MOULTRIE — Ninety-two years ago, Colquitt County’s first canning plant was built by FFA students on the Moultrie High School campus and the newest iteration of the canning plant promises to continue the service to local residents.

A ground-breaking ceremony was held Tuesday for the Colquitt County School District’s Agriculture Facility and Canning Plant on Doc Darbyshire Road across from the high school.

The facility will have a livestock barn that will accommodate both large and small animals for livestock shows, and the 6,967-square-foot canning plant will have eight fully equipped workstations. Altman and Barrett architects worked with the faculty of the school’s agricultural department to design the facility that’s being built by JCI Contractors.

In an interview early on in the planning stages for the new facility, William Burt, a CCHS agriculture mechanics teacher, said the current canning plant became too crowded during operation and sometimes people weren’t able to be served.

According to The Moultrie Observer’s Feb. 25, 1955, edition, the canning program was started in 1930 by T.G. Walters, a vocational agriculture teacher at Moultrie High School, who would go out to county municipalities in his truck and set up under a “shade tree.”

“With a lightwood fire to furnish the heat and a hand-sealer to crimp the lids on the cans, he was at the service of all who brought in their produce for canning,” stated the article.

Two years later, the first canning plant was built on the high school’s campus by FFA students. Walters set up the canning plant in that building with two retorts.

“He was still using hand-sealers when the first piece of mechanical equipment was bought — a pear peeler,” according to the article.

During Tuesday’s ceremony, outgoing Colquitt County School Superintendent Ben Wiggins welcomed the crowd, “Thank y’all for coming. We know this is a very exciting time for the community. A lot of time, effort, work and maybe a few tears shed during this process.”

Mary Beth Watson, vice chair of the Colquitt County Board of Education, spoke on behalf of the board.

“I’m excited to celebrate this day on both a personal level and as a member of the board of education,” and recounted that she had spent lots of time with her father at the Norman Park canning plant.

“At a very young age, I realized that the canning plant was a venue that brought every segment of our community together,” Watson said.

She went on to say that she had seen, when she was younger, the men from the County Farm processing their food alongside some of the “elite” of Moultrie.

“I learned so many lessons from the canning plant and much of my work ethic through there,” she said.

She asked that current and former agriculture teachers stand and be recognized for their contributions to the community in keeping the canning plant going and helping families preserve their food over the many years.

“Today is a great day for the Colquitt County School District. In 2001, the Colquitt County Board of Education purchased this property and every superintendent and board member from that time forward has dreamed of this day and worked towards its culmination,” she said.

She said that the food processing facility would serve the families of this community for years to come and the livestock facility will eliminate barriers and open opportunities for livestock projects to students who lack access to land, facilities and equipment.

JCI Contractors Project Manager Braxton Jones spoke on behalf of his father, company president Lyndy Jones, who sent his well-wishes for the start of the project. He also thanked the school district and board for selecting JCI Contractors for the project.

“We completed our first project with Colquitt County Schools in 1995 and today marks the start of the 26th project with you. So, on behalf of the entire JCI family, thank you,” he said.

He said that over the next 14 months, they would see the site transform into two different buildings — the canning plant and the agriculture facility.

“This time next year, we’ll be getting down to the wire and close to finish. … We’re looking forward to bringing years worth of planning to light on this site here,” Jones said.

Scott DeMott, the chairman of the agriculture education advisory committee, said that he represented all the ones who had stood beside the agriculture teachers and had listened to them and talked to them and heard their cries for what was needed for the school’s agriculture department and education.

“It’s been a real privilege but today is very special because of what we’re about to embark on. We worked with the ag department and teachers discussing the need for a new canning plant and a new show barn and an arena that would facilitate our shows and allow our kids to invest in their livestock projects,” he said.

DeMott went on to say that Colquitt County agriculture students have always excelled in the classroom, in the show arena and in competitions.

“These young people are learning life lessons that are very, very vital to produce good citizens for our county and for our state and for ouworld,” he said motioning to the FFA students who were in attendance.

He said the most exciting part about the agriculture structures was the community influence that assisted in the design in the developmental stages.

“Both the canning facility and the livestock facility will reflect the thoughts and desires of stakeholders here in Colquitt County. Each facility was designed by a committee of parents, community leaders, school administration, the agriculture education advisory committee and agriculture teachers,” DeMott said.

He said that the process took several years to ensure that the final draft of the project would be an elite agriculture facility that would always be available to the students and community of Colquitt County.

“We are so grateful to the Colquitt County Board of Education for the opportunity to have these facilities placed on the ESPLOST to fund this and extremely thankful to have such a vital role in the designing and the development stages of this facility,” he said.

As a final note, Wiggins took the opportunity to recognize Whitney Smith as taking the lead in promoting the ESPLOST from the community side of things.

“It was the highest ‘yes’ SPLOST vote not only in the State of Georgia during that election cycle but the highest ‘yes’ vote in the history of Colquitt County. and I think we all owe her a round of applause,” he said.