Ecl spring16 - Revised

SPRING 2016

Friday Night Lights

Stephenville football coach Greg Winder and Dublin coach Bob Cervetto give their communities something to be proud of and look forward to on Friday nights.

Erath County Living Online

We are excited to announce the launch of our new website, ErathCountyLiving.com. Check us out ONLINE and on FACEBOOK today!

Welcoming Erath County’s newest residents.

Hometown Li v ing At Its Best

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CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICAN

Every day, liberals and moderates are trying to take away from Texans what we hold dear to our hearts through tradition and faith in God. “It is my belief that what America was, what Texas is and what we can be together is far greater than history has ever reported.

Government needs to stay out of the people’s way so they may innovate, create and prosper.”

As your Representative I Will: » Be the voice for the unborn and defend life at all cost » Defend & Restore our 2nd Amendment rights » Protect the institution of traditional marriage » Be a champion for our students & educators alike » Work to eliminate wasteful spending » Defund lazy, obsolete & bureaucratic governmental agencies » Secure and defend our border » Ensure that your personal liberties and freedoms are not stripped away.

TO MAKE A STAND, YOU MUST RISE “I believe in Texas traditions, Texas boldness and most of all Texas people. I believe that hard working, law abiding Texans, not Austin, are the best and brightest decision makers for their families, their communities and their schools. Like you, my family and I are tired of those in Austin fighting for what the establishment wants and against what the people want. If you agree with me that the Austin establishment politicians are the problem, not the solution then I ask you to stand along with me to defend Texas against the liberal tyrants that insist on invading our state.”

» Restore local control of our children’s education and future.

www.BrentGraves.com Pol. adv. paid for by Brent Graves for Texas House

Hometown Living At Its Best

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Erath County Living

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contents

10

Sunset Ranch

When Kent Perkins and Ruthie Buzzi found some land in Erath County, they knew without a doubt they found the place to build their dream house.

22

Friday Night Lights

Stephenville football coach Greg Winder and Dublin coach Bob Cervetto give their communities something to be proud of and look forward to on Friday nights.

32

Barton Performance Horses

With continued success in the arenas of the world, it is highly unlikely that James Barton will ever run out of clients.

42

A Life Lived in Service of Others

For the family and friends of Joan and Gary Livingston, the years of service left behind by the couple carries on with each passing day as a testament to their love for others.

52

KidSight

The Stephenville Lions Club KidSight program and their state-of-the art digital vision screener help identify vision abnormalities in young children.

60

Passion for Small Town Values

Champion auctioneer Brent Graves wants to bring back small town values by representing rural communities in the House.

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Erath County Living

42 70

A Winning Tradition

Tarleton’s first rodeo team supported one another, rode hard, worked hard, and won the 1967 National Championship, creating a winning tradition.

80

Changing Children’s Lives in Texas and Abroad Dr. Dylan Bowles has traveled thousands of miles since 2009, working to correct facial deformities and give children in Colombia, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic a second chance at life.

90

Family Experiences, Friendly Care, Close to Home

Texas Heath Harris Methodist Hospital Stephenville strives to make having a baby a memorable experience for the entire family.

about t he cover

The cover photo is of Texas DPS State Trooper Chance Ensminger with his son Caden. To see Caden and the other babies featured in our Hometown Bundles of Joy section, turn to page 56.

Hometown Living At Its Best

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contents

96

The Venable Center

A place where the past and present flow together in perfect harmony.

106

Coming Home

Stephenville’s own triple threat, Lee Roy Parnell, recently made a trip home to give back to the community where his music began.

116

Historic FNB Building Restoration

Bringing the original integrity and beauty of the First National Bank building back to life.

122

A Life Well Lived

Dr. Stuart Chilton lived a good life for 88 years and finished well.

132

Sharing a Passion for Music

Carroll Parham’s students can’t help but be inspired by his passion as he dishes up his homespun, real-life musical tales.

142

A Home Away from Home

For Kim and Gerrit Schouten, hosting an exchange student felt like a God thing.

Leo has become one of their own.

132

inisesvueery

Hometown Happenings

A glimpse inside a few of the exciting events recently held in Erath County.

56

Hometown Bundles of Joy

Welcoming Erath County’s newest residents.

76

Hometown Happiness Congratulations to Erath County’s newlyweds.

150

Scenes of Erath County

Take a look at a few more of the reasons why we think Erath County is a great place to live.

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Erath County Living

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From the Publisher

Happy New Year! We’re so excited to start 2016, and we want to announce your new website, www.ErathCountyLiving.com!

Check it out and let us know what you think. You’ll be able to see current and past editions, plus bonus stuff that didn’t make it in the magazine.

We would like to dedicate this edition to Joan Livingston and Stuart Chilton. They were both truly wonderful individuals who gave so much of themselves to others, and our lives are better for knowing them. They will both be missed.

Erath County Living is a bi-annual publication dedicated to the people, places, and things that make Erath County such a wonderful place to live. Each edition is complimentary to the public, thanks to all of the wonderful advertisers.

Go check out our new website www.ErathCountyLiving.com for additional updates regarding what’s new in the area, and for featured giveaways. Also don’t forget to like us on Facebook at: Erath County Living Magazine.

We want to thank our advertisers for their contribution for your local magazine. Help us express thanks to them by shopping local! Their involvement allows this publication to come free of charge to you. Go by any advertisers’ location to pick up your complimentary copy. Thank you and we look forward to many more issues of Erath County Living!

We give thanks to God for a new year and great things to come.

Until the next edition, Wishing you many blessings,

Just i n an d Hayley S ix K yl e an d H alsey Clark Justin.RedFin@gmail.com (817) 301-3828 Kyle.RedFin@gmail.com (817) 304-1044 “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Deuteronomy 31:8

Erath County Living Magazine Red Fin Publishing

www.ErathCountyLiving.com

PUBLISHER

Red Fin Publishing Justin & Hayley Six

Kyle & Halsey Clark

EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Brittny Sanchez

CREATIVE | DESIGN

enVision Creative Services

OFFICE MANAGER Hayley Six

Hayley.RedFin@gmail.com

CONTENT DIRECTOR Brittny Sanchez

Brittny.RedFin@gmail.com CONTENT COORDINATOR

Noel Betush

Noel.RedFin@gmail.com SOCIAL MEDIA CHAIR Noel Betush

PROOF READER Hayley Six

PHOTOGRAPHERS Art & Soul Photography Landi Whitefield Photography Leah-k Photography

Mikka Hill Photography Plan-it ink Riley Studio Southern Grace Photography Twisted Roots Weddings

COVER PHOTO

TX DPS State Trooper Chance Ensminger with son Caden Photo by Southern Grace Photography

SALES

Brenda LaComb Brittny Sanchez Justin Six Kim Rhodenbaugh

Kyle Clark

CONTRIBUTING

Brad Keith

WRITERS

Connie Lewis Leonard Jessa McClure Joyce Whitis

Landi Whitefield

Martha Helton Peggy Purser Freeman Rebecca Parvaresh

CONTRIBUTORS

Cross Timbers Fine Arts Council Dublin Chamber of Commerce / EDC

Stephenville Chamber of Commerce

Erath County Living© is published semi-annually by Red Fin Publishing.

www.ErathCountyLiving.com P.O. Box 1239 | Weatherford, TX 76086 (817) 301-3828 All rights reserved. Copies or reproduction of this publication in whole or in part is strictly prohibited without expressed written authorization from the publisher.

Every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained herein.

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Erath County Living

Advertising is subject to omission, errors, and other changes without notice.

Hometown Living At Its Best

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When Kent Perkins and Ruthie Buzzi found some land in Erath County, they knew without a doubt they found the place to build their dream house.

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Back in the 1870s, a wagon train of mostly veterans of the Civil War and their wives and children had camped on the banks of the little stream that ran through that part of Erath County. They brought the few items they had left after the war and began a trip west in covered wagons without a destination. When they reached the part of Texas where streams of water kept the grass tall and the land was fertile, they stopped and claimed land to homestead. They built houses and businesses and churches and when a post office was chartered, they named it Huckabay.

One sunny afternoon almost 150 years later, a red Thunderbird convertible came down the highway, passed

by Huckabay School and the Hannibal Store where members of the Hannibal Lodge meet, and turned left at a rusty wire gate. There was a big “For Sale� sign hanging on that gate, the name, Sharon Owen (a local realtor) and a phone number. That gate opened into a long, grasscovered lane ending in a field of native grass stretched out at the foot of an impressive rocky hill. A tall, sandy haired man stepped out, his boots making shallow prints as he walked to the passenger side opening the car door for his passenger. His pretty companion stepped out.

Immediately her mouth opened in a wide smile as her eyes took in the mesquite, live and post oak trees, the lush 12

Erath County Living

green grass and the sparkling little lake at the foot of a tall rocky hill. She stretched from sitting so long in the passenger seat, walked around the T-Bird and said to her husband, “What do you think?”

From the look on Kent Perkins’ face, he was deep in thought; a thought that brought a smile to his face tanned by a California sun. He might be tanned in California, but by the way he moved and the hardly noticeable accent in his voice, he was ALL Texan, and he looked at home here on this land that was a part of the “Stewart land.”

This land and most of the surrounding acres had “always” belonged to a Stewart that had handed it down to another Stewart and so on, but this Stewart was about to sell a piece of his inherited ranch to a native Texan. That man was Kent Perkins and the lady on his arm was Ruth Buzzi, his wife since December 10, 1979.

Both husband and wife had histories of show business, television, movies, and public appearances. Ruth Buzzi may be best remembered for her role as Gladys Ormphby on the popular television show, Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In. It was this piece of weekly comedy where “Ruthie” hit her stride; where she became a nationwide sensation and was best remembered for swinging her purse by the handles and hitting offending individuals in the head! For this role she wore an old style hairnet with the seam knotted and placed in the middle of her forehead. Ruthie won a Golden Globe for her part on Laugh-In in 1972 and kept her audiences laughing through the ’70s. While Ruthie was making people forget their troubles and enjoying her great comedy, Kent was seeking his fortune performing in movies (The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzi, Across the 8th Dimension, Any Which Way You Can). Both Kent and Ruth appeared in Up Your Alley in 1989.

Kent, who had enjoyed some time as an investigator for a major company, decided that he wanted to pursue that field and founded his own successful company. Today the couple maintains interests in various businesses and one mall in particular, but essentially they are “retired” well as retired as they care to be. Now it was time to bring that dream of Kent’s that he had had in his head since he was a little boy in a Texas schoolroom, to life.

“I knew I wanted eventually to live on a ranch somewhere in Texas. I wanted to build a big house with

Ruthie with Willie Nelson.

Ruthie with Jim Nabors who co-starred together in The Lost Saucer TV show.

Ruthie with Dean Martin, Shirley Jones and Dominick DeLuise.

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The house looks like it could have been right at home on a plantation in the old South. a wraparound porch and lots of places to sit and drink coffee and visit with friends. I wanted room for this passion I have for collecting cars and the art that Ruthie turns out for charity. I wanted room to put things that I love and places on that ranch to explore and oh yes, I wanted to live in a community where folks are friendly and trust their neighbors and don’t care how much money they have or what their religion is. They like you for just being you. When I met Spur Stewart and his dad, Cowboy and the other folks around here, I knew without a doubt that I had found the place to build my dream house, the one I had pictured in my daydreams when I was just a kid.�

And so the deal was signed for this piece of ranch land, architect employed, construction crew hired, and well driller brought in so that the special place on a rocky hill began to look like a house with a blue lake in front.

The house looks like it could have been right at home on a plantation in the old South. The white columns begin at ground level based on a gleaming concrete porch and extend upward past another porch and ending at the 14

Erath County Living

roof. There is plenty of room for the round tables and comfortable chairs where Kent’s parents, who live in Southlake, can have morning coffee when they come to visit. Kent and Ruthie entertain their guests there on pleasant days as they view the countryside or just watch swans and ducks swimming in the blue lake below.

The house was laid out according to what Ruthie thought, according to Kent. She likes to practice a real talent that she has with painting and has a studio nestled on the second floor. Kent also has his office elsewhere in the house. The house has several “special” rooms including a game room and a mounted trophy room. (Kent does not hunt. All the mounts in this room were gifts from trophy hunters and have originated from all over the world.) Another room is a safe room with concrete block walls, the blocks filled with cement and rebar. This room is stocked with food and drinks that would last for days.

“This room would withstand the most powerful tornado ever recorded,” Kent said.

Ruthie is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and therefore is sent a copy of every movie released. She will be voting for the winners in the upcoming Academy Awards Ceremony soon. The

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movie room in the house is stocked with leather recliners and drink holders where Kent, Ruthie, and guests can watch the latest flicks.

Kent is interested in history and is making an effort to learn more about the land that they bought and any stories of the Indians who lived here before the “white men” drove them out. Recently, while doing a little exploring, he discovered a half-cabin/half dugout on his place. Currently he is doing research in an effort to find out more about it. So far it seems that a family was “burned out” by the Indians so they built a home partly underground.

Another convenience in the beautiful majestic house that could be a page from “Gone With the Wind” is an elevator. Stairs curve upward three floors for those that need the exercise. The last part of the stairway is a 16

Erath County Living

Ruthie and Kent with Kinky Friedman and Billy Bob Thornton

circular climb to the roof where the visitor catches her breath as she takes in a view usually seen from a low flying plane. It is magnificent as you seem to be sitting on top of the world, watching little animals and people walk around below.

“This is just the place I have been looking for all my life, a ranch in Texas.” Kent bent to bring his arm around Ruthie. Her smile was one of contentment.

“We had a beautiful place in California but we sold it and came here looking. This is exactly what we were looking for, living here in Erath County with real people.”

Hometown Living At Its Best

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Erath County Living

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Special thanks to our event sponsors for helping us to make this event bigger and better than ever!

The Christmas spirit was shining bright all around Downtown Stephenville as families enjoyed caroling, hay rides, dancers, snow ball fights, choirs, carriage rides, live nativity, photos with Santa, shopping, food and more at the annual Holly Jolly Christmas Festival hosted by the Stephenville Chamber of Commerce and SPARD. A huge thanks to our many performers, vendors, non-profits and volunteers that helped provide a memorable experience for so many in our community!

Gold Ribbon Sponsor

Dr. Karen Sargent at SMSC, in loving memory of Carolyn Sargent, who loved to share the gift of Christmas.

Silver Bell Sponsors

Associated Well Services, CiCi’s Pizza, Leland’s of Stephenville, Neal Guthrie Companies, Inc., and Universal Health Services

Red Bow Sponsors

Fibergrate, Green Acres Rental, Marion Cole, and Stephenville Medical and Surgical Center.

Find us on Facebook to view more fun event photos!

