Country Lifestyles
Judge Mike Campbell: A Serving Hand
By Jessica Crabtree
“I pledge my head to clearer thinking, my heart to greater loyalty, my hands
to larger service, my health to better living for my club, my community, my country and my world. I believe in 4-H work for the opportunity it will give me to become a useful citizen.”
That is the 4-H creed hundreds of thousands of present 4-H members and past members can recite word-for-word today. One individual it stuck with and somewhat shaped his life is Clay County resident, born and raised, Mike Campbell.
Campbell is soon to go by a new title starting January 2019. That esteemed title will be Judge Mike Campbell. To understand how Campbell got to where he is today, we first have to step back and assess where he came from— Clay County.
Clay County was founded in 1857 and organized in 1860. It was built on the outlook of multiple railways that connected it to Wichita Falls, oil and large scale ranches. The Campbell family, formerly of Arkansas, made their way
to Texas in 1889, settling in Buffalo Springs, in south central Clay County. Campbell’s mother’s side, the Foremans, came to Texas much earlier.
To say his heritage in the county runs deep means multiple generations. Raised in the rural Buffalo Springs/Vashti area on family land, Campbell attended school at Bellevue. There, with 10 in his class, Campbell
graduated third.
“As a kid, I was the first on the bus and the last off. It was a good 45-miute ride. I started riding in 1960, as a first grader,” Campbell recalled. Campbell had one brother, Don. Although 18 years older, Don was a huge source of love and support for Campbell, even after his passing in 2015.
To read more pick up a copy of the January 2019 NTFR issue. To subscribe call 940-872-5922.
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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