Chisholm Country Winter 2023

Make no mistake about it, the Wild West was... well, wild. When it comes to thinking of the Heart of Texas and the rest of the Wild West of the late 19th century in America, most of us conjure up images of cowboys and Indians, gunfights, gold prospectors, ghost towns, saloons, outlaws, desert landscapes, wagon trains, and much, much more. But most of us don’t realize those images aren’t based in reality, but the creations of the golden age of the American western movie.

When relying on these powerful images of the west, they conjure up the belief that the “Wild West” shaped up as an out-of-control place filled with crime, duels, drunks, gamblers, bar fights, dancing girls and prostitutes. As a new and somewhat unsettled place, law and order remained to be established. In fact, without a sheriff and a decent deputy or two fast on the draw, anarchy prevailed.

The west offered a land for independent pioneers. To take care of yourself on the frontier, you had to be tough, devious and smart to become a successful farmer, gold prospector, cattle rancher or small-town businessman.

And let’s not forget the beauty of the unspoiled wilderness, a land of wide-open spaces untouched by the environmental effects of civilization. So, if you wanted to see the last of America’s natural landscapes, and if you were tough enough to survive, it was time to “go west, young man.”

But historically, the real west looked quite a bit different than the typical Hollywood depiction.

The story of the true American west does not rely on heroic cowboys taking on bad guys and Indians out on the plains or in a one-street town. It’s a much less glamorous story of industrial mining operations ran by corporations, cowboys with hemorrhoids, physical abuse of prostitutes, farting cows, genocide of Native Americans and spontaneous gunfights where someone gets shot in the back and dies slowly.

Make no mistake, the west could certainly get violent at times. But western towns were far less violent than in the movies. Gunfights were spontaneous acts of ugly violence rather than glorified duels in the middle of the street. And make no mistake, the “good guys,” who were not always easy to identify, did not always win in the end.

Over time, the independent gold prospectors,

“open range” cowboys, and family farmers became less common, replaced by mining companies, large cattle ranches enclosed by barbed wire and big commercial farms.

So why did we all buy into the classic Hollywood images of the west?

It all began with the western dime novels of the late 19th century. Americans loved them for one basic reason, these western stories seemed to be the polar opposite of their lives in the east.

Don’t forget, the late 19th century proved to be a time when urban, corporate, industrial America began to truly take hold with a growing number of Americans finding themselves living in crowded, unsanitary cities, while working in horrific factory conditions and watching most of the profits go to corporate tycoons. The idea of escaping to a place with wide-open spaces where the independent pioneers could still thrive remained very appealing. In the west, real men dominated, surviving on their toughness and their wits.

We still see the glorification of our western past, and the modern definition of the cowboy proves to be the ultimate example. Rather than being a person doing a specific job on a ranch in a rural area, the urban cowboy has become a person who follows a certain lifestyle that includes a cowboy hat, boots, a truck, country music, rodeos and livestock shows.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not knocking the true modern cowboy lifestyle. In fact, I have great respect for it. But it too has become a far cry from the original cowboy connected to ranching and cattle drives. What used to be a lowly occupation filled with potential injuries, nasty weather, loneliness, rashes, pain and numbness in nameless places, evolved into the tough, hard-working manly man in a high stakes challenging business holding on to what many consider old-fashioned traditional values.

The iconic figure of the American cowboy of yesteryear, as much as anything else, demonstrates the degree to which the realities of the Old West evolved into myth and legend.

But then again, John Wayne wouldn’t have it any other way.

CHISHOLM COUNTRY magazine

is published quarterly by Southern Cross Creative, LLP P.O. Box 107 Meridian, Texas 76665 (254) 247-5703

NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC: All editorial and advertising materials are copyrighted by Southern Cross Creative, LLP. The entire content of each issue of Chisholm Country magazine is protected under the Federal Copyright Act. Reproduction of any portion of any edition will not be permitted without written permission from Southern Cross Creative. Chisholm Country magazine, as well as any reasonable derivative of this name, are trademarks of Southern Cross Creative, LLP and use of these trademarks without the express written consent of Southern Cross Creative, LLP is strictly prohibited.

