Lots of babies in Ginger's parade

Ginger Bryant is old school.
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She grew up in Citrus County, attended school in Crystal River, and taught so many years that grownups in their 50s stop her on the street to say thanks.

Ginger was elected to the School Board in 2000 and then re-elected five times. She faced opposition only twice — her first campaign and her final campaign four years ago.

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I guess six terms is enough. On Tuesday, she’ll attend her final School Board meeting in office, and I can’t help but be a little sad seeing this transition taking place.

We had a Cattle Dog chat the other day. Most of my chats exceed an hour. This one came in under 30 minutes because that’s Ginger — few words, but plenty to say.

My early Chronicle career included coverage of the County Commission. Ginger’s husband, Nick, was in office at the time.

I had a radio talk show in 2000 (“Live Mic” is blog material for another day), and my guest one night was Carl Hansen, an incumbent School Board member who had no opposition for re-election. We were only a few days from the ballot qualifying deadline, and I made a point of mentioning that.

The interview was on Monday. By that Friday, Ginger Bryant, who had never run for office in her life, was in the race. A few months later, she won with 60% of the vote. Carl, who died in 2019, held a good-natured (or not) grudge against me for years over that.

Ginger turned out to be the kind of School Board member we all want. A caring, smart, engaging, on-the-ball public servant. I don’t recall Ginger ever drawing unwanted attention to herself or the school district.

In fact, in my Cattle Dog chats with the candidates who ran to follow her, including winner Ken Frink, that’s been a central theme: Are you an attention-getter? Is the limelight important? How vital is it that people see your name in the newspaper?

The answer to all three of those questions should be in the negative. Here’s why.

We have two elected, five-member policy-setting boards. One is the County Commission. The School Board is the other. They’re totally different animals.

The County Commission hires its administrator. Voters hire the Superintendent of Schools.

Dynamics are opposite. In one, the administrator works for commissioners who give him direction. In the other, the superintendent and school board are political EQUALS — one sets policy, the other carries it out.

That’s why county commissioners are traditionally considered as five individual politicians. Yeah, in a perfect world they’d coalesce on local issues of significance. Doesn’t always pan out that way.

School Board members, though, have a much different role. The superintendent is the face of the school district. And while each board member brings expertise to the table, none should be considered more of an expert on school matters than the superintendent.

OK, now that we’re past that. The point:

Ginger understood that role better than anyone. She kept her focus exactly where it was meant: Kids.

Or, as she likes to call them, “our babies.”

That’s how it was in the Crystal River Middle School classroom, so that now, 40 years later, people with successful careers will gush that it was Mrs. Bryant who set them straight. (Here's a pretty good Chronicle interview I had with Ginger in 2014.)

We can’t overstress the significance of both Ginger and Sandra “Sam” Himmel retiring from school politics at the same time. Sam’s family is revered in Inverness, Ginger in Crystal River. They have stories about growing up around here in neighborhoods they no longer recognize.

Ginger Bryant is old school. Kids are kids, she says, whether it’s 1924 or 2024. Circumstances and surroundings may change, but kids still need guidance, support, love, encouragement, discipline, and a general belief that a grownup cares.

Ginger cared. She cared deeply. Nobody was going to mess with her babies.

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