Country Lifestyles
A true cowboy – Bill Whitley
By Judy Wade
When 2016 Cowboy True judges awarded Bill Whitley the first place ribbon for his sculpture “The Cactus Bloomers,” they were honoring a true cowboy.
Born on the Buckle L near Childress, as a child he and his brother, Kevin, had the opportunity to live on some of the major ranches in West Texas and meet many of the legendary cowboys who worked there. The son of Harry and Charlotte Whitley, his father’s cowboying took them to various ranches such as the 6666’s, Waggoners and Halsells.
Whitley himself spent 22 years working for the Halsells and later Dr. Crump, both in Clay County.
Although he had no formal training in art, Whitley said he began drawing with a pen and pencil when he was about six. “My mother had a lot of talent, but she never had the chance to expand it. I also have an uncle who is talented,” Whitley related.
Whitley attended school at Henrietta. “My third grade teacher, Mrs. Lucille Arnold, taught us some art, but her resources and supplies were limited. Mr. Glen Wilfong was not an art teacher, but he showed me there is a big, wide world out there,” he continued.
He does pen and ink drawings, oil paintings and charcoal sketches in addition to the sculpting. His first attempt at sculpting was a set of bookends featuring Hereford bulls done in bas relief in bakeable clay. They are mounted on cedar cut on the Halsell ranch and held in place by horseshoes that were the last set pulled from one of his favorite horses. To read more pick up a copy of the June 2016 issue of NTFR.
“Bending the Wild Mare”—a work in progress. (Photo courtesy of Bill Whitley)
The award winning “The Cactus Bloomers.” (Photo courtesy of Bill Whitley)
“Boarding the Hurricane Deck” graces the Whitley’s stone mantle. (Photo courtesy of Bill Whitley)
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.
Local celebrity dancers of the greater Gainesville area brought the house down recently at the second annual “Dancing With Our Stars” contest in Lindsay. The event raised more than $200,000 as the sponsored dance teams did their best to take home the grand prize.
The money raised will go to the “Heart of NTMC” Campaign for the purchase of a cardiac capable CT machine for the Gainesville hospital. Rodolfo “Rudy” Martinez and Sherry Sherriden took home the Mirror Ball Trophy.
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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