Glass Inc. - Reflections 1999-2019

spent his leisure time encouraging conservation. He oversaw the release of tens of thousands of quail to enhance future hunts in the state. He was also instrumental in the stocking of lakes and ponds across the region. Dr. Smith was instrumental in the establishment of the Mis- sissippi Game and Fish Commission in 1932. Passing the Passion to Family “That’s where it all started,” Robert Smith, president of Glass, Inc. said. “Our family’s love of hunting and fishing came from him.” Smith recalls watching Super 8 footage of his father and grand- father on a lake in the Delta. “My father was skinny dipping, and my grandfather was sitting on a wooden chair while fishing in a jon boat.” Smith was young when his father introduced him to hunting and fishing. “I’ve been a duck hunter for 55 years,” Smith, who just turned 60, said. “As soon as we were old enough to hold a gun, my father took my brother and me to the lake.” A Connection to Greenwood Smith lights up when talking about the history of Greenwood. “The city is called Greenwood and it’s in Leflore County. It was named for the Choctaw Indian Chief Greenwood Leflore. His home place, Malmasion, was in the Delta right outside Green- wood. To this day, I’ve got close friends — William Leflore and Frank Leflore — who are direct descendants.” Smith smiled and added, “We still call William ‘Chief ’.” Smith remembers his childhood in Greenwood as idyllic. “It was like living in Mayberry. It was a small town. We rode our bikes to school. Houses were left open.” And Smith’s father, Bobby Smith, encouraged his sons to play organized sports. He taught them how to play football, basketball, and baseball and often coached their teams. In fact, his father al- most made it to the big leagues in baseball. “My father played baseball at Mississippi College,” Smith said. He played catcher because the coach wanted him there, but his first love was pitching. In the 1950s, he and some of his Missis- sippi College buddies went to a Yankees’ try out.” Smith said his father got an offer to play on the Yankees’ farm club. “But they wanted him to play catcher, not pitcher. And none of his friends got an offer. So, the three of them decided to join the air force instead.” A Tradition of Making Personal Connections After Smith’s father served in the air force, he went to Missis- sippi State on the GI Bill and earned a degree in business. During the late 1950s in Greenwood, Bobby Smith met a beau- tiful young woman named Patricia Bardin. They married in 1956. A year later their son Robert was born. “My mother was an interior decorator,” Smith said. “She had a flair for being able to decorate anything.” Smith’s mother also had the genes for personal connections. Her father worked as a salesman for the New Deal Tobacco Company. “He would drive his van stocked with tobacco products and dry goods — flyswatters, bags of candy, firecrackers, can openers, just about anything you can imag- ine,” Smith recalled. “I remember going with him on his routes,” Smith said. “He would take us along sometimes.” Smith’s maternal grandfather would chat with store owners (usually a hus- band and wife, Smith said), take their orders, go back to his van and gather the goods, and then return to the store to restock the inventory. “He knew them all,” Smith said. “He had customers who were friends all over the Delta.” A First Step Toward Glass In 1965, the owner of the only glass company in Greenwood died. As fate would have it, the widow of the owner had no interest in operating the busi- ness. That left the Chevrolet dealership in Green- wood with no local supplier for windshield repair. The partners of the car dealership — one of whom was Bobby Smith — decided to purchase the glass company. They convinced Bobby to manage the glass business. They called the company Glass, Incorporated. “I remember going back into the glass shop and watching the men cut glass,” Smith said. “I was about nine or ten years old.” Bobby Smith managed Glass, Incorporated for three years. In 1968, Binswanger Glass offered to purchase the business, and the owners decided to sell. Bobby Smith, who had always dreamed of starting a real estate business, decided to leave the glass business. A gentleman named Paul Merrick moved to Greenwood to manage Binswanger. The Old College Try After graduating from high school, 17-year-old Robert Smith enrolled in the business program at Mis- sissippi State. “I wasn’t prepared, and I wasn’t focused,” Smith re- called. “I dropped every class I could and ended up with Ds and Fs. I wanted to just go work to earn a living, but my father insisted I go to community college.” Smith moved back to Greenwood, lived at home, and attended community college where he met a cheerleader, got married, and had a son he named Rob. “All of a sudden, I realized I couldn’t support a family. I wished I’d taken advantage of college.” Smith sold cars, vac- uum cleaners, insurance. “I was doing whatever I could to make ends meet,” Smith said. Then, he ran into a friend who was studying in the construction and engineer program at Mississippi State. “He said he was planning on working for a big gen- eral contractor when he got out.” I thought: Every sum- mer I worked construction. I liked it, but I didn’t want to be the guy on the end of a shovel my whole life. I just don’t know how to be the guy who comes around and brings the paychecks on Friday. I liked the business, Dr. Frank H. Smith (above center) with family, photo, circa 1906. (Below left), Robert Smith, Sr. duck hunting, circa 1965. (Top) Robert, Sr. and Patricia’s wedding day. (Above) Robert, Jr., 1963 13