Lesson Learned: Clean Hog Manure Off Your Boots Before Going to School, He Didn't Know Where He Came From Until His 40s and The Story of Las Vegas Through Neon Signs

This is Lee Habib and this is our American stories. The show were Americans the store and the American people.

The story from Scott Jones got as a pastor and the author of growing up in rural lessons learned for lifetime.

Today he shares with us a story about a child experience from that book entitled kinky boots. They get away Scott and transitioning from 4th to 5th grade for me was very difficult. Our schooling during Iowa consolidated with the neighboring town of McCall's Bird became known as NASCO or Northeast story County since we lived out in the country school bus would pick us up early in the morning and we would be on the bus 30 to 45 minutes stopping other houses along the way to pick up other kids would be let out at the searing school building and then get onto another bus that would take us to McCall's Bird which was 10 minutes away. After school we would go through the same procedure to arrive home. There were new kids in the classroom, McCall's Bird, whom I never met in 1/5 grade teacher. She seemed to be very strict and uptight, which was much different than my fourth grade teacher in the top it off we had to learn something they called new math and I got my very first failing grade 1st nine weeks of that did not sit well with my parents so mom and dad tried working with me on this new math and I limped along for the entire year, sometimes in the morning before the school bus arrived to pick me. I had to do chores. I had to feed the hogs as we did not have automatic feeders. The hog lot was a mixture of dirt beside an hog manure and depending on the time of the year was dry or rainy that would dictate the ground underneath my feet to feed those hogs.

At any rate, I usually wore my buckle up rubber boots to keep my shoes clean this particular morning I was running a little bit late in feeding the hogs before the bus came. It was early winter snows on the ground.

The hog lot it not frozen over was still quite soft and gooey. The sticking to my boots upon finishing up I ran to the house to get my school supplies and catch the bus.

As I saw it coming down the road and my hurriedness I did not clean off my boots. I thought it'll be all right. I will clean them off at recess in the snow.

Upon arriving at school I went directly to my classroom are classroom had a type of walk-in closet behind the teacher's desk where we would hang our coats and put our boots also are schools heated by those big metal water heater radiating. There were a couple in the classroom and a smaller one in the coat closet is class began. Everything was going fine until about halfway through the morning, all of a sudden our teacher lifted her head and turned as though something was annoying. Her she started into teaching again and stopped a second time.

Looking back toward the closet.

She placed her teaching material down and got up and went back into the closet. It seemed like she was in there a long time. She finally appeared with a pair of boots in her hand something brown and ugly was dripping off those black boots and the smell. Well, it was a horrendous and permeating the classroom. She was not happy. She asked whose boots are these.

No one answered. I shrunk down in my seat at my desk. She asked a second time whose boots are these my classmates all started to look over at me as I sheepishly raise my hand and confess my crime of bringing stinky hog lot manure covered boots to school only to bring a new type of unacceptable perfume to our fifth grade classroom. I thought, oh boy, now what well she was very gracious to me as I was sure she saw my worrisome expression and even a hint of shame before my classmates. She stated to everyone in the class and then just pinpoint me, please.

For those of you who live and work on the farm, clean your boots off at home before coming to school. She then asked me if I would please take my boots and place them outside the door of the school building and leave them there until it was time to go home.

What took the edge off the incident was the way she looked at me as she handed me the boots.

It was as if her expression toward me was Scott.

It's okay and I understand that gave me the courage to come back to class unashamed and no one ever said anything to me about those boots.

Maybe the fact that she knew my parents pretty well as my mom also was in elementary played a part in her response. Whatever the case, I had a newfound respect for her. She became one of my favorite teachers through this incident. I learned a number of life lessons. The old saying is true, as in this case never judge a book by its cover. When I said that my teacher always seemed uptight about something that was because her husband was very sick and she was the breadwinner as well as her husband's caregiver. She had a lot on her plate. I also learned not to shame people when they make mistakes, especially in front of their peers. This can be devastating, especially in those formative years. My fifth grade teacher was not only wise but she was sensitive to 11 to 12-year-old kids. She had been teaching for many years. I also learned a lesson.

