Follow the Model of Retiring Irrigation, Plant and Animal Specialist Denver Edmunds

We should all be excited about winter break. And we should all be excited to return to campus on January 4. Most of that excitement should be about kids in classrooms and on fields, learning and practicing and growing. Some of that excitement, though, must be simply about our campus. 

Think of the incredible good fortune we have to arrive on 104 acres of rolling topography, vibrant plant growth and incredible animal presence. 

One man who has appreciated our FWCD “ranch lands” is Denver Edmunds. Arriving on campus 29 years ago, Denver is retiring at the end of December. 

In my conversation with Denver last week, he was nostalgic for the wonderful people and place of his Fort Worth Country Day. Denver has had a grandson graduate from the School, and he has had an outsized impact on the flora and fauna we all experience day in and day out. His sentiments were somewhat poetic (paraphrased below):

Where else do you get to go to work expecting to see wild turkeys?

Where else can kids have a class at school on fishing?

Where else has a school committed 23 acres to a ropes course and cross country path and science exploration field since the 1980s?

What other school around here has 104 acres preserved while paying so much attention to keeping it manicured, but not too manicured?

Not only will a lot of humans miss Denver’s daily presence come January, a campus full of geese and ducks and fish and squirrels is likely spreading the word that their favorite feeder and caretaker is parking his cart. So if you come across some sad wildlife in 2023, it will be because they are missing their biggest fan. We are a better community for the contributions Denver Edmunds has made and for the care he has shown for our land and all of us for the past 29 years.