Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:13] Speaker B: Hello friends and welcome back to another episode of Conservation Stories. I'm your host, Hilary Timmons Sims and Conservation Stories is a podcast that is brought to you by the Sandhill Area Research association, or SARA as we like to call it. Sahara SARAH is a nonprofit that is interested in all kinds of things that have to do with impacting our way of life, our culture, our well being here on the west side of Texas and into eastern New Mexico on this dry part of the world. And we love to feature people that have unique ideas, perspectives and are a value bringing value to our culture. And that's why today I am so excited to have Tina Simmons here and Tina's from Seminole. Today is the funeral of President Jimmy Carter and that has a, a real significance in Tina's life. And I'm so excited that it just happens that we landed on this day to record this. Tina, thank you. I'm just so glad you're here. Can you, would you mind giving us a little bit of what you're doing right now? Like I know you're in Seminole. What's your family doing currently? Because we're going to go back in time to talk about the history of how you got here. If you will just give us a little bit about your, your current situation, your current family, what you're doing and, and you have a very unique thing that you're doing there in Seminole.
[00:01:47] Speaker A: Well, thank you so much first of all for having me. It is truly an honor. I love sharing. I love just giving God glory for where he's brought us. And I am here in Seminole. Me and my husband, we've been married going on 38 years. Come April we do have two boys, both grown married and we're grandparents. Our grandchildren call us Oma and opa and so two 13 year old granddaughters and then an 11 year old grandson and a 10 year old grandson. So both of our sons had a daughter born 13 days apart and then their second child was each a boy and so they're six months apart.
[00:02:33] Speaker B: Oh my goodness.
[00:02:34] Speaker A: We live southeast of Seminole City limit and we're right on top of the draw that they call the Seminole draw which history tells us was the was the favorite place to hang out in Gaines county of the late Chief Quanah Parker. So we got our farm here. We raised some cattle and raise grow some winter wheat for cattle feed. But we're mainly in construction. We do five state Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico. And so our oldest son is the aviation A and P at the local airport. He also has a clinic in Lubbock, Texas. And our youngest son is in construction business with us. So we are very fortunate. Me and John, my husband, live right in the middle. Our oldest son and his family half a mile to the right and the youngest one half mile to the left. So we're all in close proximity of each other and life is just so beautiful. There's so much to be grateful for.
[00:03:47] Speaker B: That is, that's really unique. That's something that doesn't happen very often anymore.
[00:03:52] Speaker A: No, that's for sure. Yeah. And then it was in 2023, I celebrated. It's a year and a half we'll have our second anniversary of the West Texas Living Heritage Museum. So I opened up this museum as a 20 year dream come true. And so I love history. It is a dream come true to share not only Texas history, American history, but world history. And so that's, that's the purpose of me doing the West Texas Living Heritage Museum.
[00:04:29] Speaker B: And as you know, you are Mennonite and that is why this is a kind of a world history because you all have a long history of persecution.
I like kind of like from the beginning, you know, and so you've gone from place to place and now you're here in the US and so now let's, let's turn back the clock and, and tell us why are you in Seminole? Why are there, why are there so many Mennonites in Seminole, Texas?
[00:05:05] Speaker A: It started out as farmland was available. The Mennonites are known for farming practices. They love working the land, they love being self reliant on, on the crops they grow and the families that they can raise through that. That has been historically the thing that they were always invited for their farming and just self sustainability lifestyle. And that was what drew the first group of Mennonites to Gaines county was the availability of farmland.
There was people that drove back and forth from Chihuahua, Mexico into the Midwest states of Kansas, Oklahoma, purchasing used farm equipment to take back for farming in the Chihuahua area. And so they stopped here in La Mesa at Nics Implement. Many of the audience will probably know that.
And so that was one of the places as well as here in Seminole. So they stayed at a local hotel and they were communicating the owners of that hotel, which was Teepee Lodge on South Main street.
They offered the Mennonite men that were staying there, why don't y'all move here? There's farmland to be purchased. And and so that was the beginning of why the, the migration to Seminole started.
