Heritage Winter 2021 by Fox Press

WINTER 2021

TABLE OF CONTENTS

3 9 13 15 20 23

Beware of Shadow Creek BY MADELYN EDWARDS

Monster movie films in Springtown

Boy Cheerleader BY JEFF PRINCE

Springtown’s only boy cheerleader

Moe’s Cafe BY JESSICA MCKINNEY

Home cooking is the family business

Jim Bob Nation BY CARLA NOAH STUTSMAN

Growing up in Nation's field of dreams

Inside Our House BY MADELYN EDWARDS

Food pantry helps people in need

What are BCAAs? BY JESSICA BRACE, D.C., C.C.S.P.

Essential for proper muscle recovery

COVER: Jonah Nadeau is Springtown's only male cheerleader in the cheer squad. PHOTO BY JEFF PRINCE

Heritage Winter 2021

Beware of Shadow Creek

A film crew shoots the horror/thriller movie “Shadow Creek” in a wooded area in Springtown. PHOTO BY MADELYN EDWARDS

Monster movie films in Springtown BY MADELYN EDWARDS

Reciting her lines, Rachel Whittle spoke in low tones, expressing grief and guilt about her character’s past – a fitting turn for a movie about forgiveness. Whittle sat in a ditch across from Springtown native Corey Cannon in a wooded area south of State Highway 199 off Old Springtown Road. On a chilly Saturday evening in early November, Cannon and Whittle transformed into their characters – an

ex-Marine named Chuck and a mother, Angela, looking for her daughter – for the horror/thriller movie “Shadow Creek.” As soon as cameras started rolling and director S. Roy Saringo called “action,” everyone on set had to stay dead quiet so the camera and microphone could capture the actors’ performances. The two actors in the ditch were surrounded by a handful of people – the director, the cinematographer, the

camera assistants and the sound engineer holding the boom microphone over the actors’ heads. Cannon and Whittle both took grim approaches to their performances that day, while Whittle’s lines revolved around her being vulnerable and making a confession. Cannon, who is a producer and actor in “Shadow Creek,” described the upcoming film as a story about a young woman, Claire, who discovers that the Winter 2021 Heritage 3

Cinematographer Andy Patch turns the camera towards Rachel Whittle while she and Corey Cannon perform their parts. PHOTO BY MADELYN EDWARDS

man she thought was her father is not her legitimate parent, so she and her boyfriend go into Shadow Creek to perform a séance to contact her birth father. When she goes missing, her parents, along with PTSD-stricken ex-Marine Chuck, search for her and come face-to-face with a monster. “Shadow Creek” writer, producer and actor Ryan T. Johnson, who lives in Fort Worth, was inspired by “The Grey,” a 2011 movie starring Liam Neeson, that showcased a dramatic storyline with thriller elements. “The Ritual,” a 2017 horror/mystery film revolving around evils in the Scandinavian wilderness, also served as inspiration for “Shadow Creek.” “It’s a cool experience seeing something come from your head to paper and then to film what was on paper, and then I guess the even better part is sitting in a seat and watching what we’ve all created,” Johnson said. “It’s 4

Heritage Winter 2021

not necessarily always just my idea. It always turns out to be even more. I feel like I bring almost like a blueprint, and then everyone just like spices it up from there.” Cannon said the film is about letting go of one’s past and looking toward a better future while ending with a spiritual message. “We want to make a film that’s going to attract the secular world, but it’s going to have a message of faith and hope,” he said. “We don’t want to make a faith-based film. We want to make a film that everyone’s going to want to watch, but they’re going to leave with a positive feeling.” Others in the cast and crew echoed the sentiment that “Shadow Creek” has a message of forgiveness, hope and perseverance. Whittle described the movie’s message as leaning on the support of others and not giving up when life is difficult.

“This plays out as a suspense/thriller because it’s a monster movie, but really, it’s about the relationships within the story,” she said. “That’s where the heart of it is — people that care about each other and are willing to go to the depths.” Johnson said the movie is rooted in a message of being forgiving of the past and “remembering where your help came from.” He said the team didn’t want to make a typical blood and guts horror story. “(Chuck) has to learn to forgive his past of losing his best friend in the war and then remembering where his help comes from within this whole recon mission to find Claire in the woods,” Johnson said. “He has to learn both of these elements to overcome the trauma he’s having.” This is a message Johnson thinks will resonate with Springtown and Parker County viewers.

