Hard work and determination

The seeds of success are sown early

When 9-year-old Will Hancock of Whitwell wanted a new baseball bat to use while playing baseball with his travel team, his parents, Tyler and Shanda, recognized a learning opportunity.

That new bat was not your traditional Louisville Slugger. Instead, it was a fancy two-piece composite tool that cost as much as $500. That was a bit more than a typical child’s lemonade stand could generate.

Tyler and Shanda proposed that Will raise the money himself by expanding the garden and farm stand they had operated in previous years.

“We really just kind of gave [the vegetables] away last year,” says Shanda. “People would come by, pick up what they needed, and then sometimes they would leave a tip.”

Will agreed to put in the work, and his project got off to a running start when his maternal grandfather, Ray Barnett, built a simple wooden stand for him to display his vegetables on the family’s front porch.

To help Will’s project succeed, the family expanded the garden to 108 tomato plants and 35 cucumber plants, along with lettuce and peppers. They also supplemented the offerings with eggs produced by the family’s backyard chickens. The Hancocks purchased all the plants, seed, and fertilizer from their local Co-op, Marion Farmers Cooperative, in Jasper.

Everything was set and ready to grow; however, the area’s weather didn’t cooperate. The season was peppered with periods of drought, adding a deeper lesson on the perils of farming.

But Will’s determination to succeed kept him striving to raise the money. He continued to water the plot daily, and it thrived. Some neighbors who normally have big gardens and their own farm stands ended up buying some of Will’s crop, says Shanda, adding to the success of the venture.

“Making money wasn’t really the motivation for us,” she explains. “Of course, he wanted to buy the bat, but the true purpose was to teach him the value of hard work.”

Shanda says Will had to learn how to use a large tiller originally owned by Tyler’s granddad that Tyler himself used as a kid. Will also picked vegetables from his garden daily. Shanda and Tyler were eager to assist their hard-working son.

Not only did he learn the value in working hard, Will also learned how important it is to provide good customer service.

“Will spoke to people who stopped by the vegetable stand and shook hands with every customer who came by,” says Shanda. “The experience was worth more than the money for all of us.”

Will made his father, Tyler, especially proud. Tyler and his family raised their own vegetable garden when he was growing up. Those times hold fond memories that he was able to share with his own family.

Tyler’s grandfather, Will’s namesake, had a beef cattle operation and raised hay. In fact, he was named Conservation Farmer of the Year by the Marion County Soil Conservation District in 1984.

As we were finishing our conversation about his business venture, I asked Will whether he might want to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps. After a quick moment of reflection, he answered, “Maybe one day.”

“The hard work was worth it, but I’d probably rather play baseball.”

Story by Glen Liford,

Contact gliford@ourcoop.com