[00:06:43] Speaker B: And what, what time frame was that?
[00:06:45] Speaker A: That was we the first mennonites immigrated February of 1977. And then my family, which was about the seventh Mennonite family, we came at the end of March, March 26, 1977.
[00:07:02] Speaker B: Wow. That. And I of course, have some family that's there. And I. So I, I remember but vaguely and I didn't have any idea until we visited a couple of weeks ago of the huge impact and, and what it, what it took in the, and the efforts that people went through to be able to make it to where you could, could stay there in Seminole.
[00:07:28] Speaker A: Oh, what a roller coaster. Yes.
[00:07:31] Speaker B: So let's talk about that because that's why, you know, talking about this on, on this day, that they're, that they are laying former President Jimmy Carter to rest is so important.
[00:07:44] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, I just did a Facebook post before the, the call here. And I have. It was our mayor and many of our local citizens that saw these strangers downtown Seminole, Texas, congregating in front of the real estate office that they purchased the large parcel of land, farmland. And so then our mayor really looked into what are these people doing in Seminole, Texas? And so he found out that we had been falsely told that if we purchased land it would grant us a pathway to citizenship. And so on those false precepts, it was that they started immigrating. And then he contacted an immigration attorney, Mr. Bo Brown. He passed away last year out of Lubbock. And then he, Mr. Brown flew to Washington and asked then Congressman George Mahon to just help with the situation of come to seminar. And so George Mahan was the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee at the time. And so he encouraged the Judiciary Committee to form a special bill for then about 500 Mennonites here in Gaines County. And so March 21st of 79, the. This special bill, which was private law, if you want to look it up, private law. 96, 63, that was the House bill that was introduced, the Senate bill, and then it passed the house on October 2, 1980. So about a little over a year later. And then President Jimmy Carter signed this bill on October 19, 1980. And I remember like this story became a international story.
If you go to the Texas Tech, there's a whole collection that our mayor Bob Clark donated to the, to the Southwest collection. And in it I saw letters literally from around the globe encouraging our mayor to help the Mennonites become U.S. citizens. And so it was a cry out from many, many places. There's letters that, that are just such, that tearjerkers. When I read those letters, that people that had no idea they Wrote a letter to our congressmen, to our senators and our mayor, encouraging them to make this happen. And so it became an international story.
But then the first year they made the payment, they made the down payment for the large plot of farmland. The second year they couldn't make it because they, they were not aware that the water rights had been sold to the oil field, so they had no irrigation water. And so the first year they had of course made the payment. But the second year they didn't make a crop and they failed to make the land payment the second year and an anonymous donor made that year's payment. And then the third year again, they had made a crop. And then all of that acreage was sold to the highest bidder on the courthouse square. And there's newspaper articles from every major newspaper in the, even People's magazine had this story in it during those days. And so the land was sold and they just dispersed and became farmhands. They wanted to have their own community like we are used to from ages ago. But because that land was not obtainable, they dispersed and they became farmhands. And so they worked for many, many years on different farms throughout the region. And so it was carpentry, it was farming, it was every physical labor that we could. Me and my mom and siblings were on the cotton field for the first five years. Just 1314 hour days on the cotton field. And so we then started asking, what can we do to stay here?
And that's when the special bill passed. And it was, nope, it didn't pass the Senate, it didn't pass the House. You have to deport three times. We got a deportation and every time before the date was here.
One time, the buses, the immigration buses, the border patrol buses was parked downtown Seminole. And they said it was all the families need to be downtown on this certain day and they will be deported. When my dad went down there and he said, if, if we can't stay, you do not have to incur a, a cost on our behalf. We will drive out of the country. But by the end of the day we got another extension. And that, that happened multiple times. And so when that bill finally passed and you can see multiple newspapers, just front page President signs the private bill for the Mennonites in West Texas. It was such a relief. I can still as a little girl hear my mom, dad rejoicing when they heard that this had happened. And that is by the stroke of a pen is the reason through God's grace, I am speaking to you in English today.