PHOTO: Plan-It Ink

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Erath County Living

By Brad Keith Photos by Plan-It Ink, Nate Bural & Dublin Athletic Depepartment

Bob Cervetto has the energy of a man half his age. He whistles and sings as he works and has a nickname for every kid he meets.

And make no mistake. He works tirelessly, as an athletic director and as a football coach.

His kids feed off his enthusiasm; they mirror his work ethic. And all of their efforts are paying off.

Cervetto guided Dublin to a historic achievement when the Lions, for the first time in school history, won playoff games in back-to-back seasons. And unlike the 2014 season, when Dublin thrashed Corsicana Mildred 54-6 in the first Lions playoff appearance in 11 years, the playoff win in 2015 came the hard way.

Dublin trailed early and looked down for the count. Blooming Grove, with a large, talented running back eating up yardage in chunks, had the Lions down 15-3 by the middle of the second quarter.

But Cervetto and staff never panicked; their team never quit fighting.

Dublin’s only points of the first half came on a 34-yard field goal by Christian Hernandez. But in the third quarter, quarterback Brady Moore hooked up with junior varsity call up Keith Wright for an 8-yard TD to cut the deficit to 15-10.

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In Dublin, Cervetto set out to “Restore the roar,” a motto that captured a community by storm.

PHOTO: Dublin Athletic Department

That set up a fairy-tale ending for the Lions, who caught Blooming Grove in an all-out blitz and beat them with a screen pass to senior utility star Chuy Chacon. A two-time district special teams player of the year, Chacon excels in the open field, but no play in his high school career would match this.

Chacon snuck behind the blitzers, took a soft lob from Moore and followed his blockers before sprinting through an opening and bidding everyone farewell, carrying with him more than 50 years of football mediocrity and lifting Dublin to another level.

“I just kept thinking they’re going to bring the house and we have to get rid of this thing quickly,” said Cervetto of his thoughts before the game-changing play. “Then (offensive coordinator Greg) Hardcastle made the best play call of his life and Chuy made the biggest play of his life.”

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Erath County Living

Moments later, after its defense withstood one final Blooming Grove charge to complete a dominating secondhalf shutout, Cervetto cracked one of the widest smiles of his life.

While Dublin was celebrating a meteoric win in Burleson, Stephenville was enjoying its own euphoric night on the gridiron just minutes away in Aledo. The Yellow Jackets were big underdogs on paper, the fourth place team from District 3-4A taking on the league champ from 4-4A in a Division I playoff.

But football games aren’t played on paper.

The Yellow Jackets turned the tables on everything that had held them down during a 3-6 regular season, getting takeaways that set up scores, scoring defensively and dominating like they hadn’t all year in a 49-28 win that wasn’t even that close.

Stephenville rushed for six touchdowns, matching the

PHOTO: Nate Bural

second most in school history, with three each by Mason Yoes and Matthew Chapman.

But just as it was for Dublin, defense was the real story for Stephenville. Cooper Wood caused a fumble that Sam Cannon returned for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead, and Decatur had less than 100 yards of offense at halftime when the Jackets led 28-0.

Yoes added an interception to his big night rushing, and Zoey Kendall recovered a fumble as Decatur tried to convert a fourth down.

“That was a fun night, putting it all together like that after a tough season of ups and downs. That night we looked like a Stephenville football team,” said head coach Greg Winder. “And it didn’t happen by mistake. We had been making improvements and doing the things we needed to lead to a performance like that all year. It just took us a while to get there.”

But they got there right on time, in the state playoffs, and were soon celebrating an 11th consecutive bi-district win.

The most telling sign that times have changed in Dublin can’t be seen at the school or even at Memorial Stadium.

To find the biggest indicator of the meaning of football success to the Dublin community, one needs only to take a drive down Patrick Street on game day.

Once just another day, often leading to defeat, Dublin comes alive now. Lion flags line both sides of the street that serves as the business stretch of US Highways 377 and 67 straight through downtown.

The whole town is painted green and gold, and Cervetto is quick to remind everyone that, “It’s a great day to be a Dublin Lion.”

“Two things I knew we had to do when I got here five Hometown Living At Its Best

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The tradition of greatness at Stephenville that began in the late 1980s with Art Briles is still alive and well under Winder three decades later.

PHOTO: Nate Bural

years ago - we had to recruit kids out of the hallways, and we had to get the community to invest in our program,” said Cervetto. “We couldn’t have one without the other, we had to have both. We needed numbers and we needed support.”

A former principal in Stephenville who used to stand in the entryway to Henderson Junior High and greet as many students as possible to begin each school morning, Cervetto knew just how to start.

“I just met as many kids as I could, got to know them, what’s going on in their lives,” Cervetto said. “Then I just asked them to give me a shot. Come on out and play for me and see if you like it, I promise you’ll have fun.”

Fun turned to commitment and dedication. To hard work. To teammates. To the school and, ultimately, the community.

“We are one. That’s the coolest thing about it is everyone is in this thing together now,” Cervetto said.

“That’s what those flags mean to me. Sometimes I just drive through town just to take it all in.”

Greg Winder inherited one of the top programs in Texas.

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Erath County Living

PHOTO: Dublin Athletic Department

PHOTO: Plan-It Ink

Stephenville won four state championships in the 1990s under current Baylor head coach Art Briles. The Yellow Jackets captured their elusive fift h crown in 2012 under current Tulsa linebackers coach Joseph Gillespie.

Entering the season, Stephenville had reached five consecutive quarterfinals.

But Winder also inherited a team that lost a five-star recruit at quarterback - Jarrett Stidham to Baylor - and a Division I prospect at running back - Kaegun Williams moved to Cedar Hill.

Everyone had growing pains together, but they did just that - they grew.

By season’s end Stephenville gave state semifinalist Abilene Wylie everything it could handle in a regular season finale, showing flashes of what was to come a week later against Decatur.

Stephenville had a young quarterback pass for more than 300 yards six times in 2015. A freshman club went 9-1, its only loss by a single point.

The Jackets also kept alive their tradition of all-state players with Josh Nowell earning second-team honors as a punter from the Associated Press. Nowell has since

been selected to punt and perhaps also play some tight end and wide receiver in the 12th annual Max Emfinger’s incredible All-American Bowl.

The tradition of greatness at Stephenville that began in the late 1980s with Art Briles is still alive and well under Winder three decades later.

New banners marking more playoff success will be hung at both schools. New teams will come along with the same aspirations as the many to come before them.

In Dublin, Cervetto set out to “Restore the roar,” a motto that captured a community by storm.

In Stephenville, Winder took over a tradition like few others, and that tradition marches on into another year.

Off-season workouts and participation in spring sports will turn to 7-on-7 and summer conditioning workouts and seemingly as fast as the weather can turn in Texas, it will be time for the 2016 season to begin.

Dublin will be painted kelly green and Stephenville navy blue, and both will be outlined in gold: the color of the trophies both teams, both schools, both communities pursue.

Hometown Living At Its Best

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Barton PERFORMANCE

Horses

By Joyce Whitis Photos by Landi Whitefield and KC Montgomery Photography

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Erath County Living

“I feel truly blessed to be able to live life the way I have always dreamed.”

James Barton stood at the pasture fence watching the handsome sorrel grazing the lush green coastal grass. The three-year-old filly had been a wedding gift from his wife, Emily, EMS Lethal Weapon. She was beautiful to look at and had the breeding to make a champion roping horse, but so far James had had little success with her training. She just didn’t seem to understand that she could run, and yet he felt that everything about her was an indicator of a great roping horse. If she would just run, he thought to himself. Training her had been fun, she was a quick learner, but she just wouldn’t run after a calf released from a chute.

James was patient, and he kept up the training, hoping to one day see his horse do what he knew she was capable of.

The next day James had Mia as they called her, in the training pen, the calf was released and suddenly, as if a light had just snapped on in her head, Mia ran after the calf as if her life depended upon it! That moment was the beginning of a successful career as a roping horse so that she won the junior tie-down roping event at the Fort Worth Stock Show in 2001, just a year later.

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James and Emily were gratified to witness the transformation in Mia. It was as if she had finally said, “I get it! I can run.”

James had been successful with his training program, which gave him the confidence to launch a career into something that he loved. He and Emily named the business Barton Performance Horses and went to work.

James is a Scottsdale, Arizona native and as a calf roper was recruited by Bob Doty to come to Tarleton State University in Stephenville and join the TSU Rodeo Team. James attended TSU on an academic scholarship and there he met Emily Houston competing in cutting horse events. As a college student, Emily was listed several times on the AQHA Honor Roll that is published yearly.

In addition, this “horse woman” has been a multi-time AQHA non-pro division finalist at all NCHA and ACHT events. James and Emily are a perfect fit for each other.

James and Emily graduated in 1999 and were married soon afterward. They settled down on a small tract on the edge of Stephenville and began their life together.

James took a job as a stockbroker, but in 2002 his skill in training roping horses attracted enough clients that he gave up the regular job and began working full time doing what he loved - training roping horses.

After about eight years the Bartons had outgrown the 20 acres where they had their operation. Tommy Houston, Emily’s dad, invited the couple to move to his ranch near Bluff Dale. They built a home on the ranch and the barns, pens, and an arena that James needed for his horse training operation. Their children attend school at the local facility where James is President of the school board, and Emily helps with activities that include the extras parents provide for students at the small “country” school with Exceptional ranking.

James is quick to say that his business is definitely a family affair and that Emily and the kids, Robby and Lauren, also get a chance to help around the ranch. Robby, 10, ropes and Lauren, 9, likes cutting.

“There is always something that needs doing,” James said. “We have a great crew here to help with the many different parts that make a whole operation. I appreciate my family being involved in the business that we all love.”

James usually has up to 25 outside horses in training on the ranch. He competes on these horses at jackpot 34

Erath County Living

ropings and AQHA World Championship Shows in Oklahoma City. “I usually spend a 12-hour day in the saddle,” he said. “Beginning at 6 a.m. horses on this ranch are working horses and they put in time here as ranch horses, performing the usual jobs that cowboys and cow horses have been doing for more than a century. So when we train a horse for rodeo competition, that animal knows what his job is because he has experienced it. We think the horses are smarter for that knowledge and understand that what they are doing is a real job.”

Barton Performance Horses usually has several horses for sale. Some are trained as pleasure mounts as well as performance horses. In the past few years, as his reputation has grown with each success, James has managed horses for some of the top rodeo performers, as well as trained and sold horses to several cowboys qualifying for the National Finals Rodeo.

James manages Topaz, Tuf Cooper’s horse. The Decatur cowboy is the defending world champion in tie-down roping. He entered the 2015 NFR in Las Vegas,

having earned $130,803 riding Topaz.

Marty Yates, 20-year-old 2-time qualifier at the NFR, rides Chicken in tie-down roping events, a horse that the cowboy bought from Barton Performance Horses.

“I originally bought the horse (Chicken) for Lauren, but soon saw that the horse had a lot of ability and could be successful in the arena” James said. Marty came over with his aunt, JJ Hampton, who was looking for a breakaway horse. Marty took a look at Chicken and really liked the horse. I worked with him, and the more I saw what he could do, the better he got. So Marty got Chicken, and the pair is a great fit. Marty and Chicken went to their first Finals in Las Vegas in 2014, and Chicken was chosen AQHA Reserve Roping Horse of the Year.”

Several of the horses that James has trained have been owned and ridden by PRCA cowboys. This includes champions Trevor Brazile, Tuf Cooper, Matt Shizowa, Ryan Watkins, and Marty Yates. James has an individual training program for each horse in an effort to fit the horse to the individual’s roping style. He also takes Hometown Living At Its Best

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successful horses and works them to “sharpen them up.” His training includes regular ranch work as well as spending time in the arena.

“We like for horses to like what they do,” James said. “They need to have a great attitude to do the job well and we want them to enjoy it. Breeding is so important and that the horse has the bone and the muscle as well as a ‘good mind.’ Speed is important of course, and so is a natural stop. Trust is so important between horse and rider. There is a bond when they are working that brings about championships.

“I am doing exactly what I love to do. I am so fortunate to have a wife and a partner that also loves what we do. We are true partners in everything and share every success whether it is horses, or our children. I feel truly blessed to be able to live life the way I have always dreamed.”

The past few years, come early December, James Barton grabs a suitcase and heads out to Las Vegas. It’s time for the National Finals Rodeo and a celebration of the top 15 money-winning cowboys and barrel-racing cowgirls in the world. They compete in ten rounds of their chosen event for ten thrill-packed days with the winners taking away gold buckles and pockets full of folding money. Fans surround their heroes and collect autographs and hugs, then drive or fly home knowing that they have seen the best professional cowboys, cowgirls, and the best horses compete.

Families and friends surround the competitors and shower them with good wishes and congratulations and the highly trained horses do not go home without recognition. Most horse trainers will have three or so horses ridden at the NFR in a lifetime. James had five at the 2014 and three at the 2015 NFR competition.

The man that talks “horse language” will be at the Finals too. He won’t be competing in the arena, but he will be there to talk to the horses in between rounds, the horses that he has trained to shake off the noise of the crowd and carry its rider around the arena in a thrilling victory lap.

During the ten-day run in Las Vegas, James “tweaks” the roping horses that he has trained to keep them at the top of their game with daily workouts and runs in the practice arena. Every rodeo performer

whose partner in the arena is a horse, knows the importance of that animal and the necessity of a solid performance every time out of the box. James is there to keep the horses he has trained reliable. He is part of the team that makes a winner.

Marty Yates of Stephenville was 3rd in the World in tie-down calf roping going in to the 2015 Finals. He was riding Chicken, trained by James Barton and sold to Marty. Chicken is part of Marty’s family, impossible to label with a dollar value.

Tuf Cooper went to the 2015 NFR leading the tie-

“We have a great crew here to help with the many different parts that make a whole operation. I appreciate my family being involved in the business that we all love.”

down race with earnings of more than $130,000. He too rode a horse, Topaz, trained by James Barton.

Matt Shiozawa, ranked 8th in tie down roping rides Chuck, another horse trained by Barton.

Barton talks about the horses he knows as if they were children and he the teacher. “A horse needs a good attitude so that he can work with the owner/rider. We want to make the learning experience fun so that the horse feels good about himself. We want the horse to learn and at the same time make him enjoy learning. To enjoy the lessons learned, the horse needs to trust the rider.

“Top roping horses must be fast and they need a big natural stop. A horse and rider build a common trust and a bond forms between them. They each do their job because they love doing it. “ James graduated Tarleton State University with a degree in Economics, Physics and Mathematics, and he has the job he loves. He’s enjoying showing horses, and his wife, Emily likes cutting. They both love living on the huge Houston Ranch, owned by Emily’s father, with their children. Barton Performance Horses is a very successful business, conveniently located in the area known as the Cowboy Capital of the World. With continued success in the arenas of the world, it is highly unlikely that James Barton will ever run out of clients.

