On Nov. 4, 2023, the Wichita Falls Symphony Orchestra will present an evening of Texas Cowboy, Country and Western Swing with yours truly, Dave Alexander and the fabulous Quebe Sisters.

Enjoy the music of Bob Wills, Willie Nelson, Gene Autry and many more of your Texas Music favorites performed with a full symphony orchestra. We also will feature music from my latest CD, “From The Saddle To Symphony Hall,” along with some of my own compositions. It is guaranteed to be a night to remember.

To read more, pick up a copy of the October issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.

By Martha Crump

You might just qualify as a “Cattlewoman” if the local veterinarian’s office is the first number on your speed dial and your family members are listed after. Or if your email list is populated with CattleWomen Local, CattleWomen State, or Texas Beef Board contacts in numbers greater than your personal/family email list. Just who are cattlewomen? Look around-they are members of your community. Some live and work on ranches, some have retired from the actual work of the ranch to leave their legacies to be carried on by their children and grandchildren, and some have never worked cattle or lived on a ranch at all. They are educators, bankers, photographers, business owners, artists, writers, wives, moms, grandmothers, Sunday school teachers, 4-H and FFA moms, VFD members, ranch managers, nutritionists, nurses, young professionals and retirees, the list could go on forever. The point is you are living in a community surrounded by these ladies.

Boy, do they stay busy. You see, the main requirement for being a member of the CattleWomen organization is to have a love of and desire to promote beef and the beef production industry. It really is as simple as that. One of our very active members, Cindy Dunn Thornhill, has a great line for recruitment: “Do you like eating beef? If you do then you qualify to be a CattleWoman!” Quite often we have ladies say that they would consider joining, but that they don’t have cattle. Problem solved thanks to Cindy’s quick and always joyful response! I can’t help but notice just how many of us have adopted Cindy’s saying during recruitment opportunities.

As October is officially the recruitment and sign-up month for both new members as well as currently enrolled members, it seemed timely to revisit the origins of this organization locally as well as through the State level and up to the National level.

To read more, pick up a copy of the October issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.

By Martha Crump

Towards the last of July, we started our vacation by driving up to Garden City, Kan., to attend a producer’s weekend at Pokey Feedyard. I was amazed during our trip from Clay County, Texas, northward, everything, and I do mean everything, was green. I am not sure I have ever seen such verdant countryside all the way through North Texas to the Oklahoma panhandle, straight on into Kansas. All we have heard is the word “drought,” and it is moving our way.

Yes, we left temperatures that had been consistently into the 100-plus degree range, but we had experienced just enough rainfall to keep the grass green. After being gone for two weeks and coming back to the continuation of 100-plus degree weather, things were not quite so green, but still better than our neighbors to the west. However, we are Texans, and we are no strangers to excessive summertime head and lo rainfall totals.

To read more, pick up a copy of the September issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.