Clean your boots off before going to school and a terrific job on the production by Monty Montgomery and a special thanks to Scott Jones for his story stinky boots.

By the way, he learned a lot about his teacher that she was a wise sensitive person who is herself going through a lot of thing thinking boots by Scott Jones here on our American story view of the great American stories we tell and love America like we do for asking you to become a part of the All-American stories family. If you agree that America is a good and great country. Please make a donation monthly gift of $17.76 is fast becoming a favorite option for supporters. All-American stories.com now go to the donate button and help us keep the great American stories coming out American stories.com. Geico asks how would you love a chance to save some money on insurance, of course, the way when it comes to great rates on insurance. GEICO can help like with insurance for your car, truck, motorcycle, boat and RV to help with homeowners or renters coverage by setting easy to use mobile app available 24 hour roadside assistance and more. And GEICO is an easy choice switch today and see all the ways you can save it's easy.

Simply go to Geico.com or contact your local agent today and we returned to our American stories and up. Next we have a hometown store story from our little town of Dr. Mississippi home to 20,000 people and Ole Miss home to SEC sports books and were about an hour south to South Memphis, Tennessee.

This story is told by Eddie Willis who is a pastor here in town today.

He's here to share the story about his adoption and his decision at the age of 40 research for his birth parents. I learned at the earliest age that I was an adopted child. I have a lot of questions for my parents and they always answered they were always open and honest. This was at a time before adoptions were open where you knew your parents and that in itself was much different than today. It was almost like a spa Navy.

They met some of the social workers in a park and had to bring in a brown paper sack plaything be very discreet, and they handed me off public park in New Orleans up until about the age of 40. I had the mindset that this is the way it was and they set me on this path in the adoption process and my parents that adopted me were the only parents that I had and needed. I felt like I was fine, not knowing where I came from and so it wasn't until adulthood, marriage, children of my own that I really started having those desires.

My wife and I did our family and then it was during the birth of our first child that I started having these feelings that I never had before that I'm a parent in their there must be an emotional attachment to me from my birth mom. What started out and then as a father myself, there must be these feelings from my birth father and so all through childhood, I was told that I was adopted out of Methodist children's home in New Orleans and it's one of the last states that has sealed records that this will not be opened and ended up at the door of the office of records in a sweet kind lady came outside and I don't think she knew how emotional it was and she said your your records are probably 5 feet behind the store, but if I open these records on myself and suffer consequences legally.

I can't let you stay. These records, so I had a friend that was in industry and private investigation try to go that route just a dead and my wife even found the doctor that delivered me and he's retired and very elderly, and he said with a reason. Your husband was adopted out of the Methodist children's home but was birthed at the Baptist Hospital in New Orleans is that it would have been a high risk pregnancy and she said well that makes sense because his birth certificate says he is a twin and so I am a twin that survived my brother didn't make it. I'd tried through the legal system and only legally. I had written some letters to Senators in Louisiana and I knew some bills were coming before the state Senate and I wrote several of these people in power that I said I can know more about my own canine. Then I can about myself, I could look up my dogs ancestry. But I eat your stopping me. Could you please open these records is frustrating. And then it's so ironic. One of my best friends from my hometown. He had seen something that I had posted on the Internet, Facebook about looking for my parents and he said hey my wife's old roommate does this is why Ms. roommates with the lady that found her mother on her own and started helping other people as a hobby. She's helped a lot of other people and is used a lot of resources at your fingertips. Whether it's actual data or favors from people that can get the data in those favors are typically from people that she help them find their birth parents. He connected me with her and this kind sweet lady.

I color my adoption Angel.

She was reaching out to all the sources that she had during the seven years that she was trying to help me. She said Eddie this is the hardest case I go through dead and after dead end, and she said my dining room.

