Says she'll miss the many parents and the many students the most
Harwell with two generations of students, Josh Vanlandingham, 38, and Ace Vanlandingham, 3
Although most people look forward to retirement, for Pat Harwell her retirement after 47 years as director of the First Baptist Church Day Care comes with mixed emotions.
"It didn't seem like work to me," Harwell said. "I enjoyed going to work and talking to the parents at the door and welcoming the little ones in."
Harwell, 76, was honored Sunday afternoon with a retirement reception at the church's fellowship hall where past students, parents and others joined in her celebration. Pastor Jake Bondurant presented Harwell with a plaque and announced that while it will still be called First Baptist Day Care, it will now be held in the Harwell Center.
Harwell said she was on a committee at the church that recommended starting a day care center and said Pastor Jerry Keese thought it was a great idea.
"When we opened we couldn't afford to pay anybody to take job," she said.
Harwell stepped up, and in the summer of 1975 the move toward a day care center began. She said she had to go to classes about running a day care center and in the fall of 1975 First Baptist Day Care received its first students.
She said it started with about 12 students from eight weeks old to K-4-year olds.
"Every year we continued to grow," Harwell said. "We average 50 to 55 a year now."
"I loved it," she said. "It was the perfect job for me. I made a lot of friends with the parents and the children."
She said she still remembers most of the parents but has trouble remembering the students who later became adults.
"People said it was a blessing to the community," Harwell said. "I was the one who got the blessing."
She also said she had a lot of help through the years with different teachers helping at the center.
She said Jennie Gartman has been named the new director.
She said her first order of business in retirement is to work in her yard as much as she can.
"There's a lot of work to be done when you haven't been there every day for 47 years," she said.
She said she also has friends and family to visit up and down the interstate with her son Scott Harwell living in Birmingham. And of course she said she looks forward to visiting her grandchildren more.