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Erath County Living

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Erath County Living

By Rebecca Parvaresh | Photos provided by the Livingston Family

For the family and friends of Joan and Gary Livingston, the years of service left behind by the couple carries on with each passing day as a testament to their love for others.

A life lived in service of others is a life richer than any currency can define.

For the family and friends of Joan and Gary Livingston, the years of service left behind by the couple carries on with each passing day as a testament to their love for others.

Joan Livingston was a special friend to this publication. She shared her talent of capturing life on film through many pictures that filled the pages with each passing issue. She passed from this world on September 4th 2015, but not without giving us all so many gifts through her service and friendship. She was the owner of Miller Studio in Stephenville and was responsible for many portraits and family Christmas cards for area residents for the last 35-plus years.

She was born in Monahans, Texas in 1951, but her family quickly moved to Stephenville. Upon their arrival, her father, Manuel Miller, opened the doors to Miller Studio in 1956. “Miller Studio was a family business in every sense of the word,” Martin Livingston, son of Joan and Gary, explained.

“My Grandpa, Grandma, Aunt Jan, and mom all worked there while they were able and together in Stephenville. She grew up with photography and learned what she knew from Grandpa Miller. Together they made memories for people as one of the few, if not only, studios in the area at that time.”

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Through teaching their children or celebr ating their milestones through a camer a lens, they were always present and prepared

to serve others.

Martin recalled the years he spent growing up around a family-based business that focused on more than selling portraits, but on celebrating friends, families and neighbors through each phase of life. “The studio was always an exciting place to hang out as a kid. There were always new faces to meet, and old faces that became like family. Year after year the same families would come in for their holiday greeting cards, reunions, wedding and bridal portraits, senior pictures, and on and on. The studio was responsible for photographs for magazines, billboards, newspapers, yearbooks, postcards, and local youth sports teams. There was a time that I would say almost every photo in Stephenville that was professionally made, was from Miller Studio. It was exciting to go into a stranger’s house or new friend’s house and see portraits from Miller Studio placed on the mantle, or hanging on the walls in the living room.”

Before Joan joined her father’s photography studio full time, she attended Tarleton University. That is where she met Gary. He was a young man who had returned from Vietnam where he served as a 2nd lieutenant in the 44

Erath County Living

U.S. Army. He was studying to later receive his M.S. in Freshwater Biology. They both participated in campus social groups and the rest is history. The two married and began their careers. Joan helped her father in his studio and Gary became a coach and teacher. “Dad was a teacher by profession and taught many students in the area,” Martin said. “He taught mostly sciences, but also coached the Strawn 6-man football and golf teams. He would drive the bus when he needed to as well. His tenure was spent in Stephenville, Strawn, and Huckabay, where he was assistant principal for several years.”

The Livingstons made their fellow community members feel like family. Through teaching their children or celebrating their milestones through a camera lens, they were always present and prepared to serve others.

Martin recalls how his mother was an active member of Oakdale United Methodist Church and worked with various committees in the church.

“She tended to 2nd every motion so that they could move on to the end of the meeting to do something more fun like eat or play games,” he said. “She cooked many meals for the church and the Wesley Foundation at Tarleton for their weekly student union outreach program. She was also a member of the Ultra Club Big Band at Tarleton for many years where she played the tenor saxophone. One of the coolest things she did for the community was open a restaurant downtown next to the

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Studio. ‘Martin’s Restaurant’ was cooking food for the square and downtown for about 8 years. It was a breakfast and lunch place open from 7am to 3pm. I still haven’t found a better club sandwich or potato salad. The last few years the restaurant was open, Martin’s served dinner on Friday and Saturday nights with a coffee and jazz club upstairs called Up Martin’s. Members of the Tarleton jazz bands and others in the community would come and play in an open jam format. The best part was that it served as dinner music for the patrons downstairs. After the Count Basie Orchestra played at Tarleton during its 100th Anniversary celebration, a few band members came up and jammed with the students. Mom had made that happen by providing a place where music could flourish.”

Joan and Gary both valued making a space in the community for people to learn and grow. As Martin and his brother Adam grew, they recall many trips where their dad taught them the fundamentals of fishing and golf. “Dad was an avid golfer and fisherman,” Martin recalled. “We had a family membership at Tejas Golf Course in town and we used to play during the summers when we were both out of school. He was also a lay leader 46

Erath County Living

at Oakdale United Methodist Church for some time. He joined the Gideon’s International and was on committees at the church along with Mom. Some of the best times were playing golf with my dad at Tejas. He could hit the ball farther than anyone I have ever seen. One of his and my favorite times out there was during a father/ son scramble where we played very well and had a great time. You learn a lot about a person spending summers on the golf course with them. We had a special bond on the course and in life from those times spent early on.

Cleaning out their garage the other day, I found my first golf club that he made for me with a sawed off putter with a duct tape grip. I think I was about 3-years-old.”

The Livingston children watched their parents personify community time and time again. “Working with mom at the studio or restaurant was how we bonded,” Martin said. “I would help her with taking pictures or traveling with her to make portraits in the community. Adam did this when he got old enough and I know he looks back on these days as good ones. I worked as a dishwasher, cook, delivery boy, janitor, coffee slinger, and overall work crew at the restaurant. Mom was very

proud of that place and would get very smiley and giddy when a customer would compliment her with words or with the satisfied glance of a person with a full belly.

Mom was a provider in every sense of the word. She gave everything she had up until the very end for her family, friends, and community.”

The community gave back to the Livingstons in an amazing way according to Martin and his brother Adam.

Only a few weeks after the passing of their mother, they also faced the passing of their father. They are so thankful for the sharing of stories from friends in the community at both of their parents’ services. Martin recalls after his mother passed, “Her memorial service was amazing and was a virtual who’s who of our life in the Stephenville community. The turnout at the church and on social media was ridiculously awesome.”

When it comes to the legacy of Gary and Joan, their children hope their mother is remembered for her welcoming, caring, and funny personality. As Martin said, “She never knew a stranger, and I feel she left each person she came in contact with a little better off from having known her. Her dedication to her church, her

family, her friends, and her businesses was amazing.”

Their father was a man who always worked to take care of others, which is an attribute Martin says will live on. “My dad was only in the military for a few years but was a hero his entire life. He was a gentle giant who loved kids and would quickly make friends with all he came in contact with. He was quick with a pun or a joke, and wanted to make sure when he parted company, they had a smile on their face.

He also did everything he had to do to make sure his family was taken care of. He did this to the very end.

Over the last few years as a retiree from teaching, he worked several different jobs at various times. He opened Livingston Realty, worked at the Agave/City Limits, and at Wal-Mart to help support the family. Even with his health failing him, he made sure he was there either in the electronics or the sporting goods areas helping customers.”

We at Erath County Living are thankful to Joan for illustrating our stories with the faces of her friends and neighbors, and hope Joan and Gary’s legacy of service continues on in the hearts of those they knew.

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Erath County Living

KidSight

By Landi Whitefield Photos by Landi Whitefield Photography

Nothing can compare to the

Stephenville Lion’s Club’s Kidsight

program and their state-of-the-art

digital vision screener, which helps identify vision abnormalities in young children.

“A ‘Z’ is for Zebra,” says the pre-k student to Central Elementary School Nurse Jody Fain. She is conducting a basic eye exam, one most of you are familiar with, using a black and white letter and number chart. The “old school” vision test is obviously not very user friendly to little ones that don’t yet know their ABCs or 123s. Jody stated nothing can compare to the Stephenville Lions Club’s Kidsight program and their state-of-the-art digital vision screener which helps identify vision abnormalities in young children.

Many of you have heard of the Lions Club’s efforts to collect and redistribute old eyeglasses to people in need, but most don’t know that they are still very much an asset in making sure that young children do not lose their gift of sight. The Lions test children in public pre-kindergarten through 2nd grade. The screener tests for myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia (farsightedness), astigmatism (blurred vision), anisometropia (different eye sight in each eye, includes lazy eye), strabismus (eye misalignment or cross-eyed), and anisocoria (different sized pupils).

Sometimes children don’t know that they can’t see well because they were born with it. Parents assume that if you go to your regular pediatric visits, that eye problems will be caught there, but several pediatricians still use old eye charts for screening. Often times parents also wait to take their child to the optometrist until the child is bewildered by not Hometown Living At Its Best

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being able to see the board at school. Vision disabilities are the number one disabling condition among kids today that can be completely prevented. Little ones that go undetected not only could go blind, but many lead to developmental issues, learning problems, self-esteem, and behavioral issues.

Nurse Fain and Mr. Prather had three little volunteers lined up to show me how they conduct the tests, Jace Rogers, Rhett Reed, and Paisley Tatsch. The screener has small bright lights and the volunteer stands three feet from the child and takes a photo of each eye. They are able to screen a child in about two or three minutes. Then the screener produces a paper read out that lets volunteers know if there is any visual impairment.

Paisley was previously screened, and Kidsight found an impairment. She was referred for glasses so that her vision problem could be fi xed. Since her parents were notified of an issue at such a young age, Paisley will not miss out on any learning opportunities due to vision problems. The kids stated that the test “doesn’t hurt and is kinda cool.”

Mr. Prather stated that the old screener they used required film and took weeks to conduct the screenings on kids, but this one is much more accurate and user 54

Erath County Living

The Stephenville Lions Club Kidsight program is phenomenal and costs children, parents, and schools in the area nothing. friendly. If the screener finds an impairment, the school sends out a letter to the parents letting them know what the digital readout indicated so that they can visit an eye doctor.

Brian Haile’s son Hudson was screened by the Lions Club at Central several years ago and was found to have amblyopia, or lazy eye. He stated that when they got the letter it was a shock, and when they took him to the eye doctor they found that Hudson was legally blind in his right eye. Hudson had to wear a patch, then a thick lens, and now only wears a contact in one eye to correct his sight. Mr. Haile stated that he was so thankful to the Kidsight program for saving Hudson’s sight that he became a member of the Stephenville Lions Club.

Mr. Prather stated, “The late George and Maryland McLain were influential in getting the Kidsight program started with the Stephenville Lions Club. They spent

countless hours taking and analyzing the pictures the old machine took and wrote referrals to eye doctors.

They were a huge part of getting the Stephenville Lions Club the new camera.� Mr. Prather assists his fellow club member, Charlie Dawkins, who heads up the Kidsight program for the club. Mr. Dawkins sets up all of the dates and times with the various elementary schools to test the kids, and then the school nurses take care of the rest.

The Stephenville Lions Club Kidsight program is phenomenal and costs children, parents, and schools in the area nothing. If a child is in need of glasses after the screening, the Lions will help with that too. Of course, the club welcomes donations at any time to continue their civic endeavors, but they really need your help getting the word out about the Kidsight program.

Currently only 40% of parents at Central Elementary alone sign and return the permission slip in order for the Lions Club Kidsight program to conduct the vision screening according to Nurse Fain. If they don’t get the permission slip back they cannot conduct the screening.

That means that 60% of the kids at Central Elementary School from pre-k to 2nd grade may potentially have vision issues that could lead to not only blindness, but low self-esteem and learning issues that are preventable by this FREE screening.

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Carly Shae Stogsdill Parents: Derrick & Samantha Stogsdill Photo by Southern Grace Photography

Mackenzie Joyce McBroom Parents: Jeremy & Hillary McBroom Photo by Southern Grace Photography Kaylin Lenore Chave z Parents: Irvin & Karin a Chavez Photo by Southern Grace Photography

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Erath County Living

PASSION FOR

SMALL TOWN

VALUES

Champion auctioneer Brent Graves wants to bring back small town values by representing rural communities in the House.

BY JESSA MCCLURE PHOTOS BY GRACE MACIAS

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In the upcoming election he hopes to return representation to the conservative side of the aisle and offer his friends, family and neighbors true leadership.

As Brent Graves sat in a local coffee shop near his Stephenville home last spring talking with friends and neighbors about the decline of conservative values in the country, he began to believe that he had something to offer in this fight. As a self-confessed Constitutional Conservative and political arm chair quarterback, he has seen representatives come and go. But, in recent years, he’s seen a dangerous trend that candidates talk tough and conservative while in district, but become mush and begin to compromise on the very issues they campaigned on once they are surrounded by the pink granite of the Texas Capital.

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Graves grew up on a wheat farm in Chillicothe, TX, and attended Texas Tech University where he majored in agricultural education. He spent his youth living the traditional Texas boy life, immersing himself in FFA, football, church youth activities and Saturday night cruising. “If you watch Hollywood movies about the lives of Texas high school boys from small towns, that was us.

We had the kind of good clean fun that would require bail money these days,” Graves said.

FFA competitions and judging contests brought him to Stephenville many times during his high school years.

“I have always loved the area. To me, this area has just

the right amount of hills, trees and rivers.” His wife of 18 years, Ashley, serves as the Executive Director for Choices Life Resource Center and Clinic, the pro-life ministry in Stephenville. “When people meet my wife, they instantly know I am a great salesman. To this day I don’t know how I closed that deal.” Born and raised in Lubbock, Ashley’s first visit to Stephenville was all it took. “I was born a city girl with a country girl heart, and I fell in love with the Cowboy Capital of the World somewhere between Bruner’s and Pastafina. I knew this was going to be home for our family,” said Ashley.

After college Brent spent several years in the corporate world, until he eventually followed his childhood dream to become a professional auctioneer. He was crowned the Texas State Champion Auctioneer in 2004 and led the Texas Auctioneers Association as their president in 2012 and their Legislative Chairman from 2013 until his resignation in 2015 upon filing as a candidate for State Representative.

“Being down in Austin working on legislation as Legislative Chair, I saw that our district was not being represented in a manner that reflects our traditions and values,” he said.

After talking with friends and colleagues about the troubling trend, he was approached about running for political office.

“I took a look at it and I felt that somebody needed to go down there and represent our conservative values and not their own business or industry, or be swayed by lobbyists and special interest groups,” he said.

Although the father of two had a successful, fulfilling career as a land broker and worldranked auctioneer,

he felt like getting involved might just help return District 59, which encompasses Comanche, Coryell, Erath, Hamilton, McCulloch, Mills, San Saba, and Somervell Counties, to the representation they deserve.

Graves chose the House of Representatives because he saw that as a weak point in conservative values and votes.

“If you look at a map of Texas and how we are represented by a House district, you’ll see some of our border counties are blue - Dallas, San Antonio, Austin and Houston are blue, and so is District 59,” he said. “I don’t believe that our constituency leans to the left.”