Cinematographer Andy Patch and Dean Mountford, first assistant camera, adjusts camera equipment. PHOTO BY MADELYN EDWARDS

“There’s a lot of hate and a lot of separation, and when we’re able to watch this, I think what we’re really going to see is being able to forgive,” he said. “Because at the end of the day, you can never move forward unless you start to forgive your past or forgive others and continue.”

Getting into character Whittle got started in acting after she was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and took up acting classes as part of her recovery process. From there, she said she fell in love with filmmaking, from acting, to directing, tov working in the art department. Acting, in particular, allowed her to deal with trauma in an imaginary way, separate from real life. “It really, really helps my process, my journey of dealing with certain emotions that I didn’t feel safe dealing with in real life,” Whittle said. “In the Meis-

Patch overlooks a scene with Rachel Whittle and Corey Cannon. PHOTO BY MADELYN EDWARDS

Winter 2021 Heritage 5

ner course, it just set up these imaginary circumstances that I was able to fully engage in that were safe.” To get into character, Whittle said she focuses on her character’s past and the moments that must have led to the events in the film. “I spend a little bit of time building the things that nobody ever sees, but for me it’s important to know why am I here and why do I feel the way I do now,” Whittle said. “It’s really about this one moment that you’re seeing. It’s about a huge build-up of a ton of other moments.” Actor and producer Sharon Oliphant’s, who lives in Hudson Oaks, process to get in character as “rough and tough” ex-Marine Jenn took doing some research about what it takes to be a female Marine. This included getting physically fit for the part – running a 7-minute mile and being able to do standing pull-ups, planks and push-ups. She also researched PTSD

Digital image technician and grip Logan Prendergast and makeup artist Faithanne Garber on the “Shadow Creek” set. PHOTO BY MADELYN EDWARDS

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recovery. “She would keep those principles. Once you’re a Marine, it’s in your mind,” Oliphant said. “I’ve been getting up at 6 in the morning to go do my regimen and make sure that I’m just in that headspace. To me, that’s the main thing for a good performance.” For Whittle, a big challenge as an actor is shooting scenes in a film out of order and being able to access emotions non-sequentially. “That’s why the imagination is pivotal, but sometimes, it’s just difficult to access in the course of 30 other things happening around you,” she said. During filming one day, Whittle had to start her lines over a few times after getting distracted and stressed by the sound of gunshots and barking dogs, but she persisted while Oliphant encouraged her from the sidelines. “That’s my favorite part about filmmaking is the collaboration,” Whittle said. “It is truly the most beautiful collaboration of all sorts of creative minds put together, and not just creative minds, like administrative minds. There is literally a job for everyone, and it takes the myriad of the human scale to put something like this together.”

Filming in Springtown Cannon, who grew up in Springtown but now lives in Fort Worth, has never shot a movie in his hometown and parts of “Shadow Creek” were filmed on his parents’ property in Springtown. He is starting to make plans to use the high school and other school facilities for future film projects. Johnson said Springtown’s Square looked like a good place to film a modern Western movie. “This will be the beginning. Hopefully, we’ll put Springtown on the map and make it a film-friendly city,” Cannon said. Some of the cast and crewmembers described Springtown’s landscape as naturally beautiful and a compliment to “Shadow Creek.” “I’ve never seen anything in any landscape I’ve ever been in how trees are sitting on the edge of the bank and the roots are coming down,” Oliphant said. “It’s like something from ‘Lord of the Rings.’” Saringo, the director, said Springtown’s landscape particularly benefits the production value of the film and can provide scenes with a variety of landscapes. “You wouldn’t get this anywhere else,” he said. Even though he’s a fan of the horror genre, Saringo said this is his first time to make a horror film. “It wasn’t my first desire to do a horror movie, but the opportunity was afforded (to) me, and I jumped on it, and Springtown is the best place to shoot it because of the woods and because of the creek,” he said. Horror movies can be more profitable for small filmmakers because they don’t need the star power in the cast to sell the film, Cannon said, so the movie’s budget can be lower. “The horror genre just has a big following, so if your trailer looks good, and it looks like it’s going to be a really suspenseful horror film, then people are going to watch it regardless

