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In 1982, I met a man
who would remain in my life for twenty-four years. I am proud to say that
he was my friend, my congressman, and my Optimist Brother for over half of
those years. Today, I watched his funeral on television and in my own way
grieved that he is gone, and celebrated that I had the opportunity to get
to know him at all.
When I was a junior in
high school, I was part of a group of history students who took a trip to
Washington, DC, by way of Williamsburg & Appomattox, Virginia. On our
trip we saw many of the places we had read about in our Pearl, Mississippi
classroom. In learning how people lived in the late 1700’s and seeing
where General Robert E. Lee surrendered with grace and honor to General
Ulysses S. Grant, we came face to face with giants of history.
Upon reaching
Washington, DC, we visited The Smithsonian, the Washington Monument, and
many of the other sites that tourists to our Nation’s Capitol visit.
Before we left home, our teacher arranged for us to meet our congressman
and to tour Capitol Hill. When we arrived in Washington, we were told that
our congressman could not meet with us because of other commitments. We
were all sad that we wouldn’t get to meet our congressman, and we
wouldn’t get the tour that we were all looking forward to taking.
But at the last minute,
we got word that another Congressman from Mississippi had heard about our
situation, and wanted to meet with us instead. G.V. ‘Sonny’ Montgomery
made himself available to a motley group of high school students from
someone else’s district and made an indelible impression on at least one
of them. Not only did he have his picture taken with us on the steps of
the U.S. Capitol, he arranged tours for us of the Capitol and the Library
of Congress. This man was a stranger to all of us and yet he treated each
of us with sincere warmth. After the group picture with the whole group,
he had pictures taken with each one of us individually, and then sent a
copy of the formal picture to each of us after we got back home. Each
student received a presentation folder with an 8x10 picture of the whole
group and a note from Sonny.
I was acting as a
roving journalist for a local weekly paper back home in Pearl and I
documented our trip and our experiences in a diary that I kept of our trip
and summarized the highlights into an article that appeared in that paper.
I was surprised after a couple of weeks when a letter came in the mail for
me from Sonny’s office with a clipping of the article for me to keep.
Another letter appeared in our mailbox a few months later after I received
the National Leadership Merit Award. I got my picture in the paper holding
my honor with a short blurb under it telling who I was and what the award
was for. In the envelope from Sonny’s office, was a card with the
printed message “I read something nice about you in the paper.” Taped
to the inside of the card was a clipping from the newspaper with my
picture.
I had never before
received mail personally addressed to me from a Congressman’s office
much less from one that knew my name, but you will never know how much
that meant to a geeky high school kid. It inspired me to take another look
at politics and the following year, I served as a page in the Mississippi
State Senate for Lt. Governor Brad Dye. After the week of service, I got a
chance to meet Governor William Winter and got my picture made with him.
I’m sure that Governor Winter was a good guy, but it didn’t feel the
same as it did the day I met Sonny. It was a photo op and nothing more.
Maybe Governors are busier than U.S. Congressmen. Perhaps it was an off
day. Either way, I made the decision that while I was interested in
politics and would continue to be connected by studying issues and voting
my conscience, politics were probably not in my future. I realized that
while Sonny was the first politician I had met, and wouldn’t be the
last, he was unique among all of them.
Fast forward to 1991, I
had graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi, begun my career as
a computer nerd, moved to Meridian, MS, and was well on my way to opening
my own computer service business. I realized when I moved to Meridian,
that I was now in Sonny’s district and was looking forward to the day
when I would get to vote for him for the first time. I joined a civic club
called the Downtown Optimist Club of Meridian to broaden my business
contacts and learned much to my surprise that Sonny was a life member of
that particular club. I was excited to be a part of something like the
Optimist Club and looked forward to meeting Sonny again if I ever got the
chance.
Civic clubs exist to give people a chance to give back to their community and as I gave more
and more time to the projects the club I quit worrying about trying to broaden my
business contacts. I worked the Pancake Jubilee and rang bells for the
Salvation Army and I listened to the older members tell stories about the
old days, good times, and past members and I would always perk up when I
heard stories about Sonny. He visited from time to time over the years and
I spoke to him on those occasions and he was always warm and welcoming and
I looked forward to seeing him at Pancake Jubilee if he was in town when
it was held.
