Country Lifestyles
Beast Feast – Helping veterans through the cross roads of life
By Jessica Crabtree
Our country was built by brave men and women fighting for our freedom and by the sweat and aching backs of farmers and ranchers. Each is loyal, kind, prideful and has a deep appreciation for this land that is etched in their souls. This notion is evident in small, rural communities throughout Texas.
From similar principles, the Cross Roads Gang was formed and an event was launched called Beast Feast. Bradley Veitenheimer and Steve Zotz both of Windthorst, Texas, typically enjoyed weekends with friends and family cooking and playing cards. Collectively the group wanted to form an event. It would be based around a cook off and give back to an organization. The gang, made up of family orientated truck drivers, farmers, oil men, nurses, a veteran and more felt proceeds should go to veteran’s associations. It is a cause near and dear to each of their hearts and a way to pay tribute to a local hero, Sgt. Gary S Johnston who passed in 2007.
When a committee was formed, it was to establish location, date and delegate tasks to each of the 11 members. In 2013 the first Beast Feast was held. Its location was 10 miles east of Windthorst and three miles north down Myers road. The location is simply acreage with a barn and trees with pastures of wheat as the backdrop, by design. To read more pick up the November 2015 issue of NTFR.
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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