Jim Gardner:  

Hard to believe it’ll be 50 years since graduating from Southwest this summer. Used to think my grandparents were old people; now I’m one of them-Yikes! After graduating Southwest in 73, I went to school at Harding College in Arkansas. Met my wife Dana in college and got married after we graduated. We moved back to Fort Worth where I went back to work in my dad’s manufacturing business. I wound up working in all the segments of the business; manufacturing, R&D, sales, sale management and eventually as president. Bought the business in 2006, and in 2013 relocated it from its Fort Worth location to our present sight in Cresson, Texas. Dana and I lived in Fort Worth for 27 years until we moved out to our small farm in southwest Parker County near the town of Lipan in 2005. We did, however, raised our 4 kids (Bekah, Chase, Jared & Jordan) and an unofficial foster kid (Jamar) in Fort Worth. Initially we lived in the south part of town near the Crowley highway but eventually built a house in 1988 near the Zoo where all our kids attended Lily B. Clayton Elementary. Our oldest went on to McLean MS and Paschal HS, while our other 4 went to Fort Worth Christian. Once our kids were in college, Dana and I downsized to a one-bedroom barndominium and 100 acres of front yard, but we continued...Expand for more