Cinematographer Andy Patch, director S. Roy Saringo and producer and actor Sharon Oliphant on set. PHOTO BY MADELYN EDWARDS

of if there’s main talent in there or not,” Cannon said. The filmmaking process on “Shadow Creek” began in late 2020 when Johnson started writing the movie; then came pre-production in August, followed by filming starting in late October. Cannon said the movie is expected to be finished and distributed during the summer. Some of the cast and crewmembers said their favorite part of working on “Shadow Creek” is working with each other and the friendly atmosphere they share. “Every set that we work on ends up being just a big family,” Johnson said, laughing. Actor Tom Zembrod, who is based in Fort Worth, noted that filming on “Shadow Creek” was lasting around eight hours a day, which he said isn’t standard for independent movies that can have very long days. Zembrod described his fellow cast and crew members as “nice and supportive,” adding with a laugh that they were probably that way because of the leadership team “not over-working people.” “They’re so easy to work with,” he said, adding that they’ve helped each other go over lines. One of the challenges in filming “Shadow Creek” was the cold and windy weather in the evenings and nights during Winter 2021 Heritage 7

“...it doesn’t take millions of dollars to make good quality films. You just need a team of passionate people who love making films to do something spectacular.”

Great Smiles Start Here

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“SHADOW CREEK” DIRECTOR

filming. Oliphant said that issue was remedied with hand warmers, blankets, heaters and a recreational vehicle to warm up in. She described how the team persevered through a windy night shoot as opposed to shutting down filming for the day. Oliphant said one of the producers’ goals was to keep the crew happy. “If the crew is happy, then things keep rolling on,” she said, adding that prioritizing the crew’s wellbeing doesn’t always happen on film sets. Filming at night was also a challenge because of limited visibility and making sure everyone stayed safe while navigating the rough terrain, Johnson said. Also, the crew tried not to work overnight out of respect of their schedules, including people who had to work the next day, Johnson said. “Night shoots just really put a toll on people,” he said. “One of the biggest challenges was maximizing the amount of shooting time we have for day and night without going over midnight. In some cases, we weren’t able to do it – it just happens – but in a lot of the cases we were able to hit that marker.” In his filmmaking career, Cannon hopes to tell good stories that have positive impacts on viewers. “Everybody is affected by media, and so if we could put a good story out there that’s going to change people’s hearts or perspectives in a good way, then that’s what our goal is,” he said. When people see “Shadow Creek,” Saringo hopes they take away “that it doesn’t take millions of dollars to make good quality films. You just need a team of passionate people who love making films to do something spectacular. I think everybody working on ‘Shadow Creek’ is passionate about what they do.” Saringo was confident that Springtown audiences would like the movie, although he said while laughing, “They might not want to go into their woods anymore.” 8

Heritage Winter 2021

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Jonah Nadeau and the cheer squad encourage the crowd at the football team’s area championship game in Sweetwater in late November. PHOTO BY JEFF PRINCE

He has spirit, yes he does! Boy cheerleader finds love, acceptance BY JEFF PRINCE

Springtown’s only boy cheerleader had hesitated to try out for the squad because he was afraid. At first. “Being a feminine boy doing cheer, a lot of people will have their opinions, you know what I mean?” said senior Jonah Nadeau. He conquered his fear, attended the audition and made the team. Now, he is arguably the most popular kid on the squad. “I’m from a small town,” he said. “I didn’t know how people out here would react to me. But the whole town has shown me so much love and so much support, it blew away any fear I had of

Jonah Nadeau with Allison Stoner

PHOTO BY JEFF PRINCE

Winter 2021 Heritage 9

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being an outcast. I finally became part of the town by joining cheer, and it’s just been so amazing.” Three years ago, as a freshman, Nadeau had been the mascot. That meant wearing a full Pojo costume to games. From inside that costume, however, he would see the cheerleaders dancing and performing and wished he could join them. Nadeau had dreamed of becoming a cheerleader for years. “It’s so exciting to do something that many boys don’t have an opportunity to do,” he said. “As little kid, I looked up to the cheerleaders because they had all this spirit and were so cool. I thought I could never be like that. And

I got to high school, and I pushed myself out there, and I was able to be a cheerleader and live out a high school dream I never thought I would have the opportunity to do. It’s just been amazing.” During his freshman year, he practiced stunts and moves with some of the varsity cheerleaders, who encouraged him to try out for the squad in 2019. “I was scared, but I have faith in my God,” Nadeau said. “He put me out here and gave me this opportunity for a reason. I’m going to make the most of it.” He made the team and was shocked by the positive reactions.