[00:14:09] Speaker B: So tell you you told me a story that was so astounding. And what. So I don't, I did not know that basically they were tricked into this land. They were, they were literally lied to about the citizenship. And then they were in effect lied to about the, about, about the water.
[00:14:30] Speaker A: Well, they did ask him, why didn't you tell them? And he, the realtor said, well, they didn't ask. Well, none of them spoke English, none of them read English. And so yes, it, I, I totally feel that they should have done their due diligence. But, but they were just so, so grateful to, well, as a person who.
[00:14:51] Speaker B: Has studied the real estate, like to take my real estate license, I can tell you right now, like, that would not fly, that would not apply, you know, and you have to have full disclosure, you know, and so it just, but you know, it's, it's so interesting because that's really what happened to a lot of people when they came to this part of the world. Anyway, they were advertising, I've seen, you know, these advertisements is like the land of milk and honey. And then of course, you can imagine what people like thought when they got here, you know. But you, you, you guys, your dad had, you came with a family, your family and another family. And, and they had hired an immigration attorney that was supposed to meet you at the border, correct?
[00:15:35] Speaker A: Yes, he was supposed to meet us from Lubbock, he was supposed to come down to El Paso. And we were there five days. The family was staying in a hotel in quares while Mr. Schmidt and my dad were daily sitting at the immigration office there by the border.
And on day five, the immigration officer motioned for my dad to come to the counter. And my dad gets up and as he walks toward the counter, he prays, lord, let it be that I can take my family to Seminole, Texas. But if not, I will stick to the truth that I just want my family to have a better living. And so he comes to the counter and he, through his spoken broken Spanish, he relays that he's here with the Schmidt family and they were waiting for that immigration and he hasn't come. And so the officer listens to my dad telling the story and he disappears behind the counter. And when he comes back, he has a, a written visa. And I still have those visas today. He has a six month visa for every one of us, our family members. And that is how we then crossed the border. And before those six months were over, we, we got the immigration rolling and we hired immigration attorneys. And they were working on it and they always Said we were working on it, but we need more money. So, so often, not every single week, but so often, either Wednesday or Thursday, we would hear by Friday. If you want the immigration attorneys to keep working your case, you've got to pay $50 per head in each household or $75. So by Friday, by the time we got our paycheck, us children got 75 cents an hour and mom got $1.50. Dad was plowing during the night, he was plowing the fields, and during the day he was working in SMS. That's now on the 1587.
It was a manufacturing. So he worked 18, 19 hours a day often. And then by that time, our paycheck was practically all up for the immigration. So we barely scraped by for five years. But it was now, looking back, it was all worth it because we are now a part of the United States of America. I am a citizen.
[00:18:29] Speaker B: Out here on the Texas plains, water is everything. And there's a resource that's as vital as it is fragile. Our Playa lakes. These lakes are nature's reservoir, catching rainwater to recharge our aquifer and provide lifelines for wildlife. But now they need our help. In collaboration with the Texas Fly Lakes Conservation Initiative and the Cargill Global Water Challenge, Sarah has started the Our Legacy Is Tomorrow's Water initiative to inspire and work with landowners to restore and protect our Playa lakes. Each Playa we save helps secure a sustainable water future for the generations that will be coming after us. Whether it's improving soil health, restoring habitats, or recharging groundwater, we are committed to making a difference. Together, we can build a legacy that we can all be proud of. To learn how you can join in, visit the Playa Lakes Restoration Initiative page on the SARAH website. Let's keep Texas water flowing strong for the future. Visit sarah-conservation.com I. I just have to say, though, like, I guess I am, like, cynical, but I'm like, I would be like, why do you want to be a part of a group of people that did that to you? But then it's like on the, you know, reverse side of that is all of the people that sent those letters and the fact that the mayor saw the value that you could bring and what was being done to you was wrong, and someone also saw what. That what the realtor had done to you was also wrong and paid that land payment. And. But, boy, wow. I mean, I just, I can't imagine the fear of having been, you know, over and over taking advantage of not knowing who to trust.
