Honors keep on coming: Horace Hume, 95, of Mendota reaped honors this year on the West Coast, then the East Coast, then back in the Midwest for his abundant contributions to American agriculture (he holds more than 100 patents) and to his community.
It began on June 24, on U.S. Highway 195 near Rosalia, Wash., with the dedication of a Historic Agricultural Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Agricultural Engineers (ASAE).
The bronze plaque, commemorating the invention of the flexible floating cutterbar and the tined pickup reel by Hume and partner James E. Love, was the society’s 27th dedication nationwide since 1926. The inventions, according to the plaque, “were reported to save the equivalent of 2,750,000 acres of soybeans annually.”
On Aug. 4, U.S. Rep. J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and other members of the House of Representatives paid tribute to Hume, calling him “one of a rare breed of geniuses of invention.” Hastert entered into the Congressional Record a Tempo Southwest article from Nov. 8, 1992, chronicling Hume’s achievements.
Closer to home, the city of Mendota proclaimed Aug. 15, 1993 (Hume’s 95th birthday) “Horace Hume Day.” The proclamation was made in recognition of Hume’s “outstanding contribution to his community,” which included a recent donation of $750,000 for construction of a new 10,000-square-foot library.
Finally, Hume was proclaimed by the Equipment Manufacturers Institute (EMI), headquartered in Chicago, “as one of the most significant contributors to the mechanization of agriculture and construction in the past century.” The honor was bestowed at EMI’s 100th annual convention on Sept. 27.
The institute cited Hume as an individual who has “made a difference in the role mechanization has played in mankind’s pursuit of food, shelter and mobility.”
