--previous page--  In this view of a corner of the P.C.A. campus, the multipurpose building is on the right and the meetinghouse of the Graton Church of Christ (established 1909) is in the center of the photo. Lord than with our big Graton church family. The school, I think, had seven teachers once, counting Kenneth Ross in music, and the highest enrollment – – around one hundred fifty. The church grew from thirty to three hundred. Now it seems that the P.C.A. Post with its compilers are our great grandchildren. Keep up the legacy that you have inherited in this dear old school, and may it go on blessing both young and old. One of the more challenging periods in P.C.A.’s history was the Great Depression of the 1930's. The school could not provide much of a salary for its teachers nor could it supply some of the educational materials for its students, but the school remained open because of the generosity, sacrifice, and dedication of many people. Two such people were Herman and Elsie Wilson, recent graduates at the time from Harding College in Arkansas. They were looking for a teaching position in 1933 when they learned of the request for a young couple to come work with P.C.A. They were interested in the position because they had met a number of fine young people who had come to Harding from P.C.A. But understandably, they were concerned about the ability of P.C.A. to provide a salary, as seen in the following quotation by Herman and Elsie Wilson in 1988. Bro. Hayes had said that the school could not promise much in the way of salary, but would guarantee that we’d not go hungry! The good people at Graton did not fail to show their love and appreciation. We headed west in our ‘29 Ford Roadster across the sweltering desert with all of our earthly possessions and three year old son Allan. We arrived in Graton July 1, 1933, and were immediately given a warm welcome and a shower of produce, canned fruits, jellies and other good things from the thrifty housewives. We have lived in many places since those two years at P.C.A., but never have we been more warmly welcomed or shown more love and generosity than in those early days at P.C.A. Although our son Allan, who was only three years old when we moved to Graton, was not in the school, he loved all the teachers and children there and felt that he was one of them. He played school at home and pretended the children there were in his class! After all these years we still think of Graton and P.C.A. as one of the best places we have ever known. We were really proud to serve there for a time! My personal memories of P.C.A. postdate the Great Depression and World War II. I was born in 1944 and attended P.C.A. from 1950 through 1962. During this period, two new school buildings were added, a large multipurpose building with gymnasium and classrooms were constructed, and the athletic fields were expanded. What was most significant to me, however, was not the addition of new buildings, but the manner in which they came into being—via the hard labor of many local Christians who volunteered their money, time, and energy. I recall the many hours that my father, uncles, brother-in-laws, and others put into the design and construction of the new school buildings. The long hours of toil would often extend into the night when light bulbs were hung from extension cords to facilitate the continuation of work. I also recall the quilting ladies, the cake sales, the rummage sales, the queen contests, the literary programs, the box-dinner auctions, pie auctions, plant sales, and the numerous other fund-raising activities. I remember spending days pasting massive amounts of Blue Chip Stamps in booklets that were donated to the school for the purchase of our first school bus. This rather unusual fund-raising idea was proposed, promoted, and successfully carried out by a P.C.A. alumnus, then a college student at Pepperdine College, named Charles Lanier (currently the principal of P.C.A.). However, my most vivid recollection of that period was the heroic efforts of gifted teachers who obviously loved their students and their Lord and became living models of unselfish servants to all—Ethel Lanier, Noble Rogers, Charles Polley, Agnes Polley, Richard Osborne, John Bessier, Patty Stine, Verna Stine, Everet Nicholas, Lester Brittell, Glenn Moreland, Nell Grady and Aquilla Fox. P.C.A.’s 75 years have contributed much to the ideals of a value-centered education with an emphasis on Christ’s example of unselfish service. All of its graduates have been better prepared to serve society with integrity. Many of its graduates have been inspired to become missionaries, preachers, teachers, and church leaders. Some continued their education at other Christian schools such as Columbia Christian College, Pepperdine University, Abilene Christian University, and Harding University. Like Herman Wilson before me, I chose to serve as a Christian educator at the college level and feel privileged to currently be a professor of biology at Pepperdine University. (Editor’s Note: Dr. Stephen Davis has been a professor of biology at Seaver College since 1974, and is a recent recipient of the Luckman Distinguished Teaching Award. We asked him to write this personal memoir of his alma mater. Pacific Christian Academy will celebrate its 75th anniversary with homecoming festivities in Graton on July 31st.)