The Pike County Soil and Water Conservation District Board of Supervisors will host a retirement reception for USDA district conservationist Randy Hale from 2 until 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 14 at the USDA Service Center at 22 Henderson Highway in Troy.

Hale has been with the USDA for 38 and half years with 35 of those in Pike County.

Hale is only the fifth person to hold the position of district conservationist in Pike County.

The first two Pike County district conservationists worked about a year each and the next two worked 12 years each.

After graduating from Auburn University with a degree in agriculture, Hale was hired as an assistant district conservationist in Cullman in 1974.

He worked there a year before moving to Jasper where he was in charge of the office for a year and a half before moving to Pike County.

“Pike County has been a good fit for me,” Hale said. “I was in charge of the work here and later Bullock County was added. It’s been a good 38 and a half years.”

Hale is originally from Cherokee County and was raised on a small farm in Center.

It was on a small garden plot on the family farm that he became interested in a career in agriculture.

“I was very active in 4-H and was especially interested in gardening,” he said. “Back in the mid-1960s, I won first place in the state in gardening.

That’s when I decided that I wanted to go to Auburn and study plant science.”

Hale said he has never questioned his decision and has enjoyed working with the people of Pike and Bullock counties.

“But, I wanted to have more time with my family so I decided to go ahead and retire,” he said. “I’ve got a few projects going and I’m looking forward to having time to do some things I’ve been wanting to do.

I’ll finish out my term as chairman of the Farm-City Committee and I’ll be glad to help out at the (NRCS) office if they need me.”