Our mascot finally has a name!

We had several excellent suggestions for our mascot's name, but the most obvious---and perfect!---was right beneath our nose...or rather our feet.  On the iron threshold of Country Mile Warehouse is imprinted the name 'Bessie Cannon.'  I have asked everyone who entered our building if they knew Bessie Cannon and why her name appeared on our threshold.  No one knew, so the mystery surrounding Bessie Cannon continued.  I googled her name on several occasions, but I never received any results that tied the name to this building or even the town of Florence.  Until yesterday.

Yesterday I decided to try one more time.  Among the results I received was a reference to a Congressional Record dated 1900-1910.  I scanned, then scanned some more and finally found Bessie's name among hundreds---maybe thousands--listed in the document.  It appears that Bessie Cannon was the postmaster of Florence!  I have found references dated 1901, 1910 and 1914.  I also believe she was unmarried and lived with her parents on their farm,  as the occupation listed on the census in 1910 was 'farmer.'

Mystery solved!  And along with it, the perfect name for our bovine beauty.  Bessie Cannon.  I'm not sure how the first Bessie would feel about having a cow head named after her, but I bet she'd be surprised to know that her name still resides on the threshold of the building we now occupy.

So here's Bessie in all her finery!