E. BRETT VOSS Editor-In-Chief

FROM THE EDITOR

SET IN STONE

SISTERS IN ARMS

IN GOOD HANDS

TELLING A WHITETAIL TALE

Jeff Davis Dinosaur Valley State Park Superintendent

Walking in the Footsteps of GIANTS

“We have some of the best sauropod tracks in the world.”

TRACKING NUMBERS: The Friends of the Dinosaur Valley State Park assist with documenting a new tract of dinosaur tracks laid bare in the Paluxy river bed in the 2022 drought (above); Theropod tracks in the Paluxy River bed laid bare during the 2022 summer drought (center spread); Checking out dinosaur tracks in the North Bosque River near Iredell during the drought of 2011 (far right).

PREHISTORIC PARK: Visitors to the Dinosaur Valley State Park greeted by Tyrannosaurus Rex and Brontosaurus (above); Child of Works Progress Administration (WPA) workers sitting in a dinosaur footprint. (above right: Photo from Paluxy River quarry by R.T. Bird from the collection of Wann Langston).

photographs by SIMONE WICHERS-VOSS

& courtesy of FRIENDS OF DINOSAUR VALLEY STATE PARK

SET IN STONE

Prehistoric FootPrint Extreme drought reveals dinosaur tracks in Central Texas riverbeds

all picking up on the story.

Before the beginning of time, Texas was submerged – sometimes completely, sometimes partially – by the massive Western Interior Seaway, which basically split the American continent in West and East. In that time, called the *Cretaceous Period, dinosaur populations were at their peak, roaming the shallow Mesozoic sea, tidal lagoons and the coastal marshes.

Sparking the imagination, remnants of that time can be found as fossils of shelled sea creatures embedded in the ubiquitous limestone in Central Texas.

But nothing sparks the imagination of those steamy, tropical prehistoric times when giant dinosaurs roamed and ruled the earth more than seeing dinosaur tracks in a droughtdry riverbed. Rocks worn down over the centuries, usually covered by water, revealed the tracks once more in 2022.

In this year’s drought, distinct dinosaur tracks uncovered at Dinosaur Valley State Park outside of Glen Rose became national news with CNN, ABC, NBC, KWTX, the New York Times, The Guardian, Smithsonian Magazine,Texas Highways and many others

The newly-revealed tracks in the Paluxy River dubbed “The Lone Ranger Trackway” are indeed spectacular. The trackway consists of roughly 140 tracks from one individual, 60 of which were visible prior to the river drying up. In the short time the trackway was uncovered by water, teams of volunteers and paleontologists measured, documented, photographed and made molds when they could. The last time they were visible was in 2000.

But if the Dinosaur Valley State Park tracks are called the Dinosaur Highway – as coined by author Laurie Jasinski’s book on the park’s history – the tracks on the North Bosque tributary by Iredell at a low water crossing called Langston Crossing represents the prehistoric Farm-to-Market road. The tracks might not be as clear or as extensive as in Glen Rose, but all along the river bed are bumpy areas, with distinct foot prints to discover. In both the 2011 and the 2022 drought, the theropod – as in three-toed –tracks especially are easy to discern.

Parts of the limestone river bed look like a road to a pasture after a good rain with all sorts of tracks imbedded in the mud. Ov er the years, the tracks have eroded, filled with

sediment and deteriorated. But it remains a thrill to come across a distinct imprint. Imagining giant herbivorous sauropods plodding along a marshy, shallow sea shore with a predator theropod on the prowl behind them makes a human realize how small we really are. And it takes you back to an almost alien world of 113 million years or more ago.

