Paint Creek Reflects On 'Little Ricky' Perry
PAINT CREEK (CBSDFW.COM) – Paint Creek, Texas is a dusty farming community in West Texas, where it's far too parched this year to even sprout a crop.
"They planted the seed. But it never did come up," said Truett Kuenstler, a retired Baptist Pastor. "Too dry."
But, Gov. Rick Perry's roots run deep here.
"We've known the family all of our lives," Kuenstler said.
Just about everyone knew Perry. What they didn't know is that he would someday put the unincorporated town of Paint Creek on the map.
Don Ballard is just a few years older than Perry. Ballard remembers him from agriculture events. Now, Ballard is the Paint Creek Independent School Superintendent.
"How many people do you know come from a small area like this that goes on to achieve the great things that he's done?" Ballard asked.
Paint Creek has 160 students. It's so small they play six-man football. Phil Coleman was on Perry's team.
"Well, the quarterback would call the play. Sometimes that would be Rick. He'd say, who's ready to make a touchdown? Whoever got it, usually made it," Coleman said.
There were only 13 students in Perry's graduating class. He gained stature thanks, in part, to a growth spurt in his junior year. Before that, he was known as "Little Ricky."
That's when he was on the Basketball B-Team.
"He wasn't very big. He was a little B-Squirt," Phyliss Coleman said. Phyliss, who's a year younger than Perry, was a cheerleader at Paint Creek School when Perry was there.
Old film footage shows "Little Ricky" in 2nd grade. It was obvious, even then, that Perry liked being the center of attention.
"He liked to be seen, was the life of the party and center of attraction," Coleman said.
Rick Perry and Wallar Overton were in the Boy Scouts together. Overton's father, Gene, was Perry's Scout Master.
"He just talks about how dad inspired him. He loved scouting," Overton said.
Perry was in step with Paint Creek then, until early in his political career when he broke ranks with the Democratic party and the community that voted him in.
"Around here, it was a disappointment when he switched," Overton said.
Paint Creek has traditionally voted for Democrats. Will they really vote for a hometown candidate who's a Republican?
"I am. I'm going to vote for him," Coleman said.
Her mother, Ruby Middleton thinks Perry could become the next president.
"And everyone would be proud that he came from Paint Creek," she said.
Many people in this struggling farming community are passionate about politics, not just about Perry. But when it comes to the presidency they're just as divided as anywhere else.
Truett Kuenstler said, "Well, I haven't made up my mind."
Perry's parents still live in Paint Creek in a modest red brick house on a well-traveled country road. They have, so far, declined all interviews with the media.
