A lesson we have all learned at some point in our lives is that first impressions matter. The summer I got married, my wife Maggie and I decided to spend a night at the family farm in Bogata. Her grandparents had purchased the homestead in the late 50’s, and for the most part, it had sat tidy but mostly unlived in. Every two weeks or so, Harley Vaughan and his wife, Pansy, would trek from the Dallas area to mow and check up on things. Maggie’s dad, Todd, took over the maintenance once grandpa’s health no longer allowed him the freedom of his younger years.
The farm has been a staple in the family for decades and a peaceful retreat from the city for the whole family. It was a pleasant place to enjoy some quiet time for us, newlyweds. On our way out, traveling south on Highway 37, I asked Maggie what she knew about the little town called Mount Vernon. To my surprise, she said she and her family hadn’t explored Mount Vernon much over the years, even though it was on the way to the farm. Coming up on the North Kaufman fork, I couldn’t help but resist my curiosity. We came straight to the square and parked, and as I said, first impressions matter; mine of Mount Vernon has had a lasting effect on what would soon become a town I cherish dearly.
In the fall of 2016, I found myself back in the downtown area, but this time knocking on the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce office and meeting Diane Newsom for the first time. I wanted to get plugged into the community, and Diane helped me do just that and so much more. Over the years, I have had the pleasure of working with Carolyn Teague at Main Street, Cole at the EDC, and B.F. Hicks with the Historical, and even taught at the high school for six years. The Mount Vernon community has always been welcoming to me, and the opportunity to serve as the Executive Director of MVNow is a blessing I am ecstatic about.
My parents migrated to the US in 1986 when I was two years old. Though I wasn’t born in the States, I still consider Texas my home. I grew up in La Feria when it was the size of what Mount Vernon is now, and I would have loved to have graduated from there, but my parents built a home in 2000 that took us into Weslaco. It was from there, in the fall of 2002, that I received a phone call from a Marine Corps recruiter, SSGT Torres, asking for just an hour of my time. Within an hour, I was back at home telling my parents I would be shipping out in October and that I had already signed on the dotted line, and the yellow footprints at Marine Corps Recruit Depot (MCRD) were calling my name. To this day, there’s not a single thing I would change from my service experience, and given the opportunity, I would do it all over again. Semper Fidelis.
I was deployed to AR Ramadi, Iraq, which in 2006, was the most active area in the country. It was in Iraq that I learned about The Art Institute and what a Graphic Design degree consisted of. You see, I had always had a passion for art, and still do to this day. When I read the description of what a graphic designer is, I felt it was describing me to the letter. I decided to pursue that as my career. In 2010, I graduated from The Art Institute of Dallas and immediately pursued my education at the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD), where I studied Emerging Media and Communication (EMAC). It was in those days that I met Maggie while singing in the choir of Lavon Drive Baptist Church, located in Garland. Fourteen years and three kids later, we’re happily living at the family farm with our dog, Saucer, and two tabby cats, Woodstock (Woody) and Linus.
Life has many turns, sometimes U-turns, detours, and dead ends too, but it’s a thing of beauty when those roads bring you across a town that you simply want to spend a little more time exploring and learning about. The road ahead of us for this project is not for the faint of heart, but if we all stand in the gap together, it’s definitely worth the effort to see this dream become a reality.
I look forward to learning more about the organizations that make this town thrive, its rich history, and the stories that make up the fabric of our community. First impressions matter, but not as much as being willing to give it another go if we don’t get it just right the first time. A willingness to reset, take a deep breath, and push forward goes a long way.
