Country Lifestyles
127 Years of Uniting Communities- United Way
By Jessica Bartel, editor
The gateway to the American West was forged by the wagon wheels of our ancestors. Far back in history, one can find pioneer men and women who settled this country looked out for one another. Traveling sometimes in large groups of 20 to 40 covered wagons across the Great Plains or mountain passes, they traveled in groups known as wagon trains. These people relied on each other for mutual assistance whether it was forming a circle or square at night for shelter from the elements or defense from Native Americans. While Indians did attempt horse raids under night’s dark cover, they rarely attacked at night.
Those who made a successful arrival and settled were faced not only with Indian threat, but also illness, perils such as floods, merciless heat, bone-chilling cold, death of family members, incessant hunger and much more. Their triumph was based on supporting others through the obstacles the untamed land threw at them. They were neighbors helping neighbors. That same mentality was not lost. In 1887 a Denver woman, a priest, two ministers and a rabbi recognized that their community had a welfare need that had to be addressed. That was when the United Way was born. Together, they planned and coordinated local services and conducted a single fund-raising campaign for 22 agencies.
By 1919 the name, Community Chest was widely adopted by the United Way and used until the early 1950s. That year there were 39 known Community Chests. By 1929 there were 353. By 1948 there were more than 1,000 communities that had established United Way organizations. In 2009 the United Way International and United Way of America came together to form the United Way World Wide, the largest privately-funded nonprofit in the world with more than 1,800 United Way organizations in 41 countries and territories. To read more pick up the September 2014 issue of North Texas Farm & Ranch.
By Lacey Vilhauer
Ingredients:
1 whole lemon, seeded and roughly chopped
2 cups sugar
2 pounds strawberries, hulled
Juice of 1 to 2 lemons
¼ cup water
Directions:
Place the chopped lemon and sugar in a food processor and pulse until combined. Transfer to a large bowl. Puree the strawberries in a food processor and add to the lemon mixture along with juice of one lemon and water. Taste and add more juice as desired.
To read more, pick up a copy of the April issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By Nicholas Waters
As winter plods along – come Spring and gopher mounds – homeowners and farmers find themselves playing a familiar song – fiddling while Rome is burning.
Let’s make a mountain out of a molehill. Those mounds on your lawn and pasture could be moles, but they’re more than likely gophers; Plains Pocket Gophers to be pragmatic – Geomys bursarius to be scientific.
These rodents dig and chew, and the damage they can do goes beyond the mounds we mow over. Iowa State University cited a study in Nebraska showing a 35 percent loss in irrigated alfalfa fields due to the presence of pocket gophers; the number jumped to 46 percent in decreased production of non-irrigated alfalfa fields.
The internet is replete with academic research from coast-to-coast on how to curtail gopher populations, or at least control them. Kansas State University – then called Kansas State Agricultural College – also published a book [Bulletin 152] in February 1908 focused exclusively on the pocket gopher.
To read more, pick up a copy of the April issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By Annette Bridges
Everyone needs a room with a view that makes their heart happy. My honest favorite panorama would be either the mountains or the ocean. I have yet to convince my hubby to make permanent moves to either, although he does enjoy the visits as much as I do.
The location of our house on our ranch does not provide the expansive field of vision of our land that I would enjoy. So, I have created a room decorated and furnished in a way that gives me smiles, giggles, and a wonderful peace-filled feeling when I am hanging out in it. I am in that place right now writing this column. I am in a lounging position with my computer in my lap on the chaise that was once my sweet mama’s. I had it reupholstered this year to give it a fresh look.
To read more, pick up a copy of the April issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
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