I have dead in charts with you at the top and is like CSI. I'm trying to solve this case and it just keep hitting dead ends. Would you please try ancestry. Would you please try the DNA swab and I just really was guarded about and still am guarded about my personal information in mind, DNA, and my wife really was at the forefront of really helping me. He could tell there was a little bit of my heart that needed to be built a vacuum that was still empty and so she'd been helping me search and bought me a kit for my birthday and it sat there on the shelf and reluctantly, after about a month two months three months.

I did the swab Senate in I let my adoption Angel as I call her have a password and everything to get into this side and about three months later she called me and said are you sitting down. I said yes I'm driving and she said okay.

I know 99.9% of your birth mother is and I just wanted to pull over and I did and I just was so happy and I had this information and I had phone numbers because the resources that sweet lady that it help me on this journey. Found my birth mom so there was this information so again, you know, my wife, who had been helping me through all of this that you need to call her like a like it is like it can do. This is just so nervous. I was like a teenager trying to call someone that I was in love with and I just would pick up the phone that out. Hang it up and then add dial the number and that close my phone and finally I left a message and my profession as a minister and I didn't want to think that they were getting the strange phone call from a number I was trying to sell stuff that I'm a minister in North Mississippi and was trying to connect with you on a situation and didn't hear anything for a day at hear anything for a couple of days and I told my wife I said I've heard of adoption stories don't turn out. This is not aware and so it was a week to the day that I had called had this this phone call in and it was a Louisiana number them up staring at my phone up so nervous not answered so intrepid plate and I said hello.

My name is Eddie I'm a minister for North Mississippi and of I was born in Louisiana 1968 in and she said Eddie, it's me just stopped all of this jargon and that I was spewing out of my mouth is my birth mom so calmly.

She said I just have two questions.

Have you had a good life if you had good payment and I said yes and we just both broke down on the phone and we we wept, joyful moment and she said I wondered if this call. Whatever happened, she told me about the process and how this had been a relationship in high school, and she and my birth father did not get married, but she remembered even so long ago. 50 years ago.

At the time she sat. I just remember your feet your small little feet and evidently at the time. Adoptions were closed and they limited the time that the birth mother would have with the baby and she said I didn't really didn't really get to hold you very long and in the process started. Where your adoptive parents were able to take you home just a few days later and you been listening to Eddie Willis's story search of his birth parents had given it much thought until he was 40 years of age. My parents who adopted me with the only parents I wanted or needed. He said, then came the birth of his child and he started to have these feelings in the search. Well, it started for his birth parents and 10 years later after that search commenced. They met call from Louisiana they heard these words from his mom, Eddie, it's me. When we come back to this remarkable story. We love adoption stories here on the show as they are the ultimate act of human love for Eddie Willis's story here on our American story and were back with our American stories and with Eddie Willis's story when we last left off. Eddie the age of 50. I finally connected through phone call with his birth mother.

Let's return to Eddie for the rest of the story. After that beautiful conversation, I called her back and there was a no dial tone.

Since this number is no longer in service. I was thinking this is terrible.

She's disconnected her phone and doesn't want to hear from me and I was so sad she call me back in another day and was annexed they had installed a new phone line in their house and I didn't know when the company would cut their own wine and the was trying every way she could to contact me but couldn't and she was nervous thinking that I was thinking she didn't want to ever hear from me again what I was thinking and again you she was overjoyed that I had found her and she had wondered most of her life even having three kids with her husband and she married a gentleman name add my birth father's name is Ed I'm Ed it's just been out for so many ironic things, but she couldn't wait to come up with her husband and she came to our town and we just had this wonderful reunion and she had gifts for my children and just instantly fit into the grandmother role.