But how did these tracks form? About 120 million years ago, soft, muddy lime sediment was deposited in bays and lagoons on the shore of the shallow inland sea. Groups of dinosaurs walked here across the soft mud while it was still wet. Fine clayey and silt sediments washed in from land areas to the north and west and quickly buried the tracks. Beaches or lime sand bars were formed as more marine conditions slowly returned.

These lime sediments were quickly cemented to form moderately hard limestone. Over the centuries, the river laid bare the clues – literally set in stone – of ancient creatures traversing the area. The fine clayey and silt sediments became weak shaley rocks, as the Central Texas river sides reveal.

Much like the Paluxy River, the erosion by the North Bosque River tributary exposed these sediments, easily stripping off the shale but leaving limestone in ledges to form the

hard floor of the river.

The resulting trackways have been a fixture of Texas paleontology for over a century, and the centerpiece of Dinosaur Valley State Park.

In Bosque County, the tracks remain more of a public secret. When a drought revealed the dinosaur tracks once more in 1978, a wellkept secret by Mr. and Mrs. H.D. Head also came to light. They had discovered the tracks 20 years earlier during a drought in the 1950s. As they had a dairy herd at the time, they did not want crowds of people traipsing around their land upsetting their cows, and thus negatively affecting their milk production. They changed their mind in 1978 and even had the Iredell cheerleaders conduct tours of the track site as a fundraiser.

In 1909, school boy George Adams first discovered theropod tracks in the Wheeler branch of the Paluxy River. In 1934, Charlie Moss discovered the first elephant-like sauropod prints in the Paluxy River riverbed. These tracks and the introduction of Sunday drives in the upcoming motor cars made Glen Rose a veritable tourist destination. As the Great Depression hit, though, tracks were chiseled out of the riverbed and sold.

Back in 1940, fossil collector for the

American Museum of Natural History in New York, R. T. Bird, together with E. H. Sellards – former director of the Bureau of Economic Geology and the Texas Memorial Museum – at The University of Texas at Austin and a **Work Progress Administration (WPA) crew exposed a mother lode of sauropod and theropod trails. Before Bird’s study, sauropod tracks had never been identified and their discovery sent a shockwave through the scientific paleontology community. At the Dinosaur Valley State Park, the 113-millionyear-old footprints were largely made by the carnivorous Acrocanthosaurus, and the sauropod tracks are probably from the Sauroposeidon.

The Acrocanthosaurus was a Tyranosaurus Rex-like predator, which lived about 105115 million years ago in the Early Cretaceous period. Weighing up to seven tons and standing some 15 feet tall, it walked on two legs and had three toes with claws on each foot. Its tail was a counter weight to its large head and torso. These carnivores traveled in small packs.

Interestingly, the Iredell Times mentioned in a 1978 edition that according to Stephenville Tarleton State University Professor of

Physical and Earth Science E.R. Henningson, the “bird-like” tracks were probably made by the Allosaurus. Smithsonian magazine states that the theropods Allosaurus and Acrocanthrosaurus were only cousins that belonged to separate lineages within the larger group Allosauroidea. In the Early Cretaceous period, the Acrocanthosaurus filled the same apex predator role that Allosaurus, which lived 145-155 million years ago in the Late Jurassic epoch. For reference, the predator to beat all predators that we love to hate, the Tyrannosaurus Rex lived in the later Cretaceous period around 66-68 million years ago.

A gentle giant traveling in herds, the herbivorous Sauroposeidon stood 60-foot tall and weighed up to 44 tons. With a 26foot extended neck to help forage on trees, it represents the largest of the Texas dinos.

“We have some of the best sauropod tracks in the world,” Park Superintendent Jeff Davis told Texas Highways Asher Elbein. “Usually they’re just sort of round, but on ours you can see individual toes and claws.”

