A Father's Legacy: Clark Shaw & Old Country Store
BY BROOKS SHAW
Featured in Vol 7, Issue 2: Legacy
Legacy seems to be a common thing we seek to define after someone has passed away. We look to be inspired on how to improve ourselves, our families, and our communities. We try to sift through a life and determine what traits, stories, and accomplishments made this person special, successful, and significant.
Certainly, a handful of people achieve so much notoriety that we go through this process while they are alive, leading to the next bestselling how-to book or biography. But all too often we are left searching for the words to say, the deeds to remember, after that person is gone.
When I was first asked to write about my dad Clark Shaw’s legacy for Our Jackson Home, my immediate answer was no. It was only thanks to the convincing of my wife Megan and the vision of editor Courtney Searcy that I said yes. Even then, I pondered for weeks on what to write. How was I supposed to sift through 30 years of personal experiences and another 35 years of his life before me for a single article?
It would be simple to write about the Old Country Store and Casey Jones Village, what they mean to our community and the countless visitors who have been restored, in food and in spirit, with us. I could pull up hundreds of examples of interviews, op-eds, features, and press releases in local, regional, national, and international media. I could discuss the boards and organizations he served on, like the National Restaurant Association, Tennessee Restaurant Association, Tennessee Tourism Roundtable, the Rotary Club. I could say that Dad played golf with governors when he wasn’t even that good at golf, which if you didn't know, really means something.
Don't get me wrong, those are certainly a part of his legacy, perhaps the most public parts, but they don’t tell the full story. Dad’s legacy manifests itself, for me, in the small moments. I think of it as character, what we do when no one is watching.
His legacy is in the decisions he made to hire second chance employees who have seen and done terrible things in their past but are trying to make themselves better; it’s in their tears the night he passed away. His legacy is to reinvest in a business that belongs to God instead of lining his own pockets. His legacy is preaching that it’s so much more than a restaurant; it’s a ministry.
Dad’s legacy is measured in the warmth he shared with people. Some of them were brief encounters where that person left with a sense of “something’s different about Clark.” Others are complete strangers to Megan and me who come up to us with the common refrain, “you don’t know me, but I have a story to tell you about Clark.” Those stories never fail to amaze and encourage us. Then there are 50-year friends like John and Bruce from North Side High School, who loved him so much they help mentor me in guiding the family business. Friendships that span a half-century are rare indeed.
For me personally, Dad’s legacy is seeing my contact in his phonebook. Dad and I had a wonderful relationship, but like any father/son business venture, we had our differences, too. After he passed, one night I was going through his contacts. When I came to my name, I froze. Every time one of us would call the other, under my name would pop up the line “My son I am proud of.” I cried.
After all the times we butted heads, disagreed on the course of business action, and occasionally hurt each other, he would always love me. It’s the phrase he would often use for me when I was little, something he picked up from his dad and the story of Jesus’s baptism in Matthew chapter 3. It’s an example of how I should treat Megan, Grace Anne, my family, my team, my community, and my fellow man.
This brings me to the real legacy that Clark Shaw left behind: Christ’s love. It’s that simple, he would tell you now if he could. Christ’s love directed every decision, every thought, every fiber of Dad’s being that he would want remembered. He didn't focus on the worldly legacy; he focused on pointing others to an eternal legacy. Dad would tell you that every person in the world has the opportunity to leave a similar legacy; no matter who you are, what you have done, or if you think you are past the point of no return. Clark knew that there is a God who loves you so much that He died for you. We believe he’s with God in Heaven right now. He knows his family will go to see them one day when we pass. He knows you can go too.
And if you didn't agree with him, he just loved you anyway.
I love you, Dad. I’ll see you soon.
BROOKS SHAW is the General Manager of his family owned business, the Old Country Store in Casey Jones Village. He is a avid reader and enjoys traveling with his wife and daughter, Megan and Grace Anne. The Shaw family loves trying new restaurants and foods, and Brooks is always looking for exciting ways to bring better hospitality to the Old Country Store and Casey Jones Village.