In the upcoming election he hopes to return representation to the conservative side of the aisle and offer his friends, family and neighbors true leadership.

“We’re going to deal with life issues and liberty issues, and be fiscally responsible,” he said.

Graves wants to not only represent rural Texas communities’ values, but also help grow their economies.

He believes that the success of these small towns isn’t just important to the people who live there, but to the country as a whole.

“When you think about classic Americana, you think of District 59,” he said. “You’ve got towns like Stephenville, Brady and Hamilton. These are towns that people just drive through and are in awe of. They say, this

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Graves’ closeknit community has rallied around the candidate, and hopes to see him representing them in Austin.

must be a relaxed place to live.”

While Graves believes that a slower paced life is part of what is appealing about the district he calls home, he knows these communities have much more to offer.

“We’ve got a labor force, values, cheaper land prices, and energy, railroads and highways that you need to produce and deliver a product,” he said. “But we also have that community feel. These rural communities reach out and people get involved.”

Graves said he’s lived in larger cities, but nothing beats the small town where everyone has a vested interest in the life of the community.

“I can see people walking down the street and I know who they are, I know where they go to church, 64

Erath County Living

and I know what they do and how they are an asset to the community,” he said. “This is important when you’re talking to corporations who are moving from a non-taxfriendly state or a non-industry-friendly state. They need to know who these key folks are and how they can be successful in this area.”

With the availability of technology in smaller communities and remote areas of the state, Graves said it isn’t necessary for businesses to settle in major metropolitan areas anymore.

“If [corporations] look at land prices, cost of living for employees, education, and happiness levels related to productivity and they’re going to see that Central Texas has something to offer.”

Showing those in government and big business the best of District 59 is part of Graves’ mission. “Who better to sell industry leaders on investing in our communities than a professional salesman?”

“We want to go down [to Austin] and be a cheerleader and a salesman for the rural communities in the district,” he said. “We want to bring jobs and industry to these communities. I believe we have a rich and storied history in rural Texas, but our future success is our responsibility.”

The House of Representatives candidate said he would like to increase highway access and pull transportation funding away from some of the larger cities.

“There are a couple of plans we have that would alleviate stress on 35 and bring folks through District 59,” he said. “Those people would buy gas, meals, and hotel rooms, and drive the local economy.”

Other than helping to promote these small communities and give them the representation they need, Graves has three other issues he is passionate about. He wants to seal the border, protect life from fertilization to natural death, and protect second amendment rights.

“Those things are very important to me, and those things are very important to my friends, my family, and

my colleagues,” he said. “You are who you run around with. We all have those same values.”

Graves’ close-knit community has rallied around the candidate, and hopes to see him representing them in Austin. The only person who isn’t sure about Graves following his political aspirations is his mother.

“My mother doesn’t want me to get into politics, she’s always been overprotective of her favorite child,” he says laughingly.

Because Graves believes so strongly in representing his family, friends and neighbors, he has come up with a list of 10 vows that he will present to the people of District 59.

“If we break one of these, we want to be fired because we’re not doing what we said we were going to do,” Graves said. “I think every candidate should have to put that out there, and put it in writing.”

If he is fortunate enough to win, he plans to enlarge the list and hang it in his office so that his staff and everyone who comes in will be able to see what he’s there to do.

“Everything else is background chatter compared to the things we’re there to do,” he said.

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HOMETOWN HAPPENINGS

Sundown on the Square

This year marked the first, of hopefully many, Sundown on the Square Celebrations. It was a fun time had by all with face painting and bounce houses, including a bull ride, and plenty of good food and entertainment provided by local restaurants and artists. When everything was said and done, 40K was raised to benefit the Stephenville Historical Museum. Congratulations!

Photos courtesy of

Riley Studio

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THE LAUNCH OF OUR NEW WEBSITE

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Photo courtesy of Empire-Tribune/Josh Harville

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Erath County Living

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In 1965, this group of self-motivated, hard-working cowboys became the first team to qualify for the finals in Laramie, Wyoming, and they finished third.

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A WINNING TRADITION

by Peggy Purser Freeman Photos by Mikka Hill Photography, and provided by Lionel Lane and Randy Magers

Tarleton’s first rodeo team supported one another, rode hard, worked hard, and won the 1967 National Championship, creating a winning tradition.

In 1963, when Charles Bitters, Lionel Lane, and Randy Magers stepped boots on the Tarleton Campus, a rodeo team didn’t exist. There were no roping pens or stock, so they rounded up their friends from the FFA and American Junior Rodeo Association (AJRA) and recruited them to rodeo for Tarleton. By 1964, Tarleton filed to charter for a rodeo club and join the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (NIRA).

In 1965 this group of self-motivated, hard-working cowboys became the first team to qualify for the finals in Laramie, Wyoming, and they finished third. In 1967, the Tarleton team won the NIRA title. At the finals, held in St. George, Utah, they captured first place with 747 points, surpassing the 405 points California Polytechnic State Hometown Living At Its Best

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University team acquired.

Charles Bitters, Lionel Lane, and Randy Magers, along with Billy Albin, Johnny Kirk Edmondson, Bobby Hungate, and Terry Walls competed against some of the toughest guys that ever rodeoed–world record holders.

That Championship Team and the team sponsors, Dr. Carl Chumney and Dr. Ken Dorris, all founders of the “Winning Tradition,” were recently inducted into the Tarleton State University Rodeo Hall of Fame in Stephenville and became part of the Stephenville Cowboy Capital Walk of Fame.

Charles Bitters, currently of Mineral Wells, shared his memories of that time. “Before I came to Tarleton, I was living in Austin, Texas, and I just hated every minute of it, because it was so big and so crowded. I fell in love with Stephenville and fell in love with Tarleton.”

Bitters earned sixty points at the 1967 finals in the steer wrestling event. Bitters was involved in Texas High School Rodeo (THSRA) from 1990-97, serving as THSRA’s Region III president and director, and state vice president and director. “My wife and I stay active in the rodeo community,” Bitters added. “Every time we see young people in a rodeo we try to head them to Tarleton, especially if they’re good.”

Randy Magers competed in bareback riding, bull riding, steer wrestling and calf roping. He was the NIRA’s 1965 reserve champion bull rider and the 1967 reserve champion bull rider, earning 181 points in bull riding in that one year. “Rodeo, and any aspect of rodeo, is about good attitude.” Magers explained, “You’ve got to have a cockiness, but you can’t carry it too far. What we had was a real team. Rodeo is an individual sport, but for us–we all six slept in the camper that first year. We rooted for each other. All sat on the back of the chute hollering for me to do good. We went everywhere together, and we paid our own way. Billy Albin’s father rented the Audie Murphy arena so we could practice. If I hadn’t of gone to school at Tarleton, I probably wouldn’t have ridden bulls. I grew up in calf roping, so I started in roping at Tarleton. At one rodeo my roommate needed a horse, so I loaned him my roping horse. There was a freak accident and my horse got killed. So I got on the bulls. What it boils down to is—I was a mediocre roper and pretty good bull rider.”

Magers was more than pretty good at riding bulls. In 72

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Laramie, Wyoming in 1965, he won third. He qualified for the NIRA finals every year he attended college. Magers qualified for the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) National Finals Rodeo nine times and was the reserve world champion in 1975-77. He rode in 101 rodeos and was thrown off only 19 times. He qualified for his first national finals by finishing in fift h place in world standings. The only bull rider to be featured on a Dr. Pepper bottle, Magers is shown riding the famous bucking bull, “No. 13.” He also rode a Hall of Fame bull named Oscar. More than 300 cowboys tried to ride Oscar, but only eight rides lasted eight seconds—two of those rides were by Magers. The 1975 NFR ride on Oscar gave Magers a reserve world champion. Today Randy Magers is a top American quarter horse rancher in Comanche.

Out of six million horses in the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA), only ninety horses have been honored in the AQHA Hall of Fame. Two of those highly prized animals come from the Albin and Magers family– Royal King and Pocotivio.

Billy Albin began his rodeo career as a teen and was the world champion ribbon roper in AJRA in 1963. He won the AJRA world champion steer wrestler in 1964.

Albin collected 60 points in the ribbon roping toward the team’s National Championship title in 1967. “The old days of competing in rodeos was nothing like today,” Albin explained. “We didn’t win big prize money or have fancy trailers with living quarters. For our first collegiate rodeo in Edinburg, Texas, we needed a camper for our 1950-something truck with a narrow bed. One teammate’s dad, who was in the funeral home business, had some casket crates we could use. We took the crates back to the school shop and made a camper and slept in it during the rodeo.” Billy competed as an accomplished cowboy in calf roping and steer wrestling. He qualified for the NIRA finals every year he attended college. Today he lives in Comanche. His meticulous craftsmanship as a braider has garnered worldwide attention. He braids artist cowboy tools, including bosals, quirts, hackamores, hobbles and more—all used by cowboys across the nation and a few around the world. His biggest fan is his wife, Glenda.

Lionel Lane talked about being a young person in the 50s and 60s. “Starting a team was special to all of us. I’m proud to be part of that. The fact is we had to make it on Hometown Living At Its Best

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our own. While I was in the American Junior Association, I picked up coke bottles for entry fees. At Tarleton we didn’t have anything either. The first year as we traveled to compete in rodeo, the six of us slept in the camper and cleaned up in the horse water trough. Lane rode bulls and bareback horses while at Tarleton. After the team won the title in 1967, Lane graduated with a year’s eligibility left and went to graduate school at Texas A&M. There he qualified again for the NIRA Finals in the bareback and bull riding held in Sacramento, California. He competed in rodeo for seven more years. In the mid-1970s, Lane moved to the Texas panhandle where he helped to organize the High Plains Junior Rodeo Association and continued to judge rodeos for several years. Lane is currently President of Lane Resources, representing Animal Health and Nutrition Companies nation wide.

Johnny Kirk Edmondson began roping at an early age.

In 1966, he won AJRA calf roping, ribbon roping, steer wrestling and all-around titles. He started school at Tarleton in 1965. “We didn’t set out to start a dynasty,” Edmondson said. “We were doing rodeos for fun. We all grew up together through the Junior Rodeo–just all a bunch of cowboys. We needed the money for college and we had a desire to compete and win. We were “War Babies” and lucky to have a truck with a bumper hitch.”

Edmondson made it to the college finals three out of the four years and later joined the PRCA, where he won the calf roping title the first year in the Texas Circuit. In 2014, he was inducted into the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame in Fort Worth. “The people of the community were wonderful,” Edmondson added. The Woody Golightly family was especially good to my wife, Diltzie and me. We married in 1968 while we finished our degrees. I rodeoed until my son, Carter, was 19. We got to rope together at Denver Colorado Rodeo. That was the neatest thing out of the whole deal.” The Edmondsons made Tarleton a family affair with their children competing on the Tarleton rodeo team. Over the years Edmondson worked in the cattle and hay business near Sylvester.

Bobby Hungate started rodeoing at age ten and won his first world championship at age 15 in AJRA optional roping. Hungate shared his memories of that time, “I enrolled at Tarleton in 1965. That team had an 74

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atmosphere. Everybody supported their teammates.

Billy, Randy, Charles and I even lived together. We were self-motivated.” Hungate won the calf roping, placed in the ribbon roping and won the All-Around Cowboy title at the college finals and accounted for 290 points. He qualified for the NIRA finals every year while he attended Tarleton. In 1973 Hungate started his professional career.

His career came to its pinnacle in 1973 when he tied the fastest calf at Calgary Stampede and won second in the average. That same year he won the calf roping at the Astrodome in Houston to qualify for the 1973 PRCA National Finals. Hungate competed as a pro until he was 38 when he met his wife. Then he started farming hay, raising cattle and Dorper sheep. He and his wife, Jan, live in Waco, Texas where she is the Assistant Superintendent at West ISD. Terry Walls as a youngster won many titles and prizes in AJRA. “The kids nowadays don’t get to experience the ranch life we did,” Walls said. He qualified for the NIRA finals every year he attended college. “I was on an academic scholarship. My only B-grade happened because I was gone so much on rodeo.” Walls laughed, “I didn’t get a Doctor of Rodeo Bum. After graduation I only rodeoed for a couple of years, then leased a ranch.

I felt I could make rodeo better by raising stock and producing rodeos.” Walls stays active in the Cowboys’ Professional Rodeo Association and produces events for United Professional Rodeo Association and Texas Cowboys Rodeo Association (TCRA). As owner, he sends rodeo stock to the Wrangler National Finals every year.

In 2005 Wall’s company was voted Producer of the Year at the TCRA Finals. He added, “The Pro Rodeo suppliers call us for back up and that’s special for an old bum. The grandchildren of the guys I rode with are now riding on my stock. My son and daughter are involved in the business.” Terry Walls has truly made rodeo better, and he believes in payback, serving as the AJRA president. He lives in Goldthwaite All of the members of the 1967 National Championship Team commended their sponsors. Dr. Chumney & Dr. Dorris found financial help, put together scholarships, and, as long as the cowboys kept their grades up, Chumney and Dorris would work with the professor to get time off for the team to compete.

Dr. Chumney helped to organize the first rodeo team and served as their faculty coach for a decade, even though he never entered a rodeo himself. Over the years he and his wife Lou sewed team vests and flags, cooked countless team meals and traveled with Tarleton teams.

Dr. Dorris began rodeo in bull riding and bareback riding while in high school. After he served in the Korean War and received his doctorate of veterinary medicine from Texas A& M, he returned to Stephenville and donated his time as official veterinarian for all NIRA rodeos hosted by the school. He organized Stephenville Rodeo Scholarship Committee, which later became the TSU Rodeo Scholarship Association. Dr. Dorris and his wife, Virginia, founded the Cowboy Capital Walk of Fame in Stephenville.

Tarleton’s rodeo teams continue “A Winning Tradition” with six national championships, 21 individual national championships, and many NIRA Southwest Region titles. Each member of that 1967 National Championship Team made the same statement, “We were a real team.” In a sport that revolves around individual events, Tarleton’s first cowboys supported one another, rode hard, worked hard, and at the end of their time riding for Tarleton’s purple and white, they all graduated to become successful businessmen–a winning tradition.