[00:20:27] Speaker A: Well, it, it. It was all, all grace. It. It was, it could have turned out to be such a negative. And, and. But I think for my parents, they were kind of. That, that was the going rate because we wanted to immigrate back to Canada and that didn't work. And you can read all about that in my book. And then we wanted to immigrate to South America and that didn't work out. And so my parents knew. Failure, they knew. And so if they had a glimmer of hope, they hung onto that and it paid off this time. But it could have so easily gone the opposite way, but it didn't.
[00:21:12] Speaker B: So, yeah, that's one of the things that you and I talked about. Like, so can you. Because you are really a.
An expert in the, in the history of your culture. So a lot of people. Can you tell us, first of all, what does it mean to be Mennonite?
[00:21:30] Speaker A: It is so much more than a group of people that often are dressed differently that you, you might meat down in the, in the stores or down on the street.
Mennonite is a faith. So we can, if we jump, go back to 1536, the Netherlands.
A young priest, Catholic priest, left the Catholic Church on account of his brother having been murdered for the newfound faith that he had received as an adult. He was baptized as an adult and he, he was then persecuted and just had to give up his life. So, so Menno Simons is in a small Catholic church there, and he's starting to think, what do these Anabaptist movements? So it started in Germany in 1517 when Martin Luther the 95 theses on the church wall. And so that was the beginning of the Reformation years.
And so 1536 in the Netherlands is Menno Simons. So when he starts reading and converting to the Anabaptist movement, he left the Catholic Church and he joined a small group of Anabaptists that were meeting in secret. And he became the leader of this small group. And that group became known as the Mennonites. Deprived from his name, Menno Simons in Switzerland, it was Jacob Arman that had the same. He was shepherding a small group of Anabaptists, and they became known as the Amish from his name, Jakob Adaman. And John Calvin was the Calvinist church. Martin Luther was the Lutherans. So they kind of took on their leader's name. And that. That was Mennon Simons was that for the Mennonites. He started preaching first Corinthians 3:11. For no other foundation can be laid than that which is laid Jesus Christ. That is what Mennonite faith is.
[00:23:46] Speaker B: Okay, so what I think I think of and what I think other people think of is that you're German.
[00:23:52] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:23:52] Speaker B: Yeah, but you're really. But really.
But it was from the Netherlands, which was part of. I don't know my geography and history enough to know that was part of Europe.
[00:24:04] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:24:05] Speaker B: Yeah, right. But it was its own German. Okay, okay. All right. Okay.
[00:24:12] Speaker A: It was. And there was many different dialects of German in Holland. A lot of the Holland people, they. They spoke the. The Dutch. And so, so they. The German throughout Europe. All the different nations in Europe, they. They were experiencing the same persecution for their. For their newfound faith, the Anabaptism. And so it was when they finally migrated from what was then, people came from Germany, from Switzerland, from Holland, from Poland. They all were invited by King Augustus to the Netherlands, to Poland, present day Poland. It was Prussia then. But they congregated from across Europe because the King Augustus offered them for their religious freedoms, they could practice their newfound faith for an exchange for draining the swampy land that was just below the Black Sea.
[00:25:15] Speaker B: So. So let's back up just one minute. So you're saying that King Augusta of Poland invited any of the. What we would think of now as the Protestants, any of those reformers from across Europe.
And which is so interesting to me because Poland is the number one Catholic country in the world now currently. I mean, it's like they're basically their state religion. And so how interesting, because. So he saw.
What was it that he saw that attracted him? Because I'm assuming that Poland was Catholic at that time.
[00:25:54] Speaker A: It wasn't any of the religious part that attracted him. It was the working ethics, it was the workforce that he would gain to drain the swampy land. So all of the land that is below the Black Sea was up to six feet under sea level. And so it was swamp. And he knew to really gain agriculture, he would need that farmland and it would be very productive, rich farmland, but it needed to be drained. And so the Holland people, they were experts and draining with the windmill, the invention of the windmills, these big windmills that you see today from Holland. And so across Europe, they were very hardworking farmers and irrigate. I mean, they just had the industry down. So he was gaining that. And in exchange for religious freedom, he said, if you will come and build dikes, drain the swampy land, I will grant you religious freedom.