Sauropod front feet make deep holes, and the most famous photo of the initial excavation at the Paluxy River site in 1940

TRACKING

TRAILS: An Overview of Dinosaur Tracking, part of Kuban’s Paluxy website © 1994-2015, Glen J. Kuban. Originally published in the April 1994 M.A.P.S. Digest, Mid-America Paleontology Society, Rock Island, IL.

taken by Bird is of Tommy Pendley, sitting in a huge, water-filled Sauropod footprint. The indentation took 18 gallons to fill partially. It became one of the most-used illustrations relating to dinosaur tracks. Until Bird’s study of the dinosaur tracks, scientists assumed sauropods like the Pleurocoelus could not walk on land easily because of their size. Bird solved the long-standing riddle about the prehistoric animals, proving they were very capable of walking on land. Today, some scientists believe they can even rise up to feed on leaves in the tree tops. Bird coordinated the excavation of three large areas of tracks. One set of these tracks is conserved by the Texas Memorial Museum on The University of Texas at Austin campus. Other individual tracks went to Baylor University in Waco, Texas; Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas; the American Museum of Natural History in New York; the U.S. National Museum in Washington, D.C.; and Brooklyn College, New York

Finally, Dinosaur Valley State Park opened in 1972 to protect the area’s prehistoric riches. The Bosque County location is unprotected, and tire tracks, empty drink cans and other refuse are evidence not everybody treats the tracks with the awe, reverence and prudence they deserve.

At Dinosaur Valley State Park in its 50th anniversary year, the uncovered trackway has been drawing visitors from across the state after an extremely quiet summer. They are greeted by two true-to-life size replicas of the world’s best known dinosaurs, the Tyrannosaurus Rex and the Brontosaurus. The models came to the park after thrilling audiences at the 1964-65 World Fair in New York. After touring the country, the replicas were placed at the park entrance just in time for the park’s dedication on Oct. 2, 1970.

“It’s a great time to come out and look at some of the best dinosaur tracks in America,” Davis said. “We want people to look at them, enjoy them and photograph them, but once they’re gone, they’re gone. And it’s important that people protect and conserve them.”

Make no mistake, the fascinating history of prehistoric Texas recorded in the rocks remains fragile. Time, rain, wind and river water will keep eroding away the layers of rock, eventually wearing down completely. Whereas viewing dinosaur tracks in a museum, usually accompanied by a dinosaur skeleton remains impressive, it’s still just a display. Nothing else compares to the astonishing and surreal sensation of seeing them right there in nature – to actually stand on the spot with physical evidence that dinosaurs truly roamed and ruled the earth.

*Cretaceous Period – in geologic time, the last of the three periods of the Mesozoic Era. The Cretaceous began 145.0 million years ago and ended 66 million years ago; it followed the Jurassic Period.

**Works Progress Administration (WPA) – provided employment to people who needed work during the Great Depression.

DROUGHT DISCOVERY: The drought in 2022 revealed the North Bosque River dinosaur tracks once more (above); Sites worldwide and in Texas where dinosaur tracks can be found (below).

Sisters in arms

article by SIMONE WICHERS-VOSS

Brave, Bold & UnstoPPaBle Honoring Heart of Texas female veterans & their service

The war machine and the defense of the country has many, many cogs necessary to keep it moving. And when thinking about the military, you mainly think about men in combat.

While the military has always been dominated by men, since the American Revolution and even before, women have always fought alongside their men in wars; being brave, bold and unstoppable. It might not have been in a combat or official capacity, but they kept the homestead running until their return, fed troops, made and repaired uniforms, relayed classified messages and tended to the wounded.

Not including some cross-dressing ladies who disguised their way into combat, nursing was the only area of female contribution that involved being at the front and experiencing the war. The 20th century changed everything for women in the military, bringing new legislative measures, that increased and diversified their roles and duties. And over the years, the amount of women serving the United States Military has grown.

During World War I, about 35,000 women officially served as nurses and support staff. The service of these women helped propel the passage of the 19th Amendment on June 4,

1919 guaranteeing women the right to vote.