“It makes me feel like all this hard work I’ve been putting into this was for a good reason,” he said. “It’s cool to have the whole town support you and everyone just love you because you’re being yourself. And I thought I would never be loved for being myself. So it’s really good. It’s really nice.” Nadeau dances and cheers and does stunts and jumps and is working on improving his tumbling skills. Once he aces tumbling and graduates high school, he plans to attend University of North Texas, study broadcast journalism and try out for the Mean Green cheer team. “I’m not the best tumbler, but I look really pretty trying,” he said.

Jonah Nadeau, in his third year as a Springtown cheerleader, riles up the crowd at a volleyball game in early October. PHOTO BY JEFF PRINCE Winter 2021 Heritage 11

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Carol can be found most days pouring coffee, offering a kind word — or a sassy one, depending on who she’s talking to — and a hug for anyone who asks for one. PHOTO BY JESSICA MCKINNEY

Home cooking is the family business BY JESSICA MCKINNEY

Ask the owners of Moe’s Country Kitchen what the best part of the business is, and they’ll tell you it’s the people. “I love the staff that works here,” said Shady Haddad, manager at Moe’s and son of the owner, Mazen Haddad. “The people that you interact with every day, you kind of build that relationship.” Mazen Haddad, along with two of his sons and his wife Summer, keep four restaurants running across Fort Worth and Azle, all Winter 2021 Heritage 13

From left to right: Diana Ferriss, Shady Haddad, and Crystal Clark. PHOTO BY JESSICA MCKINNEY

serving a similar menu of homecooked favorites. “Dad’s been in the restaurant business since 1978,” said Haddad. “He’s been manager of places like Denny’s and IHOP, so that style of restaurant is what he knows. In 1996, he opened Summer’s Café on Jacksboro Highway.” Summer’s Café has been closed and the building demolished, but the fami-

Start your morning off right with Moe's Country Breakfast platter and a hot cup of coffee. PHOTO BY JESSICA MCKINNEY

14 Heritage Winter 2021

ly still has four other cafés up and running, each drawing in a crowd of regulars on a daily basis. Haddad has been part of his family’s restaurant business since he was old enough to balance on a milk crate to ring up customers. “Moe was cooking in the kitchen when he was 15 years old,” he said. “I remember when I was little, Saturdays and Sundays while he was going to TCU, I would go up there and — he’s 12 years older than me — so I would go up there and we’d help cook in the summers.” On the wall of Moe’s, right when you walk in, you’ll see just how much

the regulars love this country kitchen in the heart of Azle. “We’ve been winning Best of Azle since 2014,” said Shady Haddad. The restaurant has been consistently taking the prize each year since. “We’ve won for best breakfast, best wait staff, best chicken fried steak. We didn’t get best catfish this year, though. I’m curious to know who did. We want that back,” he laughs. The walls of Moe’s are covered with locally handmade items for sale. From Texas-sized wooden Texas cutouts to mason jar vases, each item provides a quirky and unique decoration that would rival any chain restaurant for individuality. One of the things that keeps customers coming back again and again to Moe’s isn’t just the best breakfast plates in town. It’s the staff. Carol can be found most days pouring coffee, offering a kind word — or a sassy one, depending on who she’s talking to — and a hug for anyone who asks for one. They create that hometown café feel for everyone who steps in the door. “Crystal, Carol, Diana. They’ve been with us a long time,” Haddad said. “Carol’s been bouncing around our different restaurants for probably 20 years or more. These girls, they’re like family.”