So we had a great relationship and then through this DNA company through ancestry. Elise my adoption Angel had called and said I just noticed your accounts you have somebody looking for you in this on your dad's side and if I were you I would call your dad before they get to him and tell him all of this information about been found and you found your birth mom so I had a half-sister that was looking for me that what I wanted today I could've reached out to him, but I told mom my birth mom. I want to give her the opportunity to reach out to him and say hey. Our son is looking for you he found me because they see each other unions and functions.

They have an admiration for each other.

Even though the relationship didn't continue but he had really been very, very quiet about it on his side. I mean, you don't really talk about a relationship in high school and my girlfriend had a baby and yet he didn't say much of anything about it.

She could call me back and said he definitely wanted to find me when I reached out to his first word for what you wait so long and you know we talked about spore or two. We talked about live then he really started wanting to get into things deeper and and so that he call me the next day and then he started calling more and more weight. We became deeper and deeper in you know we've become very close like my mom and so he wanted to meet and he said why don't we meet right at the north of Jackson steakhouse. He probably wanted to make sure I was nor I assume he'd been there a lot longer than I had and I think he was anxious is that we met in there and I said reach out your hands in a way, I reached out, he grabbed my hands from across the table and he said our family has this line in the palm of our hands, and I have the same line just like his. In both palms. My Anthony said my daddy. Your grandfather has that line and my brother has that line he just got really teary-eyed is holding my hand and that the waiter comes in these two mental demands of the restaurant and I said I'm so glad we found each other and I'm not sure what all I said what I said since I'm surviving twin as it's in summer surviving twin just wept and just wept that my father was twin. After that he said we gotta get our families together and it was time to connect with my father side of the family and so they threw a crawfish boil for us.

They invited relatives far and wide to common theme. It was all it was so neat. There's like a movie that the sons going down in my dad's and Eddie's guitar player not my half-brother so I got a guitar upstairs and a cousin things real well and am using a movie setting rather crawfish the sons going down were singing James Taylor songs and songs from the 70s and the families join in is like a campfire saying it just wonderful, wonderful reunion. It brought a lot of good memories. I want to say it brought a lot of healing because it was such a time of thanks swirling around in the relationship that my mother and father had an then my birth and then know the ending of that relationship. I guess not knowing where I was my father's children, which are not my half siblings were saying he would never talk about it and it just was a closed and shut story and I think it was breached once or twice and the family understood that they shouldn't bring that up again though it was almost a biblical homecoming away from me and my family, my children were just welcomed in ethically so proud of our family, you will walk into a restaurant and see his friends sign he is mentioned in it would got a lot of live in Milan living today. Even though the records are closed.

It was an open story for my parents and in the way I was brought up in my mother and father were just overjoyed that I'd found my birth mother and and shortly after that my father passed away and shortly after is when I found my birth father you I never could.

Nothing could take the place of him. Interesting how binding my father after my father passed away so many things in my life all in and place. I wonder what my children think that you have for a while. It was like hey you have any relatives yet another relative. You got another here some grandparents more grandparents. They been on quite a ride with me and they may not even bouncing back. They just were very forward and just the way it is simply trade off with all sides of the family making trips down there and appear. Our initial reunion in Louisiana with my mother.

I was able to go see my grandparents. They were still living in their 90s and my grandmother probably was for, but a war she leaned up and I leaned down and she said I always knew this day would and my grandfather was so happy to see me and they were always the volunteers at their Methodist Church. They always volunteered in the youth department they knew someone at the Methodist children's home through their United Methodist connections in Louisiana and every Sunday at my local church, a tradition that was started before I came to that church. I say and now the children are going to walk around and take up the change. This goes to the United Methodist children's I could look at my personal story negatively that I don't think I even chosen it just the way I think about is so positive as a pastor I talked so much about being adopted into the family of Christ in, I've had a great life to answer my birth mom's question is been wonderful just was very natural. The way my parents packaged it was that my birth mother loved me so much that she chose to allow someone to take care of me and you know every now and then people would say what your adopted yes arch, you had a great job on the production by Madsen and a special thanks to Eddie Willis for sharing his adoption story. My goodness, what a story about love about sacrifice and what a gift Eddie is to this community. What a choice that young couple made to let this young child get adopted this community would not have Eddie Willis, but for that decision and he's been ministering to thousands of young men young women and students here at Ole Miss and contributing in ways that are unimaginable and incalculable story of Eddie Willis here on our American story, and we continue with our American stories and we told stories from many of the museums across this great country from the salt and pepper shaker Museum, the Museum of bad art and even the American banjo Museum. Today we have Ehrenberg or Executive Director of the Neon Museum in Las Vegas, the capital of Mia share the history of Las Vegas and the iconic signage associated with the story is actually pretty interesting. It was officially founded in 1996.