And so they could not preach their. Their newfound faith. It was in the, in the bylaws that, that they could not preach to others because he wanted the Catholic faith to stay as the Catholic, as the main faith in. In Poland. But he gave this group permission to. They couldn't have churches that look like a church. They could gather at their own freedom, but it had to be in. In just a regular house. They could not be landowners.
It was the like a lease. And so he gained all of this swamp. And if you will go to Poland today, these dikes that the Mennonites and the in the diff, all the different groups from across Europe built, they are 30ft high and 30ft at the base. So they would build two dikes and then pump the water. So the auger, the screw auger that all the grain elevators use today, the wind, the big wheel with buckets, they were invented by the Mennonites there in Poland. And the wind would drain the sides and dump it into this man made channel. And soon they had all this extra rich, swampy land grain.
[00:28:31] Speaker B: I was telling you earlier that this summer we hosted a student. We have a. Texas has a student exchange program with Poland. And the girl that was here, Maria, her family farms there. And she says, well, their land is so rich that like their yields are so, so high that you do not have to have as many acres to be productive.
[00:28:57] Speaker A: Exactly, yeah. And that was given in exchange for draining this swampy land. And so they would have dike watchers. He allowed each family to build just a small plot to where they could pitch a tent. And then they had to start working in exchange for freedom. He didn't pay them. It was truly an exchange for the freedom. So until that land was drained, they worked for King Augustus. And so after those dikes were built and drained, they worked for him. And then they were able to venture out and become their own farmers. And so they did economically so well that when King Augustus passed passed, the successor said, no, the Mennonites are flourishing too much. We've got to put extra taxes on them.
They have to go to the wars like volunteer in our war.
But they were pacifists, so they did not. That was part of the agreement that they were gifted by Queen Augustus. And so all these privileges are being retracted. And that is when Catherine the Great heard about the flight of the Mennonites. And she had gained millions of acres of farmland. And what is it was south Russia then. What is Ukraine now?
And so she said, well, I know I speak German because she was born in Germany. I speak the language. She sent out delegates to Warsaw, Poland, and they held a council meeting. And she invited Them to come in exchange for again, religious freedoms. I'll give you all the freedoms you want in exchange for you farming the land. And so my sixth great grandpa was one of the two delegates that rode in Catherine the Great's horse drawn carriage along the Diepper river. So collecting the lands that the Mennonites immigrated to. So yeah, once she had all the land and the farmers, they did wonderful in, in Ukraine there is six foot of topsoil.
I mean the cluster of grapes is like biblical times. When I was visiting, they had stands next to the road and those cluster of grapes were literally a foot high.
[00:31:30] Speaker B: I mean, yeah, I, you know, I was never. Well, we were, we weren't that close. We were all kind of like Central Eastern, you know, of course, because there's a war going on. But I was so impressed with the produce. Just the quality of food in Europe and in Poland. It's, it's so different from here that this, the quality like I have on my phone, the background on my phone is strawberries that were there. No filter, just a picture of strawberries. They're unbelievable. I've never seen anything like them here in the United States.
[00:32:10] Speaker A: Yes, absolutely. It's such rich. And the grains, like Ukraine is considered the Brad basket of America. And when my ancestors, after Catherine the Great, same story after she passed, her successor said, the Mennonites are doing too well, they're getting too wealthy, they, their estates are getting too big.