Growing up in Jim Bob Nation’s Field of Dreams BY CARLA NOAH STUTSMAN

Above: Jim Bob winding up to throw a ball, 1936. Below: Jim Bob and a teammate ham it up for the cameras in the early 1940s. COURTESY PHOTOS

Occasionally, someone walks into Matt Adams’ o ce in A le’s historic “ ock School,” glances around at the room’s d cor and asks “How does a Texas boy grow up being a ew ork ankees fan ” “Well, let me tell you, there’s a little history there,” is always his reply. The story began when Adams’ grandfather was born, right here in A le, on Jan. 7, . It’s the story of a man who followed his dream and thought he’d lost it – but in the end, he served and lifted an entire community and inspired many here to live out their dreams. It’s the story of late local benefactor Jim ob ation. Winter 2021 Heritage 15

Adams’ route to Azle Although he only attended second grade in Azle, Matt Adams says he feels like he grew up here because he spent so much time here with his grandparents. Born in Abilene to Norma Nation and Kenneth Adams, he and younger sister Mishay returned to Parker County with their mom when their parents divorced. Matt was about 7 and Mishay was just a baby. Matt attended school in Springtown and his mom taught school in Peaster. About the time he was ready to start high school, his mom joined the Nation family to another pioneering Azle family when she married Joe Tucker and they moved to the Tucker’s family land between Azle and Weatherford. Matt graduated from Peaster High School where his mom was a teacher in 1989. Younger sister Mishay started school in Azle, though, and graduated here in 1996. Following his passions for sports as well as business and finance, Matt went on to earn both a bachelor's and a master's degree from Tarleton State University in Stephenville, which enabled him to work as a teacher and a coach. Along the way, he married his Peaster High School sweetheart, Misti, and the couple raised two boys – two apples who didn’t fall far from the tree. Reid, 24, is an assistant athletic director at East Texas Baptist University in Marshall. Cade, 20, is a junior at Texas Tech studying accounting. About 10 years into his teaching and coaching career, Matt went into school administration, serving as a campus principal and assistant superintendent before he became superintendent at Peaster ISD for 10 years. Four years ago, when an opening came up in the Azle ISD for finance director, Adams felt it was an opportunity to make a contribution to the community where he’d spent so much time with his grandparents growing up. “As a superintendent in a small school district, you do everything. But my degree was in business administration with a minor in accounting, and I’d always loved the business and 16 Heritage Winter 2021

Jim Bob and grandson Matt Adams following Adams’ college graduation. COURTESY PHOTO

opening, I was ready to step down out of the superintendent seat for a while. I thought it would be cool to come back and try to be a part of this community. With my family connection to Azle, it’s been very rewarding.” Adams accepted the position and is now assistant superintendent of finance and operations for Azle ISD.

Jim Bob’s dream

Matt Adams is assistant superintendent of finance and operations for Azle ISD. He is also the grandson of Jim Bob Nation. COURTESY PHOTO

finance side of school administration,” Adams said. “Cade had just graduated and gone off to college, and it was good timing for me. So when Azle had an

Jim Bob Nation loved sports, hunting, fishing and just being outdoors, but his high school sweetheart Beryl Admire and baseball were his true loves. After graduating with eight classmates from Azle High School in 1935, Jim Bob left Beryl behind for a while to earn an associate's degree from Compton Junior College in California. There, he was named All-Southern Cal, and that led to his being signed by the New York Yankees to play baseball in that organization. While playing in the minor leagues for the Yankees organization, he married Beryl on Dec.

, . They had three children harles, orma and ancy. Jim ob played three seasons with the ankees organi ation, always striving to reach the major leagues. Then, back home in A le during the o -season, he was helping his family harvest pecans when the unthinkable happened. Jim ob climbed a pecan tree and the limb he was on broke, dashing him to the ground below and shattering his hip. The injury ended his baseball career and also forced a medical discharge from the .S. Army Air orps. “He was in and out of the hospital for two years,” Adams said, adding that his grandfather was easily recogni ed by his familiar limp for the remainder of his life. Someone once said A le owes a debt of gratitude to that old pecan tree, because it’s what caused Jim ob to come back to his hometown for good. The impact he made on A le may have been larger than his grandest dreams.

Making a difference Jim ob and eryl served the community through ation Insurance Agency on Main Street, which they operated together for some years. ut that wasn’t enough for Jim ob. In the late s, Jim ob was one of the organi ers of the city of A le and served a term on the city council. He was an active member of the A le olunteer ire Department and was often seen dashing out of his insurance o ce to jump into the city’s first fire truck – for which he procured the funding – to fight fires that erupted around town. He was also active in both the ions lub and the Optimist lub, and for years, he was the public address announcer for the A le Hornets football games. In fact, he also helped start a youth football league in A le, where he served as a commissioner and helped raise funds for team trips. eryl served the community as well, mostly through her involvement with the Harris Methodist orthwest Hospital Auxiliary. The A le community honored Jim ob in many ways over the years. He

