News
Copley is newly elected president
Rotary Club of Humble
Monday, July 27, 2009
Trilla Cook
Rotarian excels in Trigg family catering business
Valerie
Trigg Copley was recently installed as the second woman ever to be
elected president of the Rotary Club of Humble Intercontinental,
effective July 1. The once all-male establishment put its trust in a
long time Humble resident and seasoned businesswoman.
“I am a proud Rotarian, and I can’t say enough about the wonders of
Rotary. I am surprised by all the good deeds Rotary is responsible
for over the last 100 years. Many people are still unaware of what
Rotary is,” Copley said. “Rotary is an International service
organization devoted to the advancement of international
understanding, goodwill and peace through a world fellowship of
people united in the idea of service as a basis of worthy
enterprise. As a group of like-minded, local individuals committed
to pooling our skills, talents and resources, we are able to help so
many here locally and around the world. My work with Rotary is
extremely fulfilling, especially in working with our exchange
students, and I feel I’ve found a new family in my Rotary Club,” she
said.
Copley attended St. Vincent de Paul private school in the West
University area of Houston and graduated from Humble High School –
class of 1993. She earned a degree from University of Houston’s
Conrad Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management in 1997,
and earned a BA in English Literature with honors from UH-Downtown
while her husband, Joby, was working on his architectural degree.
“I’m a lover of learning, so I’m always taking some class or
another. I guess education is my hobby,” said Copley.
According to Copley, Trigg’s Catering Co. director of catering, the
company was recently ranked the eighth largest catering business in
Houston by the Houston Business Journal, whose yearly ranking is
based on volume. Trigg’s Catering specializes in volume, catering
annually for the Wings over Houston event, many Houston Rodeo and Go
Texan events including the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo calf
scramble, as well as galas and community fundraisers for charities.
Copley said they once catered 13,000 meals at three locations
simultaneously in one day.
“Our business is all about family. Both of my great-uncles, Eugene
and James Trigg, were cooks in the U.S. Army, so they were experts
in volume cooking and passed that expertise to my dad. That really
helped get our catering business off the ground,” Copley said.
The Trigg family has been in the food business since 1939 when
Copley’s grandfather, Wilborn Trigg, was one of the first meat
distributors in the Houston area. Copley said her dad, Harvey Trigg,
grew up in that environment, so he developed a respect for quality
foods and a love for preparing them.
“I mean, he loves food! I have never known another person have so
much respect for the marbling in a steak or the perfect cut of a
pork loin. Couple that passion with an Italian mom and you’ll see I
was destined to be in the food business,” she said.
Trigg’s Catering offers full-service catering throughout southeast
Texas, and Trigg’s Humble Inn Restaurant, which was establish in
1969, is the oldest restaurant in Humble. They are also known for
baking and distributing pecan pie tarts throughout Texas as well as
parts of Louisiana and Oklahoma. Their pecan pie tarts can be found
at Randall’s stores and most convenience stores.
“My family has owned property in Humble since the late ‘60s, so I’ve
grown up in this area. My dad fell in love with Humble, and bought a
house on the river down on Moonshine Hill. He is a Texas history
buff and loved the folklore and history associated with the oil boom
in this area. And Moonshine Hill has some stories. We lived in
Houston, where he was a police officer, and we spent weekends,
summers and any free moments here in Humble. As they say, ‘Life’s
too short to live it in Houston,’ so we moved here permanently in
1988 once my dad retired from the Houston Police Department,” said
Copley.
In 1994, Ozzie and Mary Berger, the original owners of Humble Inn
Restaurant, approached the Triggs about purchasing their restaurant,
which they had operated as a family since 1969 and they wanted the
new owners to keep the same “family” feel. The Triggs purchased the
Humble Inn in March 1995. The adjacent property which housed the old
Humble Meat Market and the processing plant behind it immediately
became available, and they purchased it as well. Trigg’s Catering
had outgrown their existing catering kitchen, and gradually designed
and built out their new 6,000-square-foot catering plant behind the
old meat market. Now, they are contained in one block with the
Humble Inn Restaurant, catering plant, catering office, and dry
goods commissary, inclusive.
Copley’s brother, Tracey, coordinates purchasing and inventory for
all of the businesses. Her stepmother, Mary, handles all the
accounting, scheduling and human resources, and Copley works mainly
in the catering office, where she schedules caterings and talks
about food. She can also be found at the Humble Inn, where her dad
is omnipresent to make sure all is running smoothly with the help of
some great co-workers, she said.
As for the future, Copley said they know trends will come and go in
the foods industry, but they will continue to serve traditional
foods made from scratch daily using fresh, healthful products.
Although Copley loves to travel, she says Texas will always be her
home.
Trigg Foods Inc. is located at 1414 First Street in Humble. For more
information, call 281-540-2700 or visit
www.triggfoods.com.