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Photo by Southern Grace Photography

t ink , Mi kk a Hil l Ph ot os co ur te sy of Pla n-i e Ph ot og ra ph y Gr ac Ph ot og ra ph y & So ut he rn

Justin & Brittany Kilgore EST. APRIL 25, 2015

Jerod & Tara Hoehn Est. September 5, 2015

Michael & Audra McFadden Est. October 10, 2015

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Jarred & Dana Walker EST. SEPTEMBER 26, 2015

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Cole & Jessica Beauchamp EST. OCTOBER 10, 2015

Photo by Mikka Hill Photography

Ju st in & Lo ga n Pa ck EST. AUGUST 22, 20 15

DeWayne & Taylor Keith EST. NOVEMBER 6, 2015 Photo by Mikka Hill Photography Hometown Living At Its Best

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Matt & Rachel Mabry EST. AUGUST 2, 2015

Photo by Mikka Hill Photography

Lindsey & Ernesto Martinez EST. AUGUST 08, 2015 Photo by Plan-it ink

Markie & Ryan Roulston EST. OCTOBER 24, 2015

Brian & Crystal Lee EST. OCTOBER 10, 2015 Huston their engineer Ernst der Laan

Photo by Southern Grace Photography

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DR. BOWLES HAS TRAVELED THOUSANDS OF MILES SINCE 2009, WORKING TO CORRECT FACIAL DEFORMITIES AND GIVE CHILDREN IN COLOMBIA, MEXICO, AND THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

a second chance at life.

CHANGING CHILDREN’S

LIVES IN

Texas and Abroad BY: JESSA MCCLURE PHOTOS PROVIDED BY DR. BOWLES As Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon Dr. Dylan Bowles enters the clinic his team has set up in preparation for this day, he knows that he is about to help change the lives of children and their families.

Dr. Bowles has traveled thousands of miles since 2009, working to correct facial deformities and give children in Colombia, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic a second chance at life.

“What people don’t understand is that [Cleft Lip and Palate] is not just a cosmetic facial deformity, it’s also a functional deformity,” he said. “Children afflicted with facial cleft deformities are not fixed with more than just closure of the lip.

They actually require up to seven surgeries to restore their ability to eat, speak, hear and smile.”

The doctor and his team repair their patients’ cleft lips around 10 weeks of age and their palates at around age one.

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the ears are evaluated for the ability to clear the ears (popping pressure) and if needed, ear tubes are placed to prevent permanent deafness.

The next part of the healing process includes a surgery around age six where a bone is taken from the hip and grafted to the upper jaw in order to allow teeth to erupt properly. The nose is also corrected around this time to allow proper breathing. In the child’s early teens he or she is fitted for braces and undergoes another surgery to improve the ability to chew.

“These children suffer from failure to thrive and are malnourished because they essentially have a lack of communication between their nose and mouth and throat that keeps them from creating a seal or suction with their lips. Due to this functional deficit the children have severe problems with nursing or breastfeeding, and typically suffer from speech impediments.”

To develop proper speech development, these treatments must be administers at an early age. But, unfortunately, Bowles has seen many older patients who have never received patients.

“Our patients range in age from three months to 50 years,” Bowles said.

Some of the older patients are seen as less intelligent

Jesse Bowles, RN , MB A in recovery with one of their yo ungest patients.

“OUR MOTTO IS,

we do it for the kids.” because of their deformities, but there is no connection between cognitive ability and Cleft Lip and Palate.

The cause is usually a result of poor nutrition during pregnancy, especially a lack of folic acid, he said.

And it isn’t just developing countries that have this problem.

“One in 650 live births in all of the Americas have [facial deformities],” he said. “But because surgical

Dr. Dylan and Jesse Bowles with representatives from all of the different Rotaries involved in the Mexico mission, including the Stephenville Rotary.

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correction is much more efficient in the US, the average American doesn’t see the prevalence of these deformities.”

People with these deformities often suffer from depression and other behavioral and health problems.

“During our most recent trip to Ibague, Colombia, we evaluated several patients with syndromic features that not only affect the face, but also the heart and extremities,” Bowles said.

Because the problem is so prevalent in foreign countries and even the US, the doctor and his team are passionate about changing the lives of the patients they treat.

“Our motto is, we do it for the kids,” he said. “With properly-sequenced surgical procedures, form and function can be restored. Helping these little kids has been so rewarding, spiritually and emotionally. You feel so accomplished because you’re giving back to someone who would not otherwise have the opportunity to have this type of surgery.”

And Bowles doesn’t go on these trips alone. His wife, who works as a nurse, travels on these medical mission

trips with her husband, assisting him and helping treatments run smoothly.

“My wife wears many hats,” he said. “She is typically one of the mission coordinators, patient organizers, preoperative nurses, or works as the First Assistant or in the post anesthesia care unit recovering the babies. It’s really important to have her there with me. We’re our own team.”

Bowles has had the privilege to work with several International Foundations that host Cleft Lip and Palate Missions. The Ibague Mission is made possible by the Drawing Alegria Foundation. Dr. Dario Garzon, who is the lead physician and co-founder of Drawing Alegria Foundation, has been performing facial deformity corrections for several years in Colombia.

His foundation’s primary objective is to help children with cleft lip and palate deformities. He has created an extensive network of mission locations to be able to carry out their precious work.

What most do not understand is that the staff involved in mission work are never paid, the doctor said.

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The travel, instrumentation, supplies, lodging, and food expenses are usually left to that of the volunteer. Because the expense of treating patients in developing countries is so great, the Bowles have started an organization to not only make their travels possible, but to also to treat patients at no cost to them.

“My wife and I have developed Smiles of the Future Foundation,” Dr. Bowles said. “It’s an organization that will provide international and local surgical care for patients with cleft lip and palate deformities.”

They hope to someday partner with foundations Dr. Bowles, with wife Jesse, was recognized by the Columbian Rotary Club as International Rotarian Participants.

such as Drawing Alegria and the Smiles International Foundation, to not only provide charitable services, but also to raise funds for other projects with help from our local communities.

Some of these local entities, who are providing funding for Bowles’ mission work and others, are local Rotary clubs. Bowles, a devoted Rotarian himself, works with clubs who are interested in helping kids with Cleft Lip and Palate deformities internationally and locally.

The help of Rotary clubs is not only important in the US, but in South America as well. In Ibague, Colombia, where Bowles and his team have treated patients, their local Rotary club not only provides mission workers with a hospital facility to do their work, but they also provide transportation, meals and lodging.

Bowles first developed a passion for facial deformity correction in children and others when he was still early in his training. Then, in 2003 when he joined the Army, he saw just how valuable corrective surgery could be.

“In the military, I had the privilege of caring for our soldiers wounded in battle,” he said. “I saw how several advances in [facial reconstructive surgery], especially

facial transplantation, changed the lives of these military heroes.”

Bowles brings his military expertise and teamapproach to his work outside of the military, training and working with Cleft Lip and Palate teams which may consist of pediatricians, surgeons, orthodontists, speech pathologists, and pediatric anesthesiologists.

“Usually the first day is our screening clinic where we could see up to 200 patients,” he said. “There are so many patients in need that we often work from daylight until dark to treat as many children as possible.

We typically have several doctors in each specialty that work together in a team effort.”

The nurses and surgical technicians are instrumental in the efforts to provide a successful environment, Bowles said.

Although the doctor enjoys his mission work

immensely, he is always happy to return home to Texas.

He recently moved back to the local area to raise his family and enjoy life outside of the big city.

“I’m from this area and I always wanted to come back here and take care of the kind of people I most associate myself with.”

Bowles said part of his motivation for returning to the Erath County area is to provide his specialized services to those who might not have access to such care.

“There’s no one else in the area who provides the full-scope services or type of surgical care that I provide,” he said. “It’s something that’s typically found in a major metropolitan areas. So, I think it’s the best of both worlds. I don’t have to raise my family in the city, and the people of Erath County have access to care.

“The secret to life is to be able to give back,” he said.

“It’s the greatest gift of all.”

“THE SECRET TO LIFE IS TO BE ABLE TO GIVE BACK.

It’s the greatest gift of all.”

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HOMETOWN HAPPENINGS

Dublin Happenings The second half of 2015 was very eventful in Dublin, Texas. With events and festivities that have included many school activities, the 3rd annual Dublin Fall Fiesta, Safe Trick ‘R Treat, Shamrocks & Peach on Earth Dublin Christmas Event and Lighted Parade, and more, there is always something to see and do! To find out more about these and other upcoming events, call the Dublin Chamber at 254-445-3422 or visit their website at www.dublintxchamber.com.

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Family Experiences, Friendly Care, Close to Home It wasn’t the first time for Marianne Salinas to prepare for the arrival of a new family member. She had given birth to her first child eight years earlier.

But this time around in 2015, she and her husband Chris weren’t looking at delivering their precious little one in Waco. The family now lived in Eastland, and they were faced with making the important decision of what hospital to rely on for the safe delivery of their second child.

Living in a smaller community, Marianne and Chris knew their options for delivery and postpartum care were rather limited as they planned for the December arrival of their daughter and that was okay. The couple wasn’t expecting to encounter any major complications during the course of Marianne’s pregnancy, so location became the determining factor in their choice of hospitals.

“It really came down to distance,” Marianne explained. “Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Stephenville was the closest hospital to us, and I didn’t want to get caught in a situation where I might have to travel far at a moment’s notice. I also know some of the nurses in the hospital’s Labor and Delivery [L&D] area, and that made me feel especially comfortable with the choice.”

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Unexpected Pluses

Marianne and Chris were happy with their choice of hospitals. Although they weren’t overly concerned with the details of what to expect, they were pleasantly surprised to learn that Texas Health Stephenville is designated as a “Baby-Friendly Hospital” by the World Health Organization, recognized for its comprehensive approach to supporting family bonding and breastfeeding.

And when it came time for Marianne to be admitted, the family also became keenly aware of the hospital’s attention to personalized care.

Through its family-centered approach, the Birdsong Women’s Center at Texas Health Stephenville focuses on providing a healthy, joyful experience for parentsto-be and their family members. Compassionate, caring nurses adapt to each family’s unique needs and help the family prepare emotionally and physically to welcome the addition to their family.

Marianne’s desire to deliver naturally, without the use of pain medications, was fully supported by the L&D staff. And when she later chose to self-administer nitrous 92

Erath County Living

oxide to lessen the severity of her contractions, the nurses were on hand to monitor and guide her through the experience.

“There is no medical ‘best choice’ for how to manage pain during labor instead, it’s more about what makes the most sense for the woman and her partner based on the type of birth experience the mother wants,” explained Rachell Huffman, BSN, RNC-OB, who is the interim director of women’s services at Texas Health Stephenville.

“We work to ensure that moms-to-be understand their options for pain management and, in Marianne’s case, it was important to reassure her that a little nitrous did nothing to diminish her accomplishment of a natural childbirth.”

Right on Schedule

In much the same organized fashion as Marianne and Chris’ preparation for her arrival, baby Gabriella entered the world without incident on her expected due date of Dec. 2, 2015. She was soon examined right inside the family’s Labor and Delivery room, which allowed Marianne and Chris to be part of her first exam and

measurements. Once Gabriella was given a “clean bill of health,” the Salinas family was moved to a spacious postpartum room located just down the hall. Here, the family had a peaceful environment where they could begin to bond.

As Marianne began to breastfeed Gabriella, she noticed that her newborn had an exceptionally strong latch. Although pleased with the baby’s “healthy” nature, Marianne was experiencing discomfort with each attempt at breastfeeding.

“The nurses sensed my discomfort and offered the assistance of a lactation consultant,” she said. “Jennifer McMeens, R.N., was so helpful and she stayed in the room with me for some time. I never felt rushed to breastfeed Gabriella.”

Home with Some Hesitation

When it came time to go home, Marianne joked about not wanting to leave the hospital because of the wonderful care she had received. Chris seconded the notion, adding that the staff went above and beyond for his family and that he would recommend Texas Health Stephenville to

anyone in need of a hospital.

“The service was exceptional; every nurse I came in contact with was so attentive from Rachel Jones, R.N., and Roxanna Martin, R.N., in L&D to postpartum nurses Rayna Skaggs, R.N.C., and Marsha Smith, R.N.,” said Marianne. “Even nurses that didn’t attend to me brought whatever was needed. It was almost like they came and visited the same as a friend would. They were very sincere.

This touched my heart.”

The Salinas family is opening more than one new chapter in their life. Marianne graduated from Tarleton State University with a nursing degree just one week after delivering Gabriella. She now says that she has a new appreciation for what L&D nurses do. If she weren’t already committed to another career opportunity, she would consider joining the Texas Health Stephenville Labor & Delivery team.

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HOMETOWN HAPPENINGS

Cowboy Capital PRCA Rodeo Stephenville celebrated their rodeo heritage in style with a week packed full of family-fun events including a downtown parade, mutton bustin’, rodeo queen contest, fashion show, cowboy legends concert, western art exhibit, and annual PRCA Rodeo! Stephenville Texas was voted one of the Top 5 midsized rodeos in the country by the professional rodeo athletes! Visit www. cowboycapitalprcarodeo.com to keep up with plans for next year’s festivities!

Photos courtesy of

Cross B P hotography

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The two-acre tract where the Venable Center now stands was purchased for twenty dollars inApril 1901 by the Methodist church from the Venable family.

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the

Venable Center

By Peggy Purser Freeman

Photos provided by The Venable Center and Design Build Adventure

Back in the day, families settled onto handmade benches and prayed at a handmade altar.

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Historic elegance, set in Texas-size spaces defines the Venable Center. These simple white frame buildings that whisper faith, hope, and love, once served as the Pleasant Hill Methodist Church and Indian Creek School. Today they continue to give the community a place to celebrate. Ancient oaks stand as witnesses to the past, present, and future sacred vows and celebrations held on these grounds.

Circuit riders like James M. Johnson, who served the Stephenville and Comanche missions from 1861 to 1863, married, baptized, and prayed many a soul into glory within the shade of the oaks. After the War Between the States, folks like Confederate Army Chaplain Peter Gravis ministered here in 1865 and 1866.

The two-acre tract where the Venable Center now stands was purchased for twenty dollars in April 1901 by the Methodist church from the Venable family.

Back in the day, families settled onto handmade benches and prayed at a handmade altar. Once a month, members tied their horses to the fence around the church, pulled the pew and piano into the cool air and sang the old, familiar hymns all afternoon. Today, that music seems to float on the country breeze toting memories of summer revivals under a brush arbor.

In 1949, a tornado roared through the area, twisting the church off its foundation. Services were held in the Selden School auditorium while the building was taken apart and then rebuilt, using the original lumber and nails.

In 1951, a dedication service brought the church back to life, and several years later the Alexander Methodist Church gifted Pleasant Hill Methodist with a fellowship hall. The fellowship hall had been moved to the site from Selden where it had been a schoolhouse and then a Baptist church. Now, both structures commingle to create the simple beauty that is the Venable Center.

Linda McElroy wrote of her memories at Pleasant Hill: “My grandfather, ‘Papa,’ served as Sunday School Superintendent, Trustee, song leader and anything else needed. My grandmother, Mattie, was secretary of the Sunday school. She always wore a hat and gloves...

Pleasant Hill is the place for beautiful weddings. My sister’s wedding was the first one I remember at Pleasant Hill... The greatest memory for me is all the gospel singing and the third Sunday afternoon gathering.”