Roles expanded with the formation of the Women’s Army Corps in 1941. During World War II, 140,000 women served in the U.S. Army and the Women’s Army Corps performing critical jobs such as military intelligence, cryptography and parachute rigging. Over 1,000 women flew aircraft for the Women Airforce Service Pilots. At the same time, Rosie the Riveter symbolized the hard skilled female labor of women in what were previously considered man’s jobs, freeing up men to combat positions.

Women became officially recognized as a permanent part of the armed forces with the passing of the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act of 1948. This meant they could finally claim the same benefits as their male counterparts, and it also allowed women to make a career in the Army or Navy. Then in 1978, women became integrated into the United States military, although they weren’t allowed to serve in combat.

As of 2015, though, no restrictions remain concerning what positions women can or cannot hold in the army. But the military continues to be a mostly male dominated sector. Although it varies from branch to branch today, about 19 percent of the military positions are occupied by women, which adds

VETERAN SALUTE: Military department flags fly in the breeze at Clifton High School Veterans Day Tribute lunch.

up to tens of thousands of women contributing every day to defending the nation and democracy worldwide.

Whereas Central Texas honors and holds their veterans dear, the women veterans still seem somewhat overlooked at times. So Chisholm Country magazine decided to highlight a few of the area’s “fabulous in fatigues” female veterans.

Largely coming from small towns, the women in general saw enlisting into the military as a way to broaden their world view and to take advantage of the training opportunities. As the slogan said, “Join the Army, see the world.”

Becky Moser Cano joined the army at 18, signing up in Home Economics class when the recruiter came to her high school. She wanted to experience more of the world than her small hometown of Guttenberg, IA. At that time, the few women that joined the army were said to be either butch or boy-crazy. Cano was neither.

“In the town I grew up in, most girls got married after high school or went to college,” Cano said. “I was not ready to do either.”

Whereas her time in the Army between 1970-73 kept her state-side, she met other female soldiers from all corners of the United States representing different ethnicities and cultures, which was eye-opening to her.

Cano recalls that in those years, female soldiers still got female etiquette classes – to learn poise, good manners, courtesy and social graces – and only wore fatigues during exercises. And they were not regarded as true soldiers. They were not allowed to carry guns, nor were they allowed to be part of transport units.

Growing up on a farm, and loving athletics, Cano did not find basic training at Fort McClellan, AL too much of a challenge. After basic training, she remained in the south going to Fort Gordon in Georgia for further training called Military Occupational Specialties. While most enlisted females were nurses, she wanted to become an air traffic controller, but that position was not open to someone of her small stature. At four-foot, 10 inches, her recruiter had already tweaked the entry papers to ensure she would be accepted into the service, which had a four-foot, 11-inch requirement.

After her additional training, Cano was stationed at Fort Hood in Killeen, TX, where she did clerical work in the Absent Without Leave Records, and then in the communications center, where she had top security clearance dealing with letters and the now-obsolete telex and telegrams.

There she met her future husband José, who had just come back from a tour in Vietnam. They were married on base in 1973. Because they did not want to raise children in a military family, the couple decided to not re-enlist, and José went to college.

“I do not regret one thing,” Cano said. “But I also do not regret getting out of the service when we did.”

Women in the Armed Forces today still are more likely to leave after their first contract is up to have a family. Uncertain work schedules, impacts of deployments on their family lives, family-planning issues such as pregnancy – and issues with dependent care such as limited day care hours and long wait lists for child care services – seems too much of a challenge for many, especially if the spouse is also in the military.

The Cano’s remain active in the local American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars.

“I like the connection with other veterans,” Cano said. “I like the comradery. There is an unspoken understanding and togetherness.”

Her advice to young women wanting to enlist is to keep an open

mind, to not rebel against orders, to not lose yourself as a person, and to realize that as a woman, you probably have to do better than men in the same position.