Always a supporter of his old alma mater, Jim Bob sports an Azle Hornets T-shirt while showing off his catch. COURTESY PHOTO

Jim Bob loved to hunt as well as fish. Here he shows off the bounty from a deer hunt. COURTESY PHOTO

was the recipient of the A le Area hamber of ommerce’s first-ever iti en of the ear award in . He also received the inaugural ommunity uilder Award from the A le Masonic odge in and was named the city’s olunteer of the ear for his lifetime of service to the community in . A parade was held in his honor on Jim ob ation Day, April , , and on May of the same year, one of the new ball fields in Shady rove Park was dedicated in his honor. Players who learned baseball from Jim ob during the s, s and 7 s signed baseballs to present to him at that ceremony.

Jim Bob’s Field of Dreams It was through baseball that Jim ob’s biggest impacts were felt in A le. He in uenced a generation of A le kids to learn the fundamentals, practice sportsmanship and pass on to their

children the love and joy of the game of baseball. A story written by longtime A le ews publisher ob uckel when Jim ob died on Jan. , reads in part “ ation’s involvement began when a mother asked him to help with a team. He got the ions’ lub to back him, and the team grew into a league, with Jim ob as the uno cial commissioner. He once set a record by umpiring for hours straight – and credited years of umpiring and coaching with continuing hip problems that led to a replacement surgery in . In 7 , when ation stepped down from directing the baseball league, the A le outh Association was formed as parents reali ed no individual could take his place.” Shortly after his death, a committee of former players, friends and school o cials raised money to make improvements to a baseball complex at A le High School to honor the man Winter 2021 Heritage 17

who had made such a difference in the lives of so many. The donated funds made possible many improvements that a proposed bond initiative would not pay for. The committee was chaired by local banker Tim Carpenter and included then AISD superintendent Dr. Santo Forte, school board member Keith Hoover, Jackie Carpenter, Henson Dunn, Vancil Trammell, then athletic director Gene Phillips, Gary Clark and Marlon Mears. Jim Bob Nation’s Field of Dreams opened in the early 1990s and is still in use today.

Mentees honor Jim Bob Don Looper, an attorney in Houston who grew up in Azle, said in a 1992 column in The Azle News that Jim Bob helped mold his values and those of hundreds of others. “He taught us to work together, to respect each other, and to learn the joys of playing as a team. I never saw him hate or express a personal dislike for another team and yet he taught us, clearly, how to compete in a positive and fruitful way,” Looper wrote. “Jim Bob succeeded in teaching us because

he loved his community. He gave of himself to teach us to love the game.” Buckel’s story included comments from two former Azle mayors, Tim Harper and Cy Rone. “I guarantee you, he’s going to be missed. He’s been a dandy. I don’t guess there’s anybody who contributed more to the community than Jim Bob did. It was a full-time job for him,” Harper said. “There was just one like him. The whole town is grieved. I’m flying my flag at half-mast,” Rone said at the time. Even today, Jim Bob is remembered and revered. Tim Carpenter, an AHS graduate and now Regional President DFW for Prosperity Bank, said he was playing golf with iconic shortstop, catcher, manager and Major League Baseball coach Bobby Bragan, and asked Bragan if he knew Jim Bob. Bragan said he did and joked that “Jim Bob had a million dollar arm and a 10 cent brain!” in reference to his decision to step out onto the limb of that old pecan tree. Carpenter recalls going to Jim Bob’s house as a kid to cut out wooden figures of the Azle Hornet mascot, Buzzy.

L-R: Jim Bob and Beryl Nation, Matt and Misty Adams at the Adams wedding. COURTESY PHOTO 18 Heritage Winter 2021

He remembers seeing bags of baseball gloves, bats and balls that Jim Bob routinely gave to kids to ensure they had everything they needed to play baseball – he often paid for those items himself, Carpenter said. “There’s a long line of kids, and I’m one of them, whose lives Jim Bob touched. He had a name for everybody – mine was ‘Clem’,” Carpenter said. “He dedicated his life to the kids of Azle. He was a great individual and I think his story is worthy of a movie.”