Located on U.S. Highway 281 between Stephenville and Hico, this 2,400 square-foot facility reflects the era of its original construction. The Venable Center was a

project undertaken to preserve the heritage of the original facility. In May 2014, the Center opened to host special events in a real Texas setting. Sunlight filters through the stained glass window and church bells chime—all preserved and reconstructed. Reflecting its history as a rural schoolhouse and church, the center offers modern amenities to create the perfect ambiance for gatherings of every kind. Weddings, conferences, luncheons, parties, and events—large and small. Manager Ashleigh Feuerbacher adds her own personality to the center, helping each event find that perfect slice of country peace.

Ashleigh describes it this way, “There is so much history in this space--it was a must to keep it alive.

The intent was to focus on restoring the 1901 and 1951 buildings for the best use in today’s world. It was never a consideration to do anything with the buildings but to restore and re-purpose them. The history, stories, and memories that these walls hold, live in the Venable.”

Although the Venable Center is a contemporary facility, it offers quality audio-visual equipment, 21st century heating and cooling system, and a chef’s catering kitchen. The site is architecturally designed to provide

Hudson with some of the pheasants he raises on his 1,100-acre property.

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access for guests with limited agility, the disabled and handicapped. The facility hosts not only workshops, but everything from office parties to family reunions; and it’s the perfect place for recitals.

Artist Vicki McMurry talked about the versatility of the center and it’s scenic views: “The Venable Center was the ideal facility for our painting workshop.”

The outdoor space with a 1012 squarefoot patio, perfect for a family barbecue, turns into a tranquil, romantic setting in the evening. By nightfall, orange and pink sunsets fade into purple shadows and settles into a dark-blue twilight. In the summertime, the magic of fireflies often dances in the trees. The building and patio offer room for a band and space for dancing under the Texas stars, providing the ambiance of romance.

Pamela Kaumeyer gives it five stars and said, “It has the most scenic and beautiful vistas. True Texas atmosphere.” And Jenna Jones Walker held the Bosque

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River Coalition seminar at the Venable Center.

She said the Center is “A true gem with great people to work with, boasting Texas heritage and gorgeous views of the top of the Texas Hill Country.”

Laura Williams Burt, owner of Cowgirl at Heart Photography, recently photographed a wedding at the Venable Center. “Super nice facilities,” Laura said. “It was amazing.” The Center and the grounds provide various opportunities for excellent pictures.

Mitzi Miller, a December 2014, bride said, “It could have been a disaster but Ashleigh truly helped it all come together. It turned out wonderful, and we loved the venue.

It was perfect.”

Ashleigh shared her favorite story of the Venable Center, a story that defines the way the buildings and its history have formed a place of family, faith, hope and love. “We had a bride on the books for May 2015. We called her our ‘legacy bride.’ She was married in the same building where her mother was married. This is the same

A place where the past and present flow together in perfect harmony.

place her grandmother married, and the place her greatgrandfather helped build.”

“My grandfather, Marvin Toler, helped build Pleasant Hill and as a boy my dad ran around handing the men tools,” Patty Burris explained. “My grandparents attended Church there. My dad (known as Happy) Marvin Toler and mom, Helen, were married there June 8, 1962. My sister and her husband Robin and Cleve Simpson were married there on January 2, 1982. And I was married there in February of 1988. Of course, my daughter, Christina Brawner and Shelby Sharp will be exchanging vows there in 2015. I was raised in this Church. Lots of

memories from singing with Mr Waldsworth (the oldest living member) to the sunrise Easter services. Bringing my children back for Easter services and Vacation Bible School—that little hill is full of memories and love.”

Memories like Patty’s are the charm of the facility. Its history defines it. The Venable Center--a place where the past and present flow together in perfect harmony.

Visit the Venable Center at Highway 281 and County Road 504 Stephenville, Texas. Call 254.459.2414 or contact info@thevenablecenter.com. You can find more information at www.thevenablecenter.com.

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HOMETOWN HAPPENINGS

Chamber Ribbon Cuttings The second half of 2015 proved to be a successful one for new businesses as the Chamber hosted 26 more ribbon cutting ceremonies. For more information on services provided by the Stephenville Chamber of Commerce including business resources, community information, and a listing of upcoming events, visit www.StephenvilleTexas.org.

Photos courtesy of

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By Peggy Purser Freeman Photos by Riley Studio and provided by Lee Roy Parnell

Stephenville’s own triple threat, Lee Roy Parnell, recently made a trip home to give back to the community where his music began.

“This life can be a great wasteland. You got to do everything you can. Only way to quench my thirst is start puttin’ first things first. It’s gonna make me a better man...”

(FROM I GOT TO GET BACK TO THE WELL)

Stephenville’s own triple threat, Lee Roy Parnell, recently made a trip home to give back to the community where his music began. An ace guitarist, a hit songwriter and an award-winning recording artist, Lee Roy combines Blue-Eyed Soul, Roadhouse Rock, Texas Swing and Gospel to create hit songs and dynamic performances. Th is successful Erath County legend has penned a collection of work that reveals his soul.

“On the road where the night is black, On the road where you don’t look back, There’s a white line in the distance where it’s going nobody knows.”

(FROM ON THE ROAD)

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“I suddenly realized it's been over 40 years since I started playing at the Rec Hall (Recreation Center) in Stephenville,” Lee Roy Parnell explained a few weeks before his Homecoming event. “That's where it began for me. When a group of us planned this homecoming, I wanted two things. First, I wanted to play back home with my friends and family. Second, I wanted to start an annual event, see it grow, give back to the community.”

“Yes, Ma'am, I come from Texas. I'm mighty proud of my roots. I don't wear a hat but I got forty pair of cowboy boots. Me and Bob Wills used to sing the San Antonio Rose.”

(FROM I’M COUNTRY DOWN TO MY SOUL)

“I lived on the 3,000 acre ranch, halfway between Lingleville and Desdemona. There were no kids close by—so my horse and my dog were my companions. I had a good little pony that I got from Junior Trice, who happened to be the best guitar player in the county. Mama would pack me a lunch and I wouldn't come home until dark. Those caliche hills and natural springs were where my imagination got its start. That was my world.”

The Parnell family, neighbors, and friends gathered to play music in an old one-room schoolhouse near the ranch. These events were a holdover from back in the day when Lee Roy's dad, as a teenager, played house-dances in West Texas around Turkey.

“We called the event, the School Hill Musical. Everyone brought a covered dish.

There would be dozens of kids playing outside while music just poured out of that old building. Mama wrote about the events 108

Erath County Living

in both the Stephenville and the Dublin papers. Her writing was masterful and greatly influenced mine. Bob Wills was like family.

Like Bob, Lee Roy's father, Roy Parnell, as a teenager had toured the Southwest with a traveling medicine show. The two became close, lifelong friends. Lee Roy's first public performance came on Bob Wills' radio show at the age of six.

In the summertime, the Parnell family lived in Glen Rose on the Paluxy River.

“Summer was magical there. It was as if time stood still and all of us kids stayed in that river.

Our trips to Glen Rose started around 1968. We stayed at Oakdale Park in those little petrifiedrock cabins. Pete and Wimp May owned the park across the street from the Big Rocks, which was built around a huge swimming pool called ‘The Oakdale Plunge.' My family bought a little house right next door that became our summer home.”

“Yeah, I used to live my life for Friday at five...Now you make every night a Saturday night and every day is Sunday.”

(FROM EVERY NIGHT IS A SATURDAY NIGHT)

Each fall, Lee Roy and his parents and brother Rob Roy moved back to Stephenville for school. In high school, Lee Roy and friends formed a band. “Everyone went to the football games, but there was really nothing to do after that. Back then Ronnie Isham ran the Rec Hall.

He and I struck a deal. My band and I would play and split the gate with the Rec Hall. Mama collected money in a Roi-Tan cigar box. On that first show, Joe Kohr was on drums, Dana Wolf was singing. I only had one amp to run everything, but the major problem was I only knew nine songs. So we had to keep playing them over and over.”

Lee Roy started and left school early. He Hometown Living At Its Best

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explained it like this: “It was the spring before graduation.

I remember the day I drove out of my Mama and Dad's driveway. Armed with only my prized possession, my old 1956 Gibson Les Paul and a few clothes, I set out for Austin on my International Scout motorcycle. It would be the first of many destinations in my journey. In 2013 Gibson Guitar Company issued a “Lee Roy Parnell Signature Les Paul Guitar. I would have never dreamed of receiving an honor like that.” After Austin, Lee Roy traveled to Tulsa then to Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and finally New York City, where he met musician/ author Kinky Friedman. Kinky was looking for a guitar player.

Lee Roy explained. “We went for breakfast and that began the roller coaster ride of my life.”

In 2011 Lee Roy Parnell was inducted into the Texas Heritage Songwriter’s Hall of Fame. Since then, Lee Roy's career has stretched across the decades and now comes full circle to a Homecoming Concert. “My brother Rob Roy and I always play when we're together. It's great to play with musicians like Stephenville's Sam Yates and Woody Lawson, Les and Frank Summers and Craig Webb.

“Now the wheel's gonna spin 'round and 'round again. There's still all the ways to lose and all the ways to win. When I look back at all the games I've had to play, it's okay, I guess. I'm just lucky that way.”

(FROM I GUESS I’M JUST LUCKY THAT WAY)

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“My dad would always say, 'Well, Son, the thing about it, of it is...' We actually put that on his tombstone.' In 1987 he said to me, 'Well, Son, the thing about it of it is, you've been playing around the dream, it's time to go after it.' So I went to Nashville in 1987.”

Soon Lee Roy landed a publishing contract. Over the years his songs have made the Top Ten hits many times, garnered a Grammy Nomination for Best Country Instrumental and a CMA nomination for Vocal Event of The Year. The album “Every Night’s A Saturday Night” included a duet with Trisha Yearwood and the Grammy nominated boogie-woogie instrumental, “Mama Screw Your Wig On Tight.” The album also included the popular song “Honky Tonk Night-Time Man,” sent to Lee Roy by his good friend and mentor, the legendary Merle Haggard.

“And when I fall, tryin' all I can to find the better man in me, I'm never down so low cause you always let me know, that who I am is all I need to be.”

(FROM SAVED BY THE GRACE OF LOVE)

“With the release of ‘Tell The Truth’ and 'Back to the Well,' I finally got complete artistic freedom,” Lee Roy said. “'Gaurdian Angel' is a true story. I've been in three wrecks I shouldn't have walked away from, but I did. People will ask me if 'Breaking the Chain' was about addiction or love? And I will say yes—all of those things.

Then people say, 'But it sounds like you're talking about God.’ And I answer, I am. The deal is, we are supposed to love one another the way Christ loved us. He loved us without boundaries and forgives us for everything—if we ask for it. If we loved everybody as Christ did us, we wouldn't have any trouble.”

When Lee Roy Parnell speaks of love, he soon mentions his kids. “With my kids, Blake, Allison, and Jack, we've had great times, and we've had low spells but we always had one another. Life is about family. In the past decades, we sat around the kitchen table and spent time telling stories. We need to get back to the table, put down the phone and talk to each other.”

As Stephenville looks forward to another Homecoming planned for next year, pride in the local boy, now a successful man, grows. For Lee Roy Parnell, his mom's words seem to echo from somewhere down the road, across the pasture, just this side of the old School Hill Music hall, “We'll see you boys downtown.”

SONG LYRICS BY LEE ROY PARNELL

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HOMETOWN HAPPENINGS

Shamrocks & Peace on Earth The Dublin Chamber of Commerce held their Shamrocks & Peace on Earth Christmas event and lighted parade on December 3, 2015 at the Wright Historical Park & Pavilion. The festivities included Story Time with Santa at the Dublin Library, a parade, food, fun and entertainment for all to enjoy. To find out more about these and other upcoming events, call the Dublin Chamber at 254-445-3422 or visit their website at www.dublintxchamber.com.

Photos courtesy of

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BRINGING THE ORIGINAL INTEGRITY AND BEAUTY OF THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK BUILDING BACK TO LIFE.

HISTORIC FNB

BUILDING RESTOR TION

By Michele Dunkerley Photos provided by Michele Dunkerley

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The First National Bank building, built in 1889, is one of the oldest buildings in Stephenville, Texas. It has been a prominent anchor of the Erath County Courthouse square for the past 125 years. The building was renovated in 2015, winning distinguished recognition for the restoration and the building itself. The First National Bank building is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and it received the 2015 President’s Award from the Texas Downtown Association for the state’s Best Rehabilitation/Renovation for a community of 50,000 or fewer.

The building served as a bank until 1925 when the First National Bank was merged with Farmers Bank and

the resulting Farmers First National Bank was moved across the square. The building continued to serve other community needs-- a law office, the city’s first library, insurance agency, telephone company, chiropractor office, real estate agency, beauty shop, floral shop, boot and saddle shop and art gallery. Its tenants included R. L. Thompson, an attorney who practiced law in a second floor office for over sixty years (c. 1909 – 1969). By the early 1990s the building was vacant and in disrepair, and was rescued by Brad and Nancy Allen, who made significant improvements to the structure. City Council member Boyd Waggoner’s law office was then housed in the building until it was purchased in 2008 by Red Hometown Living At Its Best

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Fences, LLC. With the professional assistance of Quimby McCoy Architects and KBL Restoration, the building’s restoration and historic designation were completed in 2015. Stephenville’s Economic Development Authority is now the upstairs tenant; the downstairs is intended to be a choice retail establishment.

The First National Bank building is the earliest of three buildings in Stephenville’s downtown attributed to renowned architect, James Riely Gordon. In addition to the Erath County Courthouse, Gordon is credited with designing the Crow Opera House. Gordon was the architect of eighteen courthouses in Texas; of which twelve remain, including courthouses for Bexar, Ellis, Wise, Comal, and Victoria counties. He also designed the Arizona State Capital in Phoenix and, after he moved to New York, the Gramercy Park apartment house among many other notable projects.

The First National Bank building was constructed in the Romanesque architectural style using light grey limestone, presumably quarried nearby. The exterior walls are thirty-two inches deep. The building has wide arches and deeply recessed windows and doors. Its corner entrance features a neoclassical portico and Queen Anne

turret with a conical roof, which were added after a fire in 1897 destroyed the original entrance corner. The building’s first floor offers the large open space planned originally for banking, while the second floor has five rooms with double doors connecting all offices. The recent rehabilitation has restored much of the building’s original fabric. The wood floors have been refinished and the historic plaster repaired. A section of the decorative plaster frieze in the first floor has been conserved, and the original wood beadboard ceilings have been exposed throughout.

