James and Joyce Hobbs have only been living in Italy for a little over five and a half months but have made quite an impact on the city of Italy. So much so they were awarded Citizen of the Month for June.

Joyce Hobbs explained, “We moved to Waxahachie in 2008 when Hurricane Ike blew us up here. We had to leave our home in Houston because hurricane Ike was destroying everything. We came up to Ellis county because James’s dad, sister and brother live in Waxahachie, so we stayed with them. While we were looking for a house, we found and purchased the feed store and then we found our home here that we just love.”

I asked James what he thought about being Citizen of the Month and he replied, “I think both of us are really proud to be Citizen of the Month. Especially since we have only been here since February. We are always trying to help improve the city and help the citizens of Italy. Last year we gave a scholarship to Roy Gilespie and we hope to give out another scholarship next year. We are working in coordination on a fund raiser with the Italy Lions Club on Thursday and Friday at our feed store. The Lions Club will be selling their whole briskets for their scholarship fund and we will be selling BBQ sandwiches to help raise money for our scholarships.”

Joyce Hobbs is on the EDC board for Italy and enjoys being a part of the team. She also works at Hobbs Feed and Supply along side her husband James.

I asked Joyce how she liked living in Italy and Joyce said, “We like living in Italy, I like the people, I just like it, it is a nice little place to live. You don’t have all the hustle and bustle of Houston and there is way less traffic and crime.”

Together the Hobbs have six children and six grandchildren.

The Hobbs family is a welcomed addition to the city of Italy. Congrats on being Citizen of the Month!