~Correction: Ceramo had $7 million in sales last year. The company produces about 30 million clay pots annually.

The same man who shoveled manure out of a barn-turned-factory in 1945 led his company to $7 million in profits last year.

Vernon Kasten, president of Ceramo Company Inc. of Jackson, shared stories from his shoveling days at a Saturday picnic commemorating 50 years in business. Kasten, along with state Reps. Mary Kasten and David Schwab, Sen. Peter Kinder and other dignitaries, addressed the company's 125 employees and others in Cape County Park.

Kasten was a student at the Rolla School of Mines and Metallurgy when he and fellow student Raymond Jones and Dr. Paul G. Herold came up with the idea to manufacture clay flowerpots. They set up shop in a rickety 40-by-60-foot barn and started looking for craftspeople to build a kiln.

There weren't any masons available because everyone was in the military, fighting World War II. Finally, on Thanksgiving Day 1945, Kasten and his partners decided to build the kiln themselves. The effort ended when their mortar started freezing.

Once the kiln was built and production started, sales took off. People were eager to buy nonessential items like flowerpots, made scarce by the war.

The company has grown ever since, now supplying distributors in New York, California and Texas from a 10-by-205-foot kiln.

"I think Jackson was a good choice of location, although the clay might not be as good here as somewhere else," Kasten said. "We've overcome that problem, and the labor market here is much better than in other places."

Mayor pro tem Jack Piepenbrok expressed his appreciation for Ceramo choosing Jackson.

"It's a shame the people of Ceramo have to put this event on when the people of the area should be putting it on for them," he said. "You have provided hundreds of jobs for us over 50 years."

Rep. Kasten, who married to Vernon Kasten's first cousin, said she remembered spending her early dates in the barn, where refreshments and comfort were scarce. Ceramo's president joked that the representative was one of the first to "help fire the kiln."

Of the original three partners, Kasten is the only one still involved with the business. Jones, who attended the picnic, left to pursue other interests, and Herold is deceased.

Kasten's sons, Vernon Jr. and Lawrence, now serve on Ceramo's board of directors. The company's production exceeds 3 million pots annually.