The First National Bank building has retained a high degree of its original integrity. The building remains in its original location surrounded largely by the same buildings as when it was built. The feeling of the property has not changed. The building exterior remains nearly intact, with its materials, design features and workmanship largely unaltered. The building has also retained its association as a commercial structure. The First National Bank building retains all seven aspects of its original integrity - setting, location, association, design, workmanship, materials and feeling.

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HOMETOWN HAPPENINGS

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A Life

Well Lived

By Connie Lewis Leonard

Photos Provided by the Chilton Family

Dr. Stuart Chilton loved to write newsy stories. He believed “names make news,” and his name brings good news of a job well done and a life well lived.

When he was in the third grade, he fell in love with writing and began publishing his own newspaper, selling it to the many family members who lived within a quarter of a mile. As a young entrepreneur, he decided to buy chickens and sell eggs to accompany the morning newspaper.

His family greatly influenced his work ethic. His great-grandfather served four terms as a US Congressman from Kentucky during Andrew Jackson’s Presidency. His Washington roommates were his first cousin, R. E. B. Baylor, for whom Baylor University is named, and David Crockett. His paternal grandparents, Ida and Lysias Chilton, farmed land around Marlin, Texas, owned several mercantile stores, and cofounded First National Bank, Marlin. His father was a building contractor and his mother was a registered nurse.

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Small in stature as a child, he used brains over brawn, befriending bigger boys, ensuring his protection from bullies with Milky Way candy bars. He played in the band and center on the high school football team. Although the program listed his weight as 128 pounds, his actual weight was merely 117. In high school he worked at a grocery store and in the family bank, which led to his duty assignment in the Navy pay dispersal office. When he joined the Navy at age 17, his mother feared she was signing his death warrant. He didn’t serve on the battlefield, but joked that his life was in jeopardy each month when he picked up hundreds of thousands of dollars, carrying a gun without any bullets.

After his discharge in 1946, he attended Baylor University to pursue his dream of becoming a journalist.

There he served as Junior Class President, being the first non-religious education major to serve in student government. Following graduation, he worked for the Texarkana Gazette before becoming an English and journalism teacher at Falfurrias, Texas. He met Ann Negy in September 1951, fell in love with the beautiful home economics teacher, married her three months later, and loved her dearly until her death 53 years later.

In September 1952, Stuart accepted a position as English and journalism teacher at Abilene High School.

In 1953, the young couple had a son, Brad Chilton. Stuart wrote for the Abilene Reporter News while completing a Master’s degree from Hardin-Simmons University.

In 1954, the family moved to Stephenville, where Stuart taught journalism and served as Director of Public Information for Tarleton State College. This was his favorite job, because he loved working with students and having time to write. In 1957, he was promoted to Registrar and Dean of Students. He worked tirelessly with Tarleton President E. J. Howell and many local businessmen to secure passage of the “Tarleton Bill,” changing the junior college to a four-year university.

The bill passed in 1959, marking Stuart’s proudest achievement in being part of this transition.

While completing his doctorate at University of North Texas, he noted most students majored in elementary education. Tarleton’s student body was primarily male until Stuart pursued and secured the elementary education degree and certification, which remains one of the largest major programs at Tarleton.

In 1966, Stuart accepted a professorship in the department of educational administration at East Texas University, (now Texas A & M University-Commerce).

During his tenure at ETSU, he was the major advisor for 35 completed doctoral dissertations and served as

All members of the family would gather each evening at Stuart’s grandparents’ house named Southland.

Above: Mother, Ethel (1905-1990), father Albert (1890-1963), Stuart, and sister, Ethel, at Meridian State Park (1938).

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Dr. Stuart Chilton lived a good life for 88 years and ďŹ nished well.

Stuart with friend, Bubba Smith, and sister, Ethel, on the front porch of the family home (1937).

Marlin High School graduating class of 1944 with Stuart shown 4th from the right on the next to the top row.

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Baylor junior class ofďŹ cers (1948-9) from left to right with hometowns in parentheses were Peggy Padgett (Secretary, Teague), Frank Parks (Vice President, Ennis), Dana McCormick (Reporter, Tahoka), Stuart (President, Marlin), and John Chiles (Business Manager, Waxahachie).

a member on numerous doctoral and master degree committees.

For 18 years he wrote a weekly column, “Commerce Corner,” for The Commerce Journal. Upon retirement in 1984, ETSU’s Board of Regents conferred upon him the title, “Professor Emeritus of Educational Administration.”

He taught Sunday school for 26 years and served as Chair of the Administrative Board of First United Methodist Church in Commerce from 1990-1992. He also served on the Board of Directors for First National Bank, Commerce; United Bankers, Waco; and Bank One, Greenville-Commerce Branch.

He and Mrs. Chilton returned to Stephenville in 1996, where he began writing a weekly column for The Stephenville Empire-Tribune under the pen name “Ye Old Columnist.” He was a member of First United Methodist Church, a member of the Stephenville Masonic Lodge, a 32nd degree Mason in Scottish Rite, a member of Hella Shrine in Dallas, the Stephenville Lions Club and the American Legion. He remained active in Baylor Alumni Association; Sigma Delta Chi, national honorary journalism fraternity; and Phi Delta Kappa, national honorary fraternity in education.

Working at the Abilene Reporter-News in 1953.

Stuart married Ann Negy (1929-2004) on December 27, 1951 in Denton.

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In addition to his many professional and community accomplishments, Dr. Stuart Chilton’s personal relationships warmed the hearts of all who knew him.

Brad, Stuart’s only child, spoke fondly of his father. He said, “The greatest lessons learned from my father were a strong work ethic, how to live life, love family, and help others. He would give students rides, invite them home for dinner, help them secure financial aid, and help them write well.” When Stuart helped Brad with a high school science project on weather, it caught his interest, and he continued the project as “the weatherman” the rest of his life.

Stuart was a good tennis player. When Brad asked his father why he hit the ball all over the court, he replied, “The object of the game is to hit where you aren’t. Life is not hit straight at you. You have to make adjustments.”

Bill Horick, a fellow journalism major at Baylor, remained friends with Stuart for 65 years. He said, “We got together for luncheons, homecoming embraces, and e-mailed words of wisdom.

We kept our showboat traversing the river of time for many years.” When Coach Art Briles, formerly of Stephenville, went to Baylor, “Stuart and I knew our beloved Bears were about to bask in clover.” In “A Tribute to Mr. J-Blurber,” Mr. Horick said, “He will miss the Reunion Dinner of the Class of 1950 this year at

~In addition to his many professional and community accomplishments, Dr. Stuart Chilton’s personal relationships warmed the hearts of all who knew him.

the Baylor Homecoming. But I know he will be with us in spirit. And we’ll salute him for the better Homecoming he now enjoys.” Mr. Horick explained the journalism term J-Blurber as short passages, blurbs of information, for which Dr. Stuart Chilton was so well-known.

Fern Wood first met Stuart when he dated her older sister in high school. Later they were classmates at Baylor. Although she was a business and economics major, Stuart invited her to join the J-Blurbers group. He introduced her to his fiancé at the time, and the two ladies became roommates and life-long friends. She said, “Stuart was wonderful—the nicest person, a perfect gentleman, always upbeat. Even after losing his wife, he never felt sorry for himself.” When his health began to decline, they would text each other every few days.

Dr. Lynn Turner, a fellow professor at TAMU-

Keeping up with the technology, Stuart arranges for the family offer a Christmas 2014 “selfie”.

Pictured left to right are Brad, Caryl, Stuart III, Lauren (Stuart III’s wife), Stuart Sr., and his favorite companion, Lacey.

Stuart and Ann at the 1996 Baylor homecoming.

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Commerce, said, “Stuart was a very fine, upstanding man, a man of principles. He was well respected and had a good relationship with students and colleagues. He was a good friend, a good neighbor, and a devoted family man.

He had a great sense of humor, writing articles for the Commerce Journal from his dog’s point of view.”

As advisor for the Doctoral program at ETSUCommerce, Dr. Chilton advised Bob Burns on his dissertation. Dr. Burns said, “He was more than I could ask for in terms of professional help. He was detail oriented but could also see the big picture.”

Eddie Smith, who became friends in 1985 when Dr. Chilton served as a bank director for First National Bank of Commerce, said, “Stuart was well-known for his ability to communicate and work with both the business community and the University. It is a great honor and responsibility to be appointed as a bank director. Stuart served well, and was greatly respected.”

Harold Walker, a member of The Old Goat’s Coffee Club, said, “Stuart was the nicest man I’ve ever known. I can’t say enough good things about him because he did so many good things. I admired the heck out of him.” The Old Goat’s Coffee Club met every day. Stuart brought in

speakers, people running for office, people doing things for the betterment of the community. They celebrated birthdays, and when one member died, the others served as pallbearers.

Howard Martin said about a week after becoming pastor of First United Methodist Church in Stephenville, Stuart invited him to the Old Goat’s Coffee Club.

Although the Club was an eclectic group politically and religiously, everyone was encouraged to contribute to the conversation and express their opinion. Martin said, “Stuart served on about every board and committee in the church. He was a true gentleman.”

Ethel Chilton Renfro said, “Stuart was about five years older than me. He was my brother and my friend.

We could talk about anything. After the deaths of our spouses, we talked on the phone about twice a week. I miss him.” Ethel is now the last of their generation. “I felt better after the funeral. It was so uplifting. They have a treasure in that pastor.” She went on to say that Stuart left a fine legacy through his son and grandson.

Dr. Stuart Chilton lived a good life for 88 years and finished well.

Stuart, Brad, and Stuart III on Father’s Day 2013.

Stuart with Baylor classmates Ben Hough, and Bill Horick view the construction of the new Baylor football stadium (2013).

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Erath County Living

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Hometown Living At Its Best

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132

Erath County Living

Sharing a Passion for

Music

By Martha Helton | Photos by Plan-it ink

Carr oll Parham’s students can’t help but be inspi�ed by his passion as he dishes up his homespun, real-life musical tales.

I entered the old building—Fiddlesticks Music, just yards from 377. Walls are adorned with musical instruments, music accessories and framed photos of country western musicians from over the years, including one of Stephenville’s long-time music men: Carroll Parham, pedal steel guitar extraordinaire. I walked over the original, half-century-plus old hardwood floor that sagged a bit, built by Carroll Parham and his brother, Jerry, when they were young. Plank by plank, under their father’s direction, they built the foundation of the once family grocery store.

Hometown Living At Its Best

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But this humble building only gives a hint of Carroll’s own professional fame that catapulted him onto the stage with many famous country western singers and musicians. That rich, musical background is not staying locked in his memories… he’s pouring out that expertise to 40-50 students each week, along with friend Debbie Bridgewater.

Carroll, clad in boots and a checkered shirt, invited me to sit down in this cozy musical refuge. I opened the door to that colorful history. “Where are you from, and were you from a musical family?”

“I was raised below the mountains in Glen Rose and went to church down there—Cottonwood Church. Mother played the piano and dad led the singing,” recalled Carroll. “We didn’t know we were learning music there with them ol’ gospel songs.

That old gospel stuff still sticks in my mind.

Mother taught my brother and me piano lessons. Later we went to school in Glen Rose, and they gave us piano lessons there as well.

“Mother and dad had an old guitar laying around somewhere and I took lessons from a teacher at school. She would let us boys that had guitars wag those ol’guitars to school and we’d sit back in the music class and play. I took mine every day. We had to walk to school. I’d stop at an ol’ picnic table under an old pecan tree, and I’d sit there and play my guitar. I guess that was all I’d think about.

“Mother and dad always listened to the Grand Ole Opry on Saturday nights. They kept a radio on at the house all the time and I learned all this 134

Erath County Living

stuff without even thinking. Later on, I heard a pedal steel guitar. I had to figure out what that was. I wanted one, but who could afford one? A string cost a dime if you broke one.”

But overwhelming curiosity led Carroll to take some time off to go to Nashville—where these guitars were first manufactured. “I had written several letters to Shot Jackson (the maker of the guitars) asking questions about it. I also always wanted to see the Ryman Auditorium (where the Grand Ole Opry was at the time). I got to Nashville around 4 or 5 in the morning and just walked around—something I wanted to see all my life.

“Then I went to Sho-Bud Guitar Company to see Shot Jackson. Roy Accuff and the Charlie Louvin brothers and others were in there—in a double car garage with an ol’ dirt floor. I realized not all these music stores were rich.

And these guys were just people.”

As Carroll got ready to leave, Shot and Roy Accuff invited him to the Grand Ole Opry.

“I tell you what, I even got to go backstage and meet all those people. About a year later I got enough money to buy my steel guitar. That was it—that was all I wanted to do. I played that steel guitar every day. From then on I also started learning other instruments.”

Carroll would practice and hone his skills regularly by taking his steel guitar to different people’s homes around the Stephenville area to play together. “I come in one night and dad said, ‘Where have you been? Who’ve you been playing with?’

“I said ‘Oh, we went to somebody’s house and some old guys were there. I never heard any music like that in my life. Derwood and Roy Lee Brown.’

“He said, ‘You know who you’ve been playing with?’ “‘Never heard of ‘em in my life,’ I said. “‘Milton Brown and the Musical Brownies!

Derwood and Roy Lee are Milton’s brothers,’

“It’s an hon� � to know, w� �k and perf� �m wi�h and have as my � �iend such an amazing and talented person.”

-Debbie Bridgewater Hometown Living At Its Best

135

“We are bo� h dedicated to keeping �he roo� s o� o�d music alive and ho�e our young students con�inue to do �he same.”

- Debbie Bridgewater 136

Erath County Living

dad said. And there I was, playing with some of the greatest swing musicians in the world and had no idea who they were.”

After he got the steel guitar, he started getting jobs and playing out of town at small venues. Then in 1969, Carroll joined Joe Paul Nichols as a member of his band, The Five Pennies—a band known for their traditional country music. Joe Paul worked all over Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma, three or four nights a week. After seven years, Carroll quit and started booking jobs for himself.

Over the years Carroll has had his own recording studio and worked for radio stations out of Hamilton and Stephenville.

For over 30 years Carroll produced shows for the Cross Timbers Country Opry, just outside Stephenville (he owns the Opry today, although it’s been closed since 2011). He also traveled out of town to put together “package shows”--shows made up of different entertainers.

One prominent memory from the Opry days occurred one day when four girls auditioned. Each girl was singing Patsy Cline songs.

“The next one come out and I looked at her list of songs and I blew my stack. I called them all back in and said, ‘Not a one of you are singing Patsy Cline songs!

These people deserve to hear more than Patsy Cline.’ I put me a sign up, ‘No Patsy Cline songs.’ A couple of Mondays later, Patsy’s husband, Charlie Dick, called about the sign.