They are just not contributing to the government. But that was part of the agreement. They did their due diligence and now they were flourishing. And then First World War came, Second World War came and it started crumbling again. So they immigrated a large group. My family directly went from Ukraine to Canada 1875. But a large group came to the Midwest states, Kansas, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska. And in Kansas there is a section of highway that is dedicated to the red turkey wheat. You can Google that and know exactly where it's at. But the Mennonites brought the red turkey wheat to Kansas. And that is why we have. The breadbasket of America today is the red turkey wheat did so well here in America until the Dust Bowl. And that is when they dispersed to California and further north, many went to Canada. But it is that migration that farming was always the initiative. But religious freedoms were so dear to these groups that they wanted their own schools in Ukraine, they had their own Red Cross train. So they did not. Because they didn't bear arms. They said, we will contribute any way we can to the war. And so they did. Forestry service and they did. They had their own doctors and nurses. So they furnished and completely ran their own Red Cross train picking up soldiers off of the battlefields. And these homemade selves and homemade bandages, these soldiers. When I was in Ukraine, the archivist came onto our ship and had all these displays, and she told us that these soldiers had healed in record time because they used linen. Linen that they weaved themselves from the flax that they grew and the silt that they grew in their attics with the silkworms. And so they. They had all this homemade remedies that they applied to the wounds and they healed in record time. And so they. There's these ways that they contributed to the war. But. But so many again were either. There's a movie that's out that's called and When They Shall Ask.
And that is a. This depiction of how they. During Second World War, they would take the young men and the old men to Siberia and to the workforce by force, or they would be shot. And so it was just. There's so many, many sad stories, but at the same time, again, such growth and such prosperity that when they are given the opportunity that they will make of something of themselves.
And it is through industry. It is through farming. And that's. Well, that's what happened.
[00:35:47] Speaker B: You can see that here. I mean, you can see it happening. And. And I mean, why have been through Seminole? I hadn't been in years. Drove through there a couple of times recently and shocked. Shocked at the businesses, the. My goodness, the cars that are going through there. It's just unbelievable. Unbelievable. You know, and I. We farmed out not too far from there. In fact, my youngest son was born in the Seminole Hospital. Fun fact.
[00:36:14] Speaker A: Oh, okay.
[00:36:15] Speaker B: And so, you know, I. So I spent time there. No kind of what it was, you know, like, compared to now. And I'm just. And then I see that coming into Brownfield, you know, that. That there are businesses that would have been closed forever, but that a Mennonite family has moved in and purchased that. You know, that. That business. So let me ask you. You're talking. You're saying that the Mennonites are.
They're of a faith, but there are different denominations that Mennonites attend.
They're not in a. They're not. There's one single Mennonite church. And every Mennonite goes to this single Mennonite church.
[00:37:01] Speaker A: No, here in Seminole, there's last count, there was 12 Mennonite churches, and not one is quite the same. They have. Some are more conservative, some are more liberal. Yes, they all teach from the Bible, but it is just holding on to either. A lot of them don't know their own history, so they just think, I want to get away from it. I don't want to be associated with the Mennonites because, because there is bad reps out there.
And so they try to get away from it. And the younger generation that they don't really know the history and so therefore it doesn't affect them to the same. So they've now had schooling here in America and so they've grown up more like Americans and so they're not set apart as much. But there is also always. And every, every migration there was always the conservative and then there was those that wanted to. To step out more and be more, more integrated and just. Just not stand out quite as good. But. But that is the same case. You talking about Brownfield right now. They're building the third Mennonite church in Brownfield.
[00:38:20] Speaker B: Yes. Yes, my parents are. It's. It's just amazing. It is amazing and which is really one of the reasons that I reached out to you and I, I'd love for you to come back and let's, let's cover this in another session, another episode because it's a conversation all its own of what's going to happen to the Mennonite population now that you are. Are in this position to where Mennonites seem to be the people that are thriving here while other people are not thriving. Are you worried about history repeating itself? You know, and, and that's. That was the reason I think we, my husband and I were talking about. There's so many rumors, especially in the agricultural world, you know, of where. Where is this money coming from? You know, and so I, I would love to broach that topic, but let's do it on another, another episode because it is kind of a sensitive topic. Right. But at the same time I think it's helpful. But I. One reason I think that you will be good with this is because. And if you would just address this for just a second before we end this episode of being a bridge, being that bridge and what that means to you, of bridging that gap between your culture and the culture that you live in.