I think one of the great things about Las Vegas is this constant evolution every time you visit. If you come by once a year, you're going to see a different landscape in a different cityscape, but there were volunteers who were concerned about the signage that especially since they couldn't preserve some of the buildings that were being raised. They wanted to preserve the signage that was outfront a unique aspect of signage is that in many cases the building itself doesn't own the sign, even if it's attached to the building. It's actually leased by the sign maker and so the sign maker actually owns that piece of property so you can raise a building, but the sign often goes back to the original sign maker and they you don't have what's called a boneyard which is a place for them to pull parts whole neon tubing. Full lights pull mechanics and so these concerned citizens and 96 started meeting with various sign makers and saying you know we would like to make sure that these parts of history don't necessarily get use to create new signage, but we actually save the original pieces themselves.

It's fascinating to me to be able to tell the story of history using such an unusual medium right so were using were using outdoor signage to tell you the story of Las Vegas history.

It took until 2012 for us to actually open our facility in our current space which is on Las Vegas Blvd. were a little under 3 acres of property we have for physical components to the Neon Museum. The first that car to save my favorite, I'd say it's probably my favorite is actually the physical building.

The lobby that you enter. It's called the contra which means the shell.

It was designed by an architect named Paul Revere, William Paul Revere Williams was the first black architect to be accepted into the AIA. He designed this piece of architecture. It looks like a seashell of it was designed to try and attract people off the roadway to be the sort of unusual enough looking building that someone would actually pull off the road and say I want to see this. So that's our lobby. We get a chance to tell a little bit about Paul Revere Williams his contributions. This is mid century, a time where some people would maybe not feel comfortable sitting next to a black man even though he is your architect and even though he's architect is building the homes of Lucille Ball and Frank Sinatra so he really learned how to draw out designs upside down so that people could sit on the other side of the desk from him and still understand his designs so I think that's a unique part of history an important part of setting the stage of when you come to the Neon Museum. That's the first step. Second step is the Neon boneyard so the boneyard again refers to the concept of what sign makers have which is again a space that they go into to all parts and use for the re-creation of new signage.

We have curated our boneyard so that it is a very thoughtful and logical tour through everything from small businesses to casinos. The strip motels and and really gives you sort of a walk-through Las Vegas history, one of the things that that was really striking to me as a visitor is as you tour the boneyard. You're given an insight into into the black experience by being shown the Moulin Rouge sign Moulin Rouge was a casino that while it lived for a short period of time, was the first integrated hotel in Las Vegas. So if you had someone like Aretha Franklin or Sammy Davis Junior would perform on the strip they would do these great shows.

They would of course pack the house they want to abstain those hotels so the Moulin Rouge became a place for both black and white visitors to stay was often a 230 in the morning show. So after Aretha Franklin had done to shows again on the strip.

She would do 1/3 show at the Moulin Rouge for staying there so we have that amazing sign with the story of women in the story of the indigenous people from Las Vegas in the Las Vegas area.

We have the story of Lot next community the LGBT community. All of these stories are conveyed as you walk through and learn a little bit about the signage that you're seeing. The third is the brilliant show a few years ago we contracted with artist's name is Greg Winslow.

