When Dublin graduate Kevin Strickland was in high school in the 1980s, his father started a family business, Specialty Insect Systems, out of Dublin. The company installs and services fly spray systems in horse barns and show cattle barns all over Texas.
Strickland graduated from Dublin High School in 1985, and spent the next few years working different jobs in the area, hauling hay, breaking horses, and working at Saint Gobain. Then, in 1988, Strickland joined his family business and has never looked back.
Strickland’s father has a background in chemical sales, and came up with the idea for the business himself. “He developed these automatic fly spray systems, and just kind of went from there,” Strickland said. “It’s a 55-gallon tank that has a motor pump and timer on top of it. We run tubing that has spray nozzles that go over each horse stall and wherever else they have a fly problem. It goes off automatically several times a day for about 40, 60 seconds each spray time.”
For the past 36 years, Strickland has been servicing and installing the systems in the areas surrounding Dublin. One of his coworkers covers North and East Texas and Oklahoma, and his brother and his two sons, who live in Lampasas, cover South, Southeast and Southwest Texas.
“Our job is pretty cool,” says Strickland. “We get to travel a lot and see a lot of nice facilities and meet a lot of great people. We’ve become good friends with a lot of our customers, and we really enjoy just traveling and seeing all the country and all the nice horsefacilities.Everybody’s so great and fun to be around and visit with when I’m at all these barns.”
An average week for Strickland consists mostly of servicing existing systems in barns in the area. “Some of the big barns we have to service pretty regularly, and smaller barns we don’t, you know, don’t have to service them as often,” he said.
When they have a new client, Strickland helps install the systems. Business is extremely busy in the summer when the flies are out and about, and slows down in winter. This pace is convenient for Strickland, because outside of work, his biggest passion is hunting.
Strickland started hunting as a teenager, with his granddad. “He’s always been a big hunter and trapper, and he kind of got me started,” Strictland said. “The place we lived [in Dublin] was about 80 acres, and that’s where we do a lot of hunting. Of course, in high school all I did was coon hunt with all my buddies with dogs.”
Now he shoots one deer a year for food, but mostly enjoys the peaceful atmosphere of being in nature. “The main reason I love hunting is I love just sitting in the stand,” he said. “That’s my quiet time. I can get away from everything and just have peace and quiet in the woods.”
Strickland and his wife Jodie live in Hico. The couple has four children, Jordan, 26, Jacob, 23, Jake, 21 and Jayden, 19. They welcomed their first grandchild two months ago.
Strickland’s parents, Barney and Joy Strickland, still live in Dublin. “I come to Dublin every morning, and that’s where our shop is, where I load up and fortunately I am blessed to get to visit my parents every morning before I leave.”
His parents have been inspirational to Strickland throughout his life. “My mom, she’s just been a very strong Christian,” he said. “She went through breast cancer in the ‘70s and survived, and just with all the things that she’s been through, and her faith, she’s been the glue to our family. And, of course my dad brought me up with a good work ethic. I couldn’t ask for a better dad. He’s a great inspiration, too.”
Strickland offers the following advice to Dublin graduates: “Just work hard and live right,” he said. “A lot of people, unfortunately don’t believe in God, but that’s what has helped me and kept me going all these years. Keep your faith, work hard, and love your family. It’s all about family.”
Editor’s Note: This column chronicles what Dublin graduates have done since high school. If you have any suggestions for other grads, email publisher@ dublincitizen. com.