[00:39:49] Speaker A: Thank you. I am so. I count myself so blessed to be able to be a bridge because I know the history. I know what it took for them to. And the sea of different countries, the sea of different cultures, languages, traditions that they have migrated through and to.
It's no wonder that they are questioning themselves. Who are we and what are we? And so for every generation to have some that are losing their way because they don't know their roots. That is why history is so important for us to know our history and know our roots. Because if we don't, we're going to repeat the same thing over and over. And it can be both ways. It can be the negative and the positive. But if we know the history, then we can already brace ourselves and work toward, like, I don't want to repeat the negative, but let's. How can we do it in today's society, with today's knowledge, with today's ability to change, how can we bridge that gap? And so I think it will be, if nothing isn't done and acknowledgement is given, the questions are asked and the answers are sought, we will repeat the same thing again and again. But if we can be a bridge and concentrate on our similarities instead of our differences, then we are going to flourish moving forward. Because that is what internality does. It gives opportunity. Opportunity. And if we give opportunity birth to it, then it will multiply. And that is what. What the beauty is of us just sitting down and talking about it.
[00:41:50] Speaker B: Well, before we go, would you like to give a little tribute to President Carter and say a lot about that?
[00:42:00] Speaker A: Thank you. That is a topic that's very near and dear to my heart. People have often asked, well, what is your political view? Well, when we came to Seminole, Texas, we had no idea that there was a Republican Party or a Democratic Party or any party. We just knew that this is a land of opportunity. And because the.
Those in leadership, whatever party they were, they had compassion. And that is what I appreciate so much from President Jimmy Carter, from our mayor all the way to the President's desk, was they had compassion. And that is what we are called to do, to leave. What did President JFK say? Ask not what the people can do or the nation can do for you, but what you can do for the nation. That is our calling as a human race. No matter what skin color or what background, it is that compassion. And that's what President Jimmy Carter had. And that is why I am able to give tribute to him today and his legacy that he left. And the Mennonites that started West Texas. And now today, on account of those first 500, the last time I talked to our mayor, he said that there's not a exact number, but they guesstimate about 35,000 in and around Seminole.
[00:43:41] Speaker B: In and around Seminole. And 12 churches and schools.
[00:43:45] Speaker A: Schools, absolutely. Like multiple. And then the homeschool group is just growing by leaps and bounds. And so that, that was all made possible by the special bill that came across his, his desk. And he said, I am a peanut farmer. I am a cotton farmer. I know if these people are trying to make a crop of cotton and peanuts, this they need to have their citizenship. And so it was because he knew our flight, he knew our way of life and how he wanted to help in that area. And so for him to sign that that was his goal and for me to have physically been able to give him a thank you On November 3, 2019, when I was in his Maranatha Sunday school class, him teaching, that was the very last time he taught Sunday school. And he was 95 at the time. He sat in that Maranatha church on a chair with a broken hip. And his Sunday school lesson theme was is there life after death? And he is experiencing that life after death right now. That's amazing.
[00:45:00] Speaker B: That's amazing. Just such a human, an amazing human humanitarian. So, and, and the day that you.
[00:45:08] Speaker A: Were naturalized with October 31, in 1986.
[00:45:14] Speaker B: In, in the gym in Seminole, Texas, isn't that right?
[00:45:18] Speaker A: It was the auditorium, Auditorium, the high school auditorium that was made into a temporary courtroom and, and we were all sworn in as, as American citizens.
[00:45:30] Speaker B: That is what, what an amazing time. Yeah, that's really amazing. Well, this is a, this has been such a great conversation and we will.
We're going to circle back because I do want to talk about, you know, what, what you, what you see that can be done and what, you know, people in my culture can do and maybe how we can address some of this, the rumors that go around about you all. So, Tina, thank you again for being here and thank you, friends, for listening in to another episode of Conservation Stories. And I hope that you have found this interesting and helpful and I'm, I really look forward to bringing you a second episode to talk about some of the, the current struggles and, and also some of the unique ways that the Mennonite culture is rising to the occasion and being successful in our area.
So I look forward to having you all back again. And Tina, thanks.