Judy Volosevich-Grabowski went to college for one semester without any definite plans on what she wanted to become. All she knew was she wanted to experience more than her sheltered life in her small, North California hometown. So when a recruiter came to speak to her class, the chance to travel sounded good to her. Having served themselves, her three step-brothers did not think that was a good idea, though, because “decent women did not enter the military.”

But off Grabowski went to Texas – first to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio for basic training, then to Sheppard Air Force Base in Witchita Falls for her tech training. Because of the business courses she took in College and the results of the aptitude test, she ended up in the Civil Engineering training doing Real Estate and Cost Accounting.

The Base Facility Records department at Bowling Air Force Base in Washington D.C. became her first permanent assignment, and it was the start of a 22-year career in the branch and the Air National Guard. When in the nation’s capitol, she met her husband David who was also in the Air Force. For the next couple of years, the couple was fortunate to get assigned together in Sacramento, CA, Langley, VA and finally to Carswell Air Force base in Fort Worth. She went from airman – a “one striper” – to tech sergeant, and then master sergeant.

Even though her recruiter said deployment would be highly unlikely with her job at Civil Engineering, she ended up going to Thailand for six months in 1975-76 to help close down U.S. military facilities in the Vietnam region. At that time, her husband Dave left the service to be able to take care of their young son.

As difficult as it was to leave her child behind, to give up her privacy, to adapt to the tropical climate with its humidity and big bugs, Grabowski still loves Thai food, and remembers the hospitable people fondly. When she was in the Air National Guard and her son was older, two-week deployments to Alaska, Hawaii and Germany satisfied her love of travel.

“If you aren’t sure about what you want for your future, the military is a great opportunity for training and different career opportunities,” Grabowski said. “You do get to travel and meet other people. I would do it all over again. I am proud to have been in the service, and I have some lasting friendships because of it.”

Grabowski went on to get her college degree in business management while in the service. She also changed her specialty to training management, and later received her teacher certification in the “Troops to Teachers” program. This ultimately led to 10 years as a teacher in Special Education after she retired from the service in 1992. Now, she serves as the secretary for the Whitney American Legion.

More women are serving in the military than ever before. When the draft ended and when Cano stepped out of the service in 1973, there were 42,278 active-duty enlisted women in the military. In 2010, that number jumped to 167,729. To this day, though, the Marine Corps stands out as the least inclined toward gender integration force-wide, and it has the lowest percentage of women in any of the services.

Erin Vess-Baker did not let that fact hinder her from enlisting there. After graduating high school in a small North Carolina town, she decided to become a nurse. But at college in Charlotte, NC, she found herself struggling, not doing well in classes. Not wanting to burden her parents anymore financially and feeling she needed to grow up and pay her own way, enlisting in the military seemed like a good option. She had a boyfriend that was a Marine, so she figured that, if she was

to enlist, she might as well enlist in the most challenging branch.

The Marine Corps was the only service to request an exception to the 2015 policy to keep women from combat duties, which was denied. The Corps issued a study in 2015 examining the impact of gender integration on unit performances to argue their case that integrated units performed less than all-male units. To this day, it remains the only service to segregate basic training by gender.

Not only is boot camp longer and more strenuous than other branches, the male and female integrated Marine Combat Training that follows is physically hard. But Baker had fun at Camp Geiger, NC, because after basic training, she was already considered a Marine. So at that point, she was “getting to learn all the cool stuff,” like combat skills, simulation, war strategies and getting down and dirty digging fox holes.

She received her six-month specialty training at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, CA, and took her first duty station for the Second Marine Division at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. She fared well in the more structured environment, assuming more

responsibility and essentially growing up.

Baker served from 2004-08 as a tactical data network technician, going from E1 to E4 – Corporal. Her job was everything from setting up routers, computers and servers to running fiber optic cable.

In her first deployment in the Global War on Terrorism in Operation Iraqi Freedom in Jan. 2005 to Jan. 2006, she was in Ar Ramadi – a city at the center of insurgency in the Al-Anbar Province West of Baghdad in central Iraq – setting up communication and computer networks on base, but also in combat zones. United States Armed Forces in the region were there for counterinsurgency, building stability and laying the groundwork for democratic governance.

