Photo Op – I was a 16-year-old high school student when I got my first summer job in 1992. My dad spent much of his adult life working in textile mills and he knew that a department would be a adding second shift that summer. Gary Quarles is a friend of the family, his father-in-law being my church pastor at the time, and he was going to supervise that second shift. He needed to hire a full crew so the old adage about who you know certainly proved to be true. John Thornton was the owner of American Rug Crafstmen in Sugar Valley, GA. He never moved to Georgia and drove down each day from Maryville, TN. After being chosen Entrepreneur of the Year in 1992 the local newspaper came out for an interview and Thornton gave him a tour of the mill. It was my first day of my first job. Gary, who has also pastored a Baptist Church for several years now, was literally explaining the job to me. I had only been there for about 10 minutes when the owner of the company and a newspaper photographer walked up to “my” station. True story.