Although “overcome with nostalgia” might be a little bit strong to describe my feelings, I definitely took a moment to reminiscence on my school days last week when I went to have lunch with my second grade grandson.  It wasn’t necessarily the location that brought back memories. It was the name of the school, Velma Penny Elementary.  You see, Velma Penny was actually MY second grade teacher way back in 1951.  Mrs. Penny was a petite lady, with a modern style and was always “dressed for success”.  She was well schooled and her grammar and vocabulary was a testament to her higher education.  She was also an artist, very creative, and had a flair for painting on ceramics.  As a matter of fact, my wife and I have a plate she painted for us as a wedding gift hanging in our bedroom dated 1966.

As you can tell, I have distinct memories of Mrs. Penny, but my most impressionable memory was how she started the day.  I know you are thinking, the pledge of allegiance, and yes, we did do that every single day.  But I am making reference to our first lesson of the day.  Mrs. Penny began our day with a bible story.  She had a felt board and felt bible characters and would teach us the basics from the bible.  Fond memories!

Before you set your mind to thinking Mrs. Penny was all about school, or church as you might have inferred, she was actually very much connected to the community, too.  Mrs. Penny and her husband were business partners with the Owens family who together owned P & O Motor Co.  It was downtown where Texas Bank & Trust aka Lindale State Bank is today and you guessed it P & O stood for Penny & Owens.  If the name sounds familiar, it because it is still in business today, run by the Jordan family, so their legacy lives on.  You see, back in Mrs. Penny’s day the school was a part of the town and the town was a part of the church and the church was a part of the school.  Now, I know, I know many things have definitely changed through the years and many things are different yet there is still a shadow of the past visible within the present.

Some of you are wondering, what in the world does this blog have to do with farming and ranching?  To be honest….not a whole lot, EXCEPT, high standards breed excellence no matter what “field” you may be in!