Growing up with Jim Bob While Jim Bob made personal connections and big impacts on hundreds of kids in the community, his grandson Matt Adams really was in the catbird seat. His memories are much more personal in nature. Matt is one of seven grandchildren. Although they called Beryl “Granny” or even “Granny Beryl,” for some reason, Matt says, they never called their granddad anything but Jim Bob. Like every kid who grew up here, Adams has fond memories of the minnow tank at Trammell’s Grocery Store and eating meals with his grandparents at Trammell’s Village Restaurant, all where El Paseo Mexican Restaurant is now located. “We always hoped we could get one of those two back tables with the big lazy susans in the middle, “Adams reminisced. “Plus, they were close to the art museum, so after you ordered, you could go downstairs and look around.” The Nations’ home on Broadway Road sat on the shores of Eagle Mountain Lake, and Adams remembers a granddad who was always there with him, throwing a ball or shooting baskets. Sports was always a big part of his life growing up, and he credits Jim Bob for that. If they weren’t playing sports, they were fishing or hunting, and Adams continues to enjoy both, but fishing especially. “One of the coolest memories I have as a kid is being in a boat with Jim Bob and a good friend of his who had come to visit. We were out there just running

trot lines, enjoying being out on Eagle Mountain Lake,” Adams said. “Jim Bob was the type of guy that didn’t make a big deal about things, and I just thought the man was one of my granddad’s friends coming to fish. Later on, I started putting two and two together and it was just… wow! That friend was Mickey Mantle!” Granny Beryl happened to love squirrel, so he and Jim Bob spent lots of time hunting in the woods across the street from the Nation home. The bounty was soon cooked up into a big pot of squirrel and dumplings – which Adams didn’t particularly care for, but it made Granny Beryl happy. Adams remembers how much Jim Bob and Granny Beryl loved each other, but says they had a unique relationship and sometimes – like many couples – they just needed a little separation to keep the peace. So while Granny Beryl lived in the main house, Jim Bob spent a lot of time in a sec-

ond house on the property. When the grandkids came to visit, Jim Bob always asked Matt to run over to “his house” to get something, or to grab something off the counter. Adams’ wife Misti loved Jim Bob, and she always got a kick out of those little trips to get something Jim Bob had forgotten to bring over because she knew Matt would be coming back with some sort of treasure. As Matt grew older, those “little somethings” on the counter became pocket knives and other sentimental items his grandfather wanted him to have. Jim Bob always grew a garden and raised chickens and ducks which kept the family in fresh eggs, according to Adams. Something a lot of people may not know is that while he wasn’t always interested in cooking everyday meals, Jim Bob did love to can jellies and jams and to make his own pickles and made-from-scratch cakes, Adams intimated. He recalls a cabinet that

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was always chock full of mustang grape and other jellies and jams, and he still has his grandfather’s recipe for canning pickles. “He always loved making people laugh,” Adams said. “He had a joke for just about every occasion and always had a good Aggie joke!” Adams says it’s very humbling to work in the community where his grandfather is so revered, and he is honored to be part of some of the same programs and organizations Jim Bob was part of – or even helped found. “When I think about the opportunities he lost in the accident and then look back, I realize it never changed his perseverance or his attitude,” Adams said. “Jim Bob loved helping people and always looked for ways to help others – whether it was teaching them a love for sports, hunting or fishing or making sure they had food and shelter.” Yes, Azle really does owe a debt of gratitude to that old pecan tree.

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INSIDE OUR HOUSE

Reno food pantry provides service to people in need BY MADELYN EDWARDS

Scott Passmore created Our House food pantry so that those in need would have support. Support is not what Passmore, who is also Reno’s city administrator, had after he experienced a tragic accident in 2007 when his Reno home exploded, killing his wife and grandchild. The tragedy still affects him, and is “hard to talk about still,” he said. After the explosion, no one from the city reached out to help. From that absence, Our House was born. “When something like that does (happen) it changes you because I was a very hard person before that,” Passmore said. Our House provides food for local families and seniors in need. Passmore said the purpose of Our House is about “being able to touch others with what you’ve been blessed with.” “We don’t ask how much money you make. We don’t ask if you need the food,” he said. “It’s something that God gave us and it’s not ours, so we just share it.” The food pantry is open on Thursday evenings from 5-7 p.m. at 1530 E. Reno Road, and the Tarrant Area Food Bank’s mobile pantry comes to Our House on the second Tuesday of the month at 4 p.m. Our House is a collaboration between Passmore and his wife, Jodie, who met after the city administrator’s home exploded. They usually are at Our House most days to work or check in on operations. “What (Scott Passmore) and Jodie do is truly a ministry, an outreach to the community and reflects their heart 20 Heritage Winter 2021

