Beth Chapman: Alabamian helped work White House Egg Roll

Alabama’s Caleb Hicks was invited to the White House earlier this month to participate in the president’s annual Easter Egg Roll.

Hicks was not just invited to participate but was given a leadership role (no pun intended) in helping manage the egg hunt section of this event. He and his fiancé, Katie Phillips, both worked the event and reported it was not only fun, but the opportunity of a lifetime. But it was more than fun for Hicks; it was work. Hicks is the communications and membership director of the Alabama Egg and Poultry Association, which is responsible for, among other things, promoting Alabama’s billion-dollar poultry and egg industry.

The American Egg Board, which manages promotions for the egg industry in the U.S., invited about a dozen people from across the country, and due to his job, Hicks was one of them. You may be familiar with the board via its well-known “Incredible Edible Egg” campaign.

The White House Easter Egg Roll has been an annual event since 1878 when Rutherford B. Hayes was president. It has been held most years since then, except for inclement weather, war times and the past two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Approximately 30,000 people attended the event this year. They were selected through a national lottery. American farmers donated 100,000 eggs to the event and to the Maryland Food Bank. Americans decorate and eat approximately 3 billion eggs during the Easter season.

Hicks is quick to point out that Alabama does its part in the production of all things eggs and poultry. Alabama’s egg and poultry industry has an annual economic impact of $15 billion in our state. We rank second nationally in broiler production. Poultry is one of the largest industries in the state and makes up one-eighth of Alabama’s economy. It is responsible for 86,000 jobs and produces over 1billion birds each year. Out of the 1.7 million table egg laying hens, 500 million eggs are produced. That’s a whole lot of eggs.

Thank you to Hicks for representing our state and one of its largest industries at the biggest egg hunt of them all at the biggest house of them all. Keep Alabama relevant. Eat more poultry and eggs.

Beth Chapman is Alabama’s former State Auditor and 51st Secretary of State. She now owns and operates Beth Chapman & Associates, LLC. This is her weekly column, “Around the Capitol” published in newspapers and blogs across the state. She can be reached at [email protected].