Travelers on Ray Owens Road, a four-mile stretch between Leah and Phinizy in Columbia County, may spot a weather-worn obelisk beside the highway – a tribute to Thomas Adolphus Blanchard, an accomplished farmer and inventor. Blanchard’s son Leonidas, former postmaster of Leah and clerk of court, placed the marker there when his father died in 1905. When our Thomas Blanchard, the second president of the company, would drive by the obelisk on the way home from the lake in the 1950s, he told his children that it was erected in his honor. And, he would zoom past so quickly no one could dispute his claims. We are serious about our work at Blanchard and Calhoun, but we’re not beyond having a little fun, particularly at the expense of our kids. Happy April Fools Day. For the past 100 years, your satisfaction has been our number one priority. And that’s no joke.