Cook is planning the boat launch for the middle of November , after harvest and when the farmers get to take a breath . It will be a Hemp Festival to celebrate the harvest , showcase the hemp industry , the wood floors from Kentucky , the hempcrete from St . Louis , the fiber insulation from Idaho , and hopefully , a whole lot more ! I can ’ t wait to see the boat in the water !
Hemp wood products and building materials .
( Photos by Chris Smith )
( Above ) Bill Cook ’ s first of three planned houseboats made of hemp products . ( Below ) Bill Cook and Dolores touring the Native Prairie Farm ( hemp farm ) in August . ( Photos by Clayton Stallings )
up anchor and head a little further down the river .” Cook ’ s vision — hemp houseboats for homeless vets .
“ It ’ s a process ,” Cook says , taking off his very stylish hat and wiping the sweat away . “ It will take 20 years , and I won ’ t live to see it . I ’ m 77 , but my 14-year-old granddaughter Luci is my apprentice . I know she will see it through .”
Cook showed us a school project Luci had just finished , a video presentation on hemp . My faith grew . The young people in cannabis will ensure the fraud-based policies we have lived under for nearly nine decades will not survive .
The Missouri Hemp Trade Association meets monthly , rotating throughout the State . Whether you have two or ten acres , the best way to find out how to turn them into hemp is to join the organization and attend the meetings .
Next stop , the wood flooring factories in Kentucky , stopping along the way to check out the hempcrete ( concrete made of hemp ) factory being built in St . Louis . So , stay tuned . We will bring our readers many more stories about this amazing industrial hope for humanity .
For more information and to help continue to drive the Missouri Hemp Industry forward , visit www . mohemptrade . org . Find news and more photos at www . facebook . com / mohemptrade .
Dolores Montgomery Halbin , RN , BSN , and Ordained Nurse Minister , resides in SW Missouri . After her husband passed in 2015 , she retired from nursing . She worked with the 2014-2018 Missouri campaigns for legalized medical marijuana . She continues as a cannabis reform activist volunteering with Canna Convict Project and working toward Federal decriminalization through educational speaking and freelance journalism . Dolores Halbin ,
doloreshalbin @ gmail . com .