grass and sorghum and mix it for a ration that is fed outside," explains Phil. "We were forced to convert to this type of system by a severe drought and it continues to be a really important part of the operation, even today!"
Son, Walt, is involved in the family operation and is in partnership in another dairy farm in Hopkins County. He also involved his father in a partnership of a trucking company that hauls all of the dairy farm's milk and milk for other nearby dairy farmers. The Gamblins are partners in GHB Trucking (Gamblin-Hinton-Boatman)."We're involved in about all aspects of the dairy industry, from the production side," expresses Phil. "We start with a baby calf and go all the way to delivering the milk to the milk plant. Sure, it gets hectic at times, but it is the life that we've chosen and one that certainly has its rewards of working with family and with animals! What other life could you have that you get to watch your kids and grandkids grow-up on a daily basis and feel like you've accomplished something?"
Saturday morning, you'll see Phil and Norma Gamblin, and their family waving to the crowd, along the streets of Sulphur Springs, and can be certain that they know all aspects of the dairy industry, as well as having watched it grow from rather humble beginnings in Hopkins County. They're truly a Hopkins County Dairy Farm Family and we salute their hard work and dedication!
Congratulations, Phil, Norma,
and Family, on being named
Parade Marshals of the 2008 Dairy Parade!!!
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