Julie Steger grabs some produce to put into a food box while volunteering at Our House. PHOTO BY MADELYN EDWARDS

Boxes of food outside Our House wait to be loaded into vehicles. PHOTO BY MADELYN EDWARDS

Our House founder Scott Passmore volunteers at the food pantry on a Thursday evening.

to help other people,” said Community Bible Fellowship Pastor Alton Davis, who also volunteers at Our House. Scott Passmore referred to his wife as his soulmate and said Our House has brought them closer together. “We just feel like God put us together,” Jodie Passmore said. Our House started around 2007 at Reno City Hall where Passmore used to pass out loaves of bread from the Salvation Army. “We started with getting bread from Salvation Army on 28th Street, and we would put it out in the hallway at the water department,” Passmore said. “That’s where it started. And then we got involved with Toys for Tots, and it just started growing from there. We started getting more food from the different organizations.” Around 2016-17, Our House became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. The pantry receives food from organizations serving Tarrant County and North Texas as well as the grocery store Trader Joe’s and the food company Del Monte. Our House spends $2,700 a month on average on

PHOTO BY MADELYN EDWARDS

Volunteer Beth Byrd prepares a food box at Our House. PHOTO BY MADELYN EDWARDS

food, plenty of which is paid for by the Passmores. The food bank stays at its location rent-free and has received donations from Tri-County Electric Cooperative and other companies. On a Thursday in November, Our House was bustling with volunteers who pushed around grocery carts down the makeshift aisles of the food

pantry, grabbing vegetables, meats, fruit and other foods to place in boxes. Those boxes were taken outside and loaded into people’s vehicles. Julie Steger was one of those volunteers. She gathered up food for the boxes, based on Jodie Passmore’s directions, and explained that the amount of food families receive is Winter 2021 Heritage 21

based on their inventories. She made sure to stack the groceries without smashing them. Steger said she and her husband started volunteering at Our House a few months ago after moving to Reno less than a year ago. They have been working at the food pantry every week. “It’s always nice to know that you’re helping people,” Steger said. “I’ve been in this position before; I’ve needed food, so it goes back.” On that Thursday evening, many cars lined up on the eastbound side of East Reno Road to enter Our House. On last count, Scott Passmore said the food pantry feeds 6,802 people a month, some even coming from Bridgeport and Breckenridge. He said Our House was especially busy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Becky Burton gets food from Our House about twice a month. She lives with her two grandkids, her disabled husband and godson, who has Down syndrome and is autistic. Burton said

Our House’s service is “a big help.” “They’ve always been very helpful anytime we’ve needed them, the city has,” Burton said. “My daughter had a house fire a couple of years ago, and they responded tremendously to help with everything.” The evening hours of Our House are specifically catering to people who work during the day, said Jodie Passmore. “There’s a lot of people who work who need help, too,” she said. Scott Passmore pointed out that a lot of Our House’s clients are older adults, some of whom told him that they often have to make a choice between medication and groceries without the support of the food pantry. “That would be the thing that I guess would get me is because I wouldn’t want my mother going without,” he said. Our House has about 25 volunteers, and without them, Our House can’t operate, Scott Passmore said. Plenty of people from Reno’s water department

help out as well. “They’ve have worked for (Scott Passmore) for so long, they’re like our kids,” Jodie Passmore said. Some of the volunteers are related to the Passmore’s, including their son Aaron Monk and Jodie’s aunt Beth Byrd. Monk comes up to the food pantry five days a week to organize the food items and checking expiration dates. He described working at Our House as “a way to stay out of trouble.” “It gives me a reason to do better, it gives me a reason to do right,” Monk said. Byrd said multiple people in her family are prone to charity work. She said she enjoys the volunteer work and being able to spend time with her niece. “I’m very proud of how far they’ve come with this because it started out where they were just giving out bread,” Byrd said. “It’s just come so far, and I’m so proud of Jodie and Scott and the rest of my family members who always give back.”

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Winter 2021 Heritage 23

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