I thought he’d be mad. Instead, he said, ‘If I were there I’d pat you on the back for standing up for what you believe in. Every little girl wants to be Patsy Cline, but there’s only one Patsy.’”

One perk of playing professionally is Carroll got to meet and be friends with the singers/musicians. One such friend was Hank Thompson, whose musical style was characterized as honky tonk Western swing. “We hunted together a lot and we were friends,” Carroll said.

Ten years ago, Carroll met fellow musician, Debbie Bridgewater, at a bluegrass festival. Since then, they have been playing together in bluegrass festivals and churches across the country. At Debbie’s urging, Fiddlesticks Music was opened in 2006. They teach eight string instruments; Debbie teaches piano and voice also. Their focus is bluegrass and old time music. “We are both dedicated to keeping the roots of old music alive and hope our young students continue to do the same,” Debbie remarked.

Evidence of their expertise: the two were inducted into the Old Time Country & Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in Lemars, Iowa in 2008.

They teach children and adults. “Some adults come in before work. It’s gratifying to see someone come in and do something they’ve wanted to do all their lives,” said Carroll. “We also have some kids that are 8, 10, 12 years old and they can take a guitar or a banjo and burn the strings off those things. We take some of them out on some shows sometimes. We’re so proud of our students.”

“Carroll has been given a special gift with his talent in music,” said Debbie. “It’s an honor to know, work and perform with and have as my friend such an amazing and talented person,” Debbie added, admiration lighting her face.

Carroll quickly pointed out: “If it hadn’t been for her, this wouldn’t be here.”

Tell you what…this seasoned musician’s students can’t help but be inspired by their teacher’s passion as he dishes up his homespun, real-life musical tales coupled with his years of musical wisdom and expertise. And all this is delivered with tireless energy and a delightful southern drawl. www.fiddlesticksmusicshop.com Hometown Living At Its Best

137

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Erath County Living

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Hometown Living At Its Best

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HOMETOWN HAPPENINGS

21st Annual Choices Banquet The Choices Life Resource Center held their 21st annual banquet on October 13, 2015 at the Lone Star Arena in Stephenville. The evening was a huge success thanks to the many who attended to hear special guest speaker Kevin Sorbo.

To learn more about this Christian ministry dedicated to preserving the value of human life, you can visit them online at www.choicesinlife.org, call them at 254-965-6031 or visit them at their office located at 1902 W Sloan Street in Stephenville.

Photos courtesy of

Riley Studio

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Erath County Living

HOME

Away From HOME

By Peggy Purser Freeman Photos by Art & Soul Photography

“It’s easy hosting an exchange student like Leo, because he is easy to love.” ~Kim and Gerrit Schouten

I

“It was a God thing,” Kim Schouten said as we talked about her newest child. Kim and Gerrit Schouten grew up in Stephenville, dated in high school and then married in 2000. Kim works in the Stephenville Independent School District nursing department. Gerrit Schouten spent his youth on a dairy farm. Today he gives back to the agricultural world as the Credit Office President of Lone Star Ag Credit Bank, where he lends funds for ag needs—farms, ranches, cattle and equipment.

Kim and Gerrit live the full life, balancing their work schedule with two very active teenagers. Tyler, a freshman at SHS, plays football and basketball. He stays involved in Future Farmers of America (FFA) and Fellowship of Christian Athletes. In FFA Tyler participates in Chapter Conducting, a leadership program. He is already taking leadership on the field as a quarterback of the Stephenville freshman team. The Schouten’s seventh-grade daughter, Karlee, plays volleyball.

Both teens stay active in First Baptist Church youth choir and youth group.

The question for Kim and Gerrit is, “Why did you want another teenager?” Kim answered, “The Student Travel Schools (STS) Foundation Regional Director, Mike Carroll, is also the Assistant Athletic Director and High School Athletic Trainer, and he and his wife are good friends of ours. They have had exchange students for Hometown Living At Its Best

143

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“It’s easy hosting an exchange student like Leo, because he is easy to love. It amazes me that in such a short amount of time, he has become one of my kids. He’s like a third child. ”

Erath County Living

several years. He kept sending out Facebook posts about needing host families for the Foreign Exchange program. Everyday he would post a picture of kids that still needed a place for this year, but I wasn’t really interested.”

Meanwhile in Bordeaux, France, Leo Delpon waited patiently for a host family. “I wanted to learn your language,” Leo explained. “It is very important in my country to learn English. I wasn’t at all afraid to come to the USA because I know I have to learn English for a good career.” Leo was born in Vietnam and adopted by French parents.

In late July, Leo’s picture popped up in Kim’s Facebook posts. “It just jumped off the page at me,” she said. “And I knew we were supposed to have him stay in our home. I would say it was a God thing. That was a Tuesday when we decided. By Friday, we were approved, and two weeks later he was here.”

For Gerrit and Kim, Leo is the perfect third child. “We joke around a lot in our family and he fits right in. He is so social. It probably wouldn’t work if he didn’t like to joke around, because that’s what our family does.” Kim and Gerrit laughed as they talked and Tyler and Leo carried on a serious arm wrestling match. “The first day was crazy. Leo’s plane was scheduled to arrive on Thursday. Then it was supposed to get in at eleven Friday night. It was one in the morning before it finally arrived. We were all so tired. Leo and Tyler clicked really fast.” Kim laughed. She does that a lot.

“He fit right in. He had earplugs in for music and he started singing on the ride home.

When we drove by Six Flags, I said, ‘Leo those are roller coasters,’ and he was like, ‘Wowwww!’ He was so excited about everything. It was four in the morning before we got home to Stephenville.”

A social, outgoing personality makes coming to a county of strangers easy, and Leo is all that and more. Everybody knows and loves him. Recently he was elected runner up for junior class favorite.

“Leo’s appreciation for cultures and a world outside of Stephenville has changed our family,” Gerrit added. “There is a difference in education here.”

Hometown Living At Its Best

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Leo jumped in, “I love having time, not to study all the time. I’m playing soccer and cross country.” He is also a flag runner for the high school football games. When Leo talks about meeting Tyler, you can hear admiration in his voice. “When I met Tyler, he told me he was quarterback, and I was like ‘Wowww!’ because in France the quarterback is famous.”

“Our kids have learned that kids in France are just like them,” Kim said.

“And,” Leo said, “It is my first time to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday.”

“And Halloween,” Tyler added with a wicked laugh.

“At the haunted house, Leo screamed like a girl.”

“The haunted house was scary,” Leo admitted. “But I was a man.”

The Schouten family dynamics flow with laughter and praise. Kim and Gerrit both parent with ease and a great deal of love. Kim shared one of her favorite family 146

Erath County Living

moments. “Leo loves scary movies. One day he had watched movies all day long, and Tyler hides in Leo’s closet and at just the right time, Tyler jumps out. Leo came running.”

Karlee said, “At first I wanted a girl exchange student, but now Leo is like my brother.” Karlee has taken her turn at surprising Leo. “He was gone, and I put a mask on and hid. When he came back, I jumped out.”

“My favorite memory with Leo,” Gerrit continued, “was Leo’s second day. The surprise came in a friendly game of table tennis. (We can’t call it Ping-Pong.) He disappeared to his room and came out with his secret weapon. He travels with his own table tennis paddle. He destroyed me. Leo played on a national table tennis team in France. He’s got a wicked table tennis serve.”

“I haven’t ever had a brother,” Tyler said. “We come home, and we wrestle. We have so much in common: lifting, sports and arm wrestling.” Tyler couldn’t wait

to explain Leo’s ability to be on time and focused. “One Sunday afternoon, we rushed him to practice. I stayed to throw a football around with my friends. So, here he is running in khaki pants and his backpack still on, running four miles holding a piece chicken in one hand and a Dr. Pepper in the other.”

Life in the USA brings different experiences for Leo. Kim shared a few. “The first week we were checking out at the store and he asked, ‘Why are you talking to the cashier?’ I explained that friendly might just be a Texas thing.”

“In the US, the amount of food you get in restaurants is a huge amount and it’s weird not having wine with meals. People are friendly. In France, people are not so friendly,” Leo said.

Kim confirmed the word, ‘Y’all’ is creeping into Leo’s language.

“I didn’t go to church much in France,” Leo

continued. “Church is very, very cool here. In church in the USA, there are a lot of songs that you can feel something special.”

“Leo is teaching us some French customs,” Gerrit said.

“He recently made a French crepe with chocolate inside.”

According to the Schoutens, it’s easy to be a host family. “The process with STS Foundation is easy and simple,” Kim explained. “Mike Carroll’s main advice, ‘Treat them like part of the family’ is so true. Leo has chores just as Karlee and Tyler.”

“I wash dishes.” Happiness seems to bubble out of Leo. “I clean my room, mow, clean the car, and I ran the vacuum the other day.”

Kim ended our visit with, “It’s easy hosting an exchange student like Leo, because he is easy to love. It amazes me that in such a short amount of time, he has become one of my kids. He’s like a third child.”

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HOMETOWN HAPPENINGS

NFR Welcome Home Reception The Stephenville Chamber of Commerce and Cowboy Capital of the World Pro Rodeo Association hosted a Welcome Home Reception to honor local professional rodeo athletes that competed at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas! The 18 local NFR Qualifiers combined to win $1.5 million in prize money and two coveted World Championship Gold Buckles.

Honorees included: Bareback Rider Bobby Mote; Team Ropers Luke Brown, Jake Cooper, Jade Corkill, Paul Eaves, Travis Graves, Kory Koontz, Jake Long, Chad Masters, Patrick Smith, Clay Tryan, Kollin VonAhn and Travis Woodard; Saddle Bronc Riders Jacobs Crawley, Isaac Diaz, and Cort Scheer; and Tie-Down Ropers Sterling Smith and Marty Yates.

Photos courtesy of

Cross B P hotography

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www.alliedbodyandframe.com Hometown Living At Its Best

149

HOMETOWN SCENES

Courage

roar

doesn’t always Sometimes courage

is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying,

I will try again

tomorrow. ”

Photo courtesy of Plan-it ink

- Mary Anne Radmacher

Photo courtesy of Plan-it ink

Photo courtesy of Plan-it ink

What makes Erath County a great place to live?

Right now it’s the anticipation of new beginnings surrounded by springtime blooms, a world of color and endless possibilities.

Take a look at a few more reasons why we love

Photo courtesy of Plan-it ink

Photo courtesy of Plan-it ink

Always believe that something

wonderful is abou t to happen.�

Photo courtesy of Plan-it ink

- Unknown

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Access Voice & Data, Inc..............................................112 Ace Hardware..................................................................2,3 Allied Body & Frame Co.............................................149 Animal Health & Medical Center............................... 113 Associated Well Services, Inc...................................104 Back at the Ranch.......................................................... 115 Barbara Hampton & Associates Realty.................. 69 Barefoot Campus Outfitter......................................... 49 Blue Flamingo................................................................. 69 BMY....................................................................Inside Front Brent Graves...….................................................................. 1 Buckhorn Pumps, Inc...…………......................................39 Cain Pool & Spa.............................................................149 Carpenter Dirt Work...………........................................ 128 Clark Tractor & Supply................................................ 138 Coldwell Banker...............................................................89 Cowboy Capital of the World Pro Rodeo Association.......................................Back Cover Cross Timbers Family Services................................104 Cross Timbers Fine Arts Council.............................. 86 Cross Timbers Orthopaedics.......................................19 Dowell Water Well Services.......................................... 3 Dublin Chamber of Commerce..................................38 Dublin Economic Development Center..................38 Easter Heat & Air...…….……............................................ 141 Erath County Living.....................................................130 Erath Plumbing...…….…….............................................. 138 Exit Realty Holland & Assoc...................................... 141 F & M Bank.....…................................................................ 115 Fraser Agency, Inc...…………............................................31 Fraser, Wilson & Bryan, P.C.....….................................... 9 Furniture Mart...……..…………........................................... 121 Germania Insurance...………….......................................105 Gifford TV Electronics...……….....................................149 Hard Eight Catering...………..…......................................... 5 Hard Eight Marketplace...…..…....................................... 5 Hard Eight Pit BBQ...………..….......................................... 5 HPS Liberty Safe...………..…............................................ 141 JJ Hampton – Realtor...………....................................... 69 Kyara Rane Salon & Boutique ................................. 129 Landi Whitefield Photography....................................41 Leah-k photography...…………........................................28

Lelands of Stephenville...……….................................... 131 Lone Star Ag Credit...…….…….......................................79 Lovell Counseling...…….…….......................................... 139 Members Trust Federal Credit Union......................95 Mikka Hill Photography...…..…..................................... 68 Natty Flat Smokehouse...……..................................... 129 Oakwood Assisted Living...……...................................29 Orkin Pest Control...…………......................................... 128 Peacock’s Restaurant...…...……..................................... 86 Plan-it ink...…….………..………...............................................18 Pure Image...…….………..….................................................39 Riley Studio...…................................................................ 48 Saddle Rags...………….……................................................ 141 Scott’s Flowers...………….……...........................................89 Security Storage...……….………....................................... 40 Star Arms....……................................................................ 30 Stephen’s Health Care...…….…..................................... 121 Stephenville Chamber of Commerce.....................................20-21, Back Cover Stephenville Family Dentistry.....................................51 Stephenville Funeral Home........................................ 131 Stephenville Optimist Club...….................................. 138 Stephenville Sports Rehab & PT.............................105 SugarTree Golf Club.....………........................................ 50 Swindle’s Jewelry...…………........................................... 139 Tarleton State University…...........................................87 Texas Bank...…….................................................................. 7 Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital.............................................................Inside Back Texas Hill Country Furniture & Mercantile........... 129 Texas State Optical...….……….........................................95 The Dowell Company...………....................................... 2-3 The Hay & Feed Ranch..................................................79 The Home Place................................................................. 2 The N at Hardway Ranch………....……………………..………5 The Patterson Agency………....……………………..………….105 The Salon………………....……............................................... 113 Trans-Texas Tire............................................................... 112 Twisted Roots Photography.....................................130 Upland Bird Extravaganza...…...................................149 Veldhuizen Cheese...…………..........................................59 Woods Furniture...….…………...........................................87

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152

Erath County Living

Our new emergency center’s ready for your new emergencies.

The New Terrell Emergency Center At Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Stephenville, our new Terrell Emergency Center is open and allows us to care for even more members of our community. The 9,500-square-foot center is even more efficient than ever before. From our Level IV Trauma Center to minor emergencies and chest pain, we’ve always been here for you. And with our new emergency center, we’ll be ready. Especially when you’re not.

1-877-THR-WELL TexasHealth.org/Stephenville-Emergency

Doctors on the medical staff practice independently and are not employees or agents of the hospital. © 2015

James Phifer Photo Dudley Barker Photo

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