Photo By Trilla Cook
© 2008 Ourtribune.com
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Article from the Kingwood-Humble Edition
of the Houston Chronicle
July 31, 2008
Rotary honors its own
Copley named to International yearly award
By SUZANNE WEST
CHRONICLE CORRESPONDENT
Humble restaurateur Valerie Copley was named Rotarian of the Year by the Rotary Club of Humble Intercontinental recently.
Copley, who works with her father Harvey Trigg, in the family’s restaurant businesses, Trigg’s Humble Inn and Trigg’s Catering, learned of the honor at the monthly membership luncheon at the Humble Civic Center.
“There was one name that would pop all the time,” said outgoing club president Philippe Cras of the search for this year’s top Rotarian. “(Copley) is involved in everything and is a fantastic Rotarian.”
He praised Copley for taking on volunteer projects and programs such as the club’s participation in Rotary’s international student exchange programs and the international directorship position in the club.
With the exchange program, Copley ensures that incoming exchange students have homes in which to live during their stay in the community.
She helps them get enrolled in the schools and makes sure they are transported to the various required activities Rotary sponsors to help them acclimate to their exchange period here. She also serves as a constant contact point for these kids while they’re away from their homelands.
As the international service director, Copley’s duty is to help the club find and participate in avenues of international service be it the Rotary Foundation or joint participation in multiclub international service projects.
While presiding over his last meeting as club president, Cras also presented perfect attendance pins to eligible club members.
Those Rotarians were Carl Taylor with one year; Bill Davis, two years; Ken Austin, three years; Copley, five years; Jim McCary, six years; Skip Porter, 14 years; Rob Burgess, 15 years; the Rev. Tom Fritts, 16 years; Debbie McDonald, 17 years; Bruce Ward, 28 years; Randy Bell, 32 years; Bob Cassidy, 34 years; and Al Moore, 34 years.
The Rotarian with the longest stretch of perfect attendance is D.B. McDonald who has 42 years of perfect Rotary attendance.
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Article from Living Magazine in PDF************************************ |
Article from the
Observer Newspaper of July 2, 2008
Local man prompts city to show patriotic Spirit
By STEFANIE THOMAS
The stars and stripes are fluttering in the occasional breeze, waving down from nearly every light pole, every building, along Humble’s Main Street these days, reminding antique shoppers and tavern patrons, churchgoers and museum visitors alike to take pride in their country. Not just on Independence Day — always.
Aside from his hearty down-home kitchen, local restaurant owner
and caterer Harvey Trigg is well-known for his generosity, donating his products and services on a regular basis to support a good cause. But more than an active supporter of the community, Trigg is also an ardent patriot.
“A few weeks ago he came in to pay his water bill and said he needed to talk to me for a minute,” said Darrell Boeske, Humble’s city manager. “When he mentioned that he wanted to buy flags to put up along Main Street I started asking around. It wasn’t a priority in recent years; we had kind of forgotten about it, and I’m glad he brought it to our attention.”
Boeske and Trigg both said that Humble had flown flags over Main Street in the past. The last time he saw them, Trigg remembered, was nearly seven years ago following the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001.
A year and a half later, the flags were taken down and haven’t been seen on Main Street since.
“On Memorial Day weekend I went to a cemetery in Houston and put flags on all the veterans’ graves,” Trigg said. “When I went home — I live on Main Street — I was thinking how we used to have flags there, too, and that we need them again,” he said.
Trigg approached Boeske with the offer to shoulder the cost for the flags but the city manager sprang into action at once, gathering up flags from one city department and the brackets from another. Much had become lost in the shuffle when offices were rearranged and job duties reassigned a few years ago, Boeske explained.
“Next thing I knew, the flags were all up and down Main Street,” Trigg said with an air of approval. “I’m a proud American. I’m proud of what we have. We shouldn’t forget who we are, where we came from.”
Boeske
said that in the future, the flags will grace Main Street begining
the week prior to Memorial Day each year. They will salute Main
Street shoppers and residents well past Flag Day and Independence
Day and remain in place until mid-September to commemorate the 9/11
anniversary.
“The flags represent America, and they represent freedom,” Boeske said.
Humble restaurateur Harvey Trigg, center, approached the city of Humble about resuming an old tradition that fell to the wayside several years ago. Friends Clinton Johnson, left, Humble fire marshal, and firefighter Jack Terry said they like Trigg’s idea and commend him for his call to a display of patriotism.
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Article from the
Observer Newspaper of March 14, 2007
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Good food, good people
Harvey Trigg, owner of the Humble Inn and Trigg’s Catering, received special recognition from the Harris County Citizen Corps for providing approximately 450 meals to support the Corps’ Rodeo Roundup. Corps representatives Branch Isbell, left, and Mardie Menke, right, hold the banner they presented to Trigg, seated next to his wife, Mary. Trigg was also given a plaque and T-shirts in appreciation. “It’s nice to be recognized and thanked for something you like to do,” said Trigg. “I appreciate it.”
