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My Dad
by Tyler Saunders, age 10

Note: This article was written by Craig's 10 year old son, Tyler, as his Young Author's Story for Cedar Cliff Schools.

My dad, Craig William Saunders, was born in Xenia, Ohio on October 7, 1973. He was raised on a hog and grain farm in Ceasarcreek township in Greene County, Ohio. His parents were John and Kathy (Shelton) Saunders. When he went home from hospital, he lived at 10 North Valley Road in Xenia. He was the fifth generation of his family to live in that farmhouse. Dad never knew his grandpa, Robert Saunders. He died of a stroke before Dad was born. He was very close to his other grandparents, though. Their names were Grandma Alice Saunders and Grandpa and Grandma Harley and Thelma Shelton. They all spent a lot of time together when he was growing up.

My dad loved the house on Valley Road. He can still remember living in that house as a kid. He used to wait for his dad and Grandpa Harley to come in from the barn or fields for lunch. Then they would all eat together. His dad liked to sit on their lime green sofa in the dining room. My dad can still remember that sofa. Also, his grandma, Alice Saunders, lived in the house across the road. It was once the one room schoolhouse for Beavercreek. Grandma used to come over all the time to visit. She liked to take a lot pictures. She also used to save EVERYTHING, including tin foil and baggies to reuse because she lived through the Great Depression. At Christmas time, she would bake a birthday cake for baby Jesus. Dad has a lot of good memories of that house from when he was a kid. He lived there until he was five years old. Then they moved out to the big farm in Ceasarcreek Township.

As a child, Dad helped his dad on the farm. He used to feed the hogs for his dad. He said he was blessed to grow up on a farm. When he was little, he always wanted to be a farmer. He used to wear cowboy boots and a leather belt with his name on it all the time. I think that is why my dad loves the barn so much now. He isn’t a full-time farmer today, but we do have a “mini-farm,” and we raise cows, pigs, goats, and rabbits. He still spends a lot of time out there helping us feed and take care of all of our animals. Dad says it is good for us kids to learn hard work because it builds our character. He says it is important to pass that agricultural “heritage” onto us kids.

Also, my dad has a lot of funny memories from when he was a kid. When he was little, he begged his dad for this pony that was for sale at Producer’s Livestock. His dad gave in and bought it for $5.00. It turns out that Crackers, the pony, was really wild and that is why he was for sale. He threw everyone off that tried to ride him. After he ran Dad’s cousin, Kevin Shelton, into a hog house, they took him back to the stockyard and sold him back. Dad never got another pony again. Dad’s sisters, Tracy and Katie, blame him because they were never allowed to have a pony either. I think they are just jealous.

Dad also used to like to ride with his dad in the combine during harvest. He still likes the way a combine looks at night in a field with the lights on. Once he told me that he used to get really tired when the bean and corn dust would get thick, so he would climb up on this shelf behind the seat and go to sleep. He says it was best sleep he ever got. Me and my brother and sisters like to ride in there, too. Grandpa takes us now. We also get to ride in the semi with him when moves corn and beans. We sit in there when he unloads the hopper of the combine. I can feel it bouncing when he dumps. I understand why Dad liked the farm so much! He had a lot of fun being at home with his dad waiting to go to kindergarten.

When my dad was ready for kindergarten, he went to Spring Valley Elementary School, but in the third grade they closed the school, and he went to Cox Elementary in Xenia. He then went to Central Junior High. He graduated from Xenia High School as an honor student. In high school, he played soccer, which he was very good at. My dad played club soccer his last two years of high school because his junior year his school lost sports. Their tax levy failed. He was very sad, but he still got to play through select soccer. His team was runner up in the State Championships. He also played the drums and was in the choir. My dad says that his school was a lot bigger then mine. Sometimes, I wish our school was big.

Also, when my dad was in school, he was in 4-H and FFA. In FFA, he won the Soil and Water Conservation contest and the Star Chapter Farmer. In 4-H, he was a member of the Winning Ways 4-H Club. My dad showed hogs and sheep. He won a lot of trophies and thought it was a lot of fun. He saved all his 4-H money and bought a cool car because he got a scholarship for college for his grades.

After high school, my dad went to Denison University. He was active in Jazz Band and got to play with a lot of famous people like Wynton Marsalis. He also worked for the admissions office. He graduated with a double major of Music and Political Science in 1996. He also had enough classes to apply for a minor in economics, but did not. My dad applied to seven law schools and was accepted at all of them. He chose to go to the University of Dayton, where he got his Juris Doctor (law degree) in 1999. After graduating, he had to study and take the Ohio Bar Exam. It is one of the hardest in the country. He passed and got inducted into the Ohio Bar in 2000. I got to be there with my sister, who was only 5 days old. We went to the Ohio Supreme Court in Columbus with all of our family. I was very proud of my dad.

The summer after my dad’s sophomore year of college, he decided that the best way he could help people would be to make laws that are effective. He then decided that he would like to run for public office someday, but he didn’t know when. That summer, he interned in the Ohio Statehouse. This is when my dad decided to become a legislator. He wanted to help people. So, he has worked and continues to work hard to reach his goal.

The summer after his sophomore year, he also met my mom, Betty Louise Lairson. He was at the fair watching his younger sister, Katie show hogs. My mom was there, too. She was watching her brother, Michael, show, too. They ended up talking after the show and then started dating. He asked her to marry him the next year at the fairgrounds because that is where they met. They got married on July 20, 1996, the same year they both graduated from college. They were married at the Clifton United Presbyterian Church. The reception was in Springfield. For their honeymoon, they went to Gatlinburg in Tennessee.

After they got married, they moved into the same house on Valley Road, that my dad lived in when he was born. They got pregnant the first year of law school, and I got to be the sixth generation of my dad’s family to live in that house. During law school, my dad had to work twice as hard because he went to law school full time and also worked for a local attorney in Xenia. After graduation, he worked for that firm for about two years and now his has his own private law practice in downtown Dayton in the Key Bank Building. My dad is also a prosecutor in Xenia, where he puts the criminals in jail. I think that is cool! One time he took me to the jail and it was scary! I definitely do not want to go there.

My dad has been working toward his goal of being a legislator for a long time. When he was twenty-three, he ran against a long-time member of the Greene County Agricultural Society and won. He served 6 years on that board. He was on the board when the 2000 tornado hit the fairgrounds. He had to work very hard with the other directors to get the grounds rebuilt in less than a year. It was a lot of hard work.

In 2000, he also became the Greene County Republican Chairman. He was only 26 and he was the youngest chairman ever. He served in that seat for 1 term. During that time, we were able to meet Vice-President Dick Cheney and President George Bush. He helped get a sheriff and a judge elected. This helped to increase his experience for running as a future. He represented the Ohio Republican Party in two elections as an attorney. He worked for them when President Bush was elected in 2004. He got to work with two other attorneys from the United States Department of Justice. He has a lot of political experience.

My dad is now thirty-four years old and he is running for State Representative. He works very hard. We have been in a lot of parades. We mostly throw candy and say vote for Saunders. We also go to a lot of church suppers and meetings. My dad has a lot of experience and now he has to meet as many people as he can. The primary is March 4th. We are hoping and praying for a victory. He has worked hard to get endorsements (this means he is the best one for the job) from different groups. He has gotten endorsements from groups like the Greene County Republicans. We are excited about what the future holds. Either way, we have had fun together as a family. Dad says if we don’t win this time we will try again. He also says it is up to God and His plan. I like the way he thinks. I really like my dad. He has taught us a lot.

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Paid for by the Committee to Elect Craig Saunders
Kevin Gilliam, Treasurer