12/10/2025
I want to take a moment and share about the two people in this picture…. My Grandparents Mary Ann & Vernon Byrd ❤️
Long story but bear with me…
Mary Ann is still here but homebound and struggles with dementia. I have found that it’s one of the hardest things watching a grandparent that has always been a pillar in your life deteriorate & I find it difficult to visit and talk to her. I know it’s completely selfish on my part but she was always so strong and I always admired and wanted to be like her when I was younger.
These people had drive and passion that you rarely find today. My grandfather wasn’t going to let anything stop him from developing the pecan grove he envisioned. My grandmother was by his side every step of the way as the organizer and communicator to the public. (She absolutely loved talking to people)
Together they helped bring Missouri Nut Growers Association to Bates County, held events at their farm in the 80s & 90s encouraging people to learn more about pecans and their health benefits, worked with University of Missouri Extension office creating educational videos on how to graft and maintain trees, and I haven’t even mentioned the business they began together out of Virginia, Missouri where they sold their farm fresh product during pecan season every single year since the 60’s (that is still going today ran by their daughter, my mom). They poured their life into the beautiful pecan orchard that we now get to walk through and enjoy like it’s a city park.
These are the people that instilled hard work, and dedication into my brain growing up. He would always tell me that if I wanted something, go work for it. I am the only one that can stand in my way. My grandma & I would go around to festivals in the off season setting up a booth trying to sell pecans and baked goods with pecans in them. I was barely in junior high when I would hand out brochures to customers and had a rehearsed sales pitch that my grandparents taught me about heath benefits of pecans and why they “need a handful of pecans in their diet every day”. I can remember watching people and rearranging product on those tables realizing people liked to grab what was closest and caught their eye so I had my Grandma to buy bright tablecloths and things to display products in that was cute and appealing. She was all for it and we made a great team.
My grandpa would hover over my shoulder making sure I weighed the packages right down to the exact ounce. “kiddo, losing even an ounce in production over time means we lose profits so it needs to be exact every single time.” - I can still hear his kind yet firm voice giving me the daily business advice that started when I wasn’t even out of elementary school yet, but I appreciated it as I was expected to play a role in the family business. Some may see this as a child pushed into the work world but I look back and appreciate every single second of it. Every piece if advice. Every expectation to work hard and pitch in because there was a job to be done. Being raised with high Christian morals and doing business the right way…. Great quality products and service that people will pay for.
This is what it’s like being a part of a great family legacy and knowing I am expected to carry on a piece of that. Big wonderful boots to fill! This picture is tacked on the wall in my office and I look at it every single day. So many times I have wished for his voice to give me advice or sit down to discuss numbers over his calculator he always kept close by. There is a piece of them in everything I do and there always will be….