We have a gallery that is theirs. No electricity going to the signage at all these signs are largely to a point where they are beyond conservation. There's nothing we can really do to bring them back to life. So Craig is developed through a process called projection mapping to large towers that pinpoint light onto these lack of a better word, dead scientist and he brings them back to life and when I say pinpoint, it really is looking at each individual lightbulb and seeing that life will begin to flicker and come back to life.

He does it to you. Sort of an iconic Las Vegas soundtrack so you will hear everything from Frank Sinatra to Lady Gaga to of course Elvis is bringing it back.

All of these these incredible signs integrate 25 minute experience in the fourth aspect is what's outside the museum walls so we have over a dozen pieces of art collection that adorns different parts of downtown Las Vegas.

So 3 S. Las Vegas Blvd. will see signage that's out there. The Silver slipper you'll see motel signs you see wonderful pieces that are just really fantastic and they're all part of our collection, but it's in partnership with the city that you can take advantage and revel in those pieces as well, so neon signs. Really, I think their heyday was was in the 50s we have examples dating back to as early as the 30s and our collection but that the basis of Neon is to use electricity to to draw some of the tension. I think the reason Las Vegas is such an epicenter for neon is that all of our weather at the gaming industry. The casinos that the attractions that we have the restaurants were all vying for someone's attention and so these combination of Neon lights added to flashing light bulbs added to denote these these glimmering kind of stars and shines these this is what sort of attract the person to commit off the street and check out this location versus the location next door so that signage is is critical in a town like Las Vegas and is what's going to bring someone in the 30s we were dealing with probation at that point, the oldest sign we have our collection is one from that the green shack and it is of a restaurant. We know that it's from the 30s, but we know it's also from after prohibition because their promoting cocktails you Las Vegas sort of bloomed from people coming from the West Coast Las Vegas are from Los Angeles coming through town and so his city sort of developed as a result of that of trying to get people off the road and have a chance to come and spend the night. Take advantage of all the things that are offered, but it was also places the Hoover dam was being built is also a place where people would come to see the Hoover dam to see this architectural marvel. There were of course need for the workers who were working vamp tap places to go and enjoy.

After incredibly long day. What soaked the green check is a great example that we have over 850 signs in our permanent collection on display. We have about 250 signs that are out in in the actual boneyard or gallery and then at night we illuminate about two dozen sign. The reason that we illuminate just that 24 or so is because a weird illuminate everything you would get a really great sunburn be you would sort of get lost and you wouldn't be able to really appreciate anyone sign in particular so newest acquisitions just come in. We just accepted the Planet Hollywood sign said this is an incredibly iconic lobe that is 25 feet across ways.

Somewhere in the range of about 13,000 pounds opened and 94 outside of Caesar's Palace on the strip and when the opening took place over 10,000 people in stadium seats outside to watch the stars arrive for the opening of this restaurant soap, including any wasn't just stars and George and Barbara Bush came to the opening of this of the restaurant.

The signs are again their catalyst right there there.

What starts the conversation. What excites me is when people tell me about staying at the Moulin Rouge or their experience.

You know they were one of the 10,000 standing outside waiting to see the next celebrity at Planet Hollywood. So those types of things those stories we love to collect as well is that we do programs certainly that are educational by nature. We want people to come in and learn a lot more and take a deeper dive into some of our stories but we do weddings. We do album covers photo shoots for everything from TV shows to the cover of magazine so it is, there is no place truly on earth like the Neon Museum. The great redemptive just immerse yourself in Las Vegas is heyday and a special thanks to faith and Madison with her work on the storytelling and special thanks also to Ehrenberg or Executive Director of the Neon Museum in Las Vegas go to Neon Museum.org to learn more. The next time I'm in Vegas I'll make sure to stop by.

Same with you the next time you're visiting the great town and city of Las Vegas, by all means pay a visit.

The story of the Neon Museum here on our American story