I learned a lot from
the work and the stories the guys told and in particular from one Optimist
Brother. Bill Herndon, who was also a life member like Sonny and had
served side-by-side Sonny during the many years before I joined. Bill took
me under his wing and mentored me in my Optimist obligations and duties.
More than any other member, Bill taught me what it meant to be an
Optimist, and an Optimist Brother. Optimist Bar-B-Cue fundraisers were not
complete without Bill’s Beans. Bill encouraged me to become a part of
the Optimist Board and I served for a year before being elected Club
Treasurer, then Vice President, and ultimately President.
During my term as
President, I had an opportunity of a lifetime. Sonny was coming to town
and someone had invited him to speak to the guys in the club and I would
get to introduce him. I couldn’t wait to tell the story of the high
school visit to the U.S. Capitol. And when the time came and I told the
story, I saw a smile on Sonny’s face. He rose to speak and thanked me
for the introduction and promptly waved my praise away and acted like the
things I told about were nothing special and something that any other
Congressman would have done. I knew better. People like Sonny are rare.
Congressmen like Sonny are rarer still.
In time, Bill Herndon
passed away and when he did, Sonny was promoting a new program that took
troubled, drop-out kids and gave them the opportunity the first time they
got into trouble to participate in a “boot camp” at Camp Shelby, a
National Guard Training facility near Hattiesburg, Mississippi where they
would learn discipline and get their GED and try to make their lives
better. Bill Herndon had always been interested in education and in spite
of the fact that Bill never wanted us to make a big deal over him, we
decided to create something that combined Sonny’s love of young people
and the National Guard with Bill’s love of education. To that end, I was
able to participate with several of my Optimist Brothers in the creation
of the Bill Herndon Scholarship fund, which would provide tuition for any
graduate of Sonny’s Boot Camp who wanted to attend Meridian Community
College. Sonny came to the meeting when we made our first major
contribution to the college and I think he was pleased with our efforts.
Since then, the
Optimist Club has contributed over $15,000 toward endowing the Scholarship
fund forever. We have a few more contributions to make before we reach our
ultimate goal, but the Scholarship has already provided some funds for
Sonny’s graduates and in the future we hope that this fund will provide
scholarships for many more students.
One other quick
story…In 1998, I proposed to my wife on the 4th of July under
the fireworks display with the Meridian Symphony playing patriotic music
as our backdrop. After I almost dropped the ring, stumbled through the
words and my new fiancé said yes, the concert was over. I turned around
and realized that Sonny had been sitting near us during the show and as I
shook his hand I told him that I had just gotten engaged. Sonny was the
first person I told about my future wife and he smiled bigger than I had
ever seen him smile as he wished us a long, happy life together.
On my birthday this
year, I saw Sonny for the last time. On March 28th, 2006, the
Downtown Optimist Club of Meridian held the 57th annual Pancake
Jubilee. While working mixing batter, I saw Sonny come in and sit down and
begin to eat his pancakes and sausage. I
walked out and sat down next to Sonny and he looked up and said, “Hey
buddy how’s it going?” We chatted for a few minutes and he told me that he was so proud of the Downtown Optimist Club for
doing this year after year and using the proceeds for such good causes. I
could tell his health was not good and I remarked to my wife that he
looked frail. I didn’t realize this would be the last chance for me to
visit with Sonny, but I’m so glad that I took the time to do so.
On Friday, May 12th,
2006, G.V. ‘Sonny’ Montgomery passed away at his home in Meridian,
Mississippi. I’m sure that a million people out there have their own
memories of their experiences with Sonny. I just wanted to share mine with
you and tell you how this man affected my life in giant ways with
little actions. I can't remember the name of the Congressman who
couldn’t meet our class on our trip, but I will always know Sonny’s.
Godspeed, Sonny. Tell
Bill I said hello.
Paul
H. Tarver
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