James Wrenn:  

Life Hi folks, In cleaning out our attic the other day, I ran across my 1968 yearbook. Wow, did that ever bring back some memories! I believe the only reunion I attended was the 10th, so I have seen very few Smith folks since then. In school I was sort of one of the "invisible" people. I guess I had a small circle of friends, but not really that many what you would call close friends. I didn't belong to clubs or play sports. I felt like I needed to work. Anyway, after school things began to change. For one reason or another I didn't make it to college. That has been a small regret, but I've done OK. The first "big" thing occurred immediately after my father died in March of '69. Of course that in itself was major. I got hooked up with a local country band and sang with them for about three years. That certainly helped get rid of some of the shyness I had always struggled with to that point. I had also begun to serve as a "song leader" for the little church I attended. About this time too, I met my wife, Cindy, who came from a larger church to play piano for us. We've been married 34 years now and have three children and 3 grandchildren with one more on the way. Through the years I realized that even though I had no formal training in church music, that was exactly what God was preparing me for. I served on store staff at three different Sears stores as Display Manager for 20 years while doing the music ministry part-time. During these years, I had the opportunity to gain a...Expand for more