“It was pretty intense with a lot of fighting and conflict,” Baker said. She recalled being on a roof in full battle gear running cables to set up communication and being shot at.

Baker met and married her husband Keith while in California. He had the same job as her, but he was in the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit and was deployed to the Mediterranean and the Horn of Africa before being sent to Iraq close to Ramadi. Baker lovingly recalls that Keith was flown in by helicopter one day,

so they could have a date.

After deployment, the couple returned to Camp Lejeune where Baker became pregnant with their first child. Since she could not be deployed, she became a family readiness officer for the 2nd Marine Division. And when her four-year enlistment contract was up, Baker decided not to re-enlist. Her husband had one more deployment in his five-year contract before the couple relocated to Texas.

Baker is now a middle school Reading Language Arts teacher at the Clifton Independent School District, assessing reading and writing skills, and providing dyslexia intervention. She is the mother of two teenagers, a daughter and a son.

On hind sight, Baker would have waited to get married. There were so many options she would have liked to explore, like getting stationed in other countries and seeing more of the world. So her advice to her 15-yearold daughter who is thinking of joining the military – preferably going to the Air Force Academy – is to go to college first, if possible, and to enter the military as an officer.

Active members of the Clifton VFW, Baker and her husband like to connect with fellow veterans.

MILITARY SERVICE: Army veteran Becky Moser-Cano at her desk at the Fort Hood AWOL records office in 1970 (left); Cano remains one of Bosque County’s female veterans active in the American Legion (left inset); Veteran Judy Grabowski during her military service in the Air Force Civil Engineering department (right); Grabowski serves as the Whitney VFW secretary (right inset).

“We went through a lot together,” Baker said about her lasting friendships with unit colleagues. “We experienced and saw things together and we understand each other.”

There have been a few suicides in her direct circle, and she feels veterans need a strong support system to prevent that. But it’s not all bad stuff they talk about; they like to reminisce about the fun stuff, the camaraderie, too.

“I met so many interesting people from all parts of the nation,” Baker said. “I got to see people of different backgrounds and religions, of different ages. Being in the military broadens your world perspective.”

Jeanne Bayless would have never considered going into the military if it hadn’t been for her mother, Dottie Hansen, who left home at 16 to attend Saint Mary’s School of Nursing in Galveston. When World War II broke out, Hansen answered the call to join the military and become a Navy nurse.

“It was just what we did,” Hansen said. “We had needed skills and we answered the call.”

Subsequently, Hansen’s and her friend Mattie Pearl’s service and comradeship laid the groundwork that led Bayless to join the military. When graduating from dental school at the University of Texas in San Antonio with a doctorate in Dental Surgery in 1979, the adventure and romance of the military that her mother instilled in her lured her to join the Air Force. She served in the Air Force Dental Corps for 24 years, retiring as a Colonel in 2004.

Her service took her to Mississippi, Spain, Italy, Texas, New Mexico, Germany, Republic of Korea and back to Texas. About 46 percent of

female soldiers marry within ranks. In contrast, only seven percent of males are married in dual-military relationships. Like the other female veterans in this article, Bayless married someone also in active duty, Air Force Officer Major James Bayless.

After many years in private practice both for others and in her own offices, Dr. Bayless is now semi-retired and treats disability and pediatric cases in the hospital and assists with a Mobile Dental Care unit providing dental care for nursing home patients.

She remembers her mother being overjoyed at getting a birthday greeting, Christmas card, or letter from Pearl. Her mother would read them to Bayless and tell her of their adventures and times in the military

“I remember my mother had her military trunk with her uniforms, pictures, and other memorabilia of her time in the military,” Bayless said. “I especially remember a box of seashells which was a precious oddity for a girl like me growing up in the deserts of West Texas.”

At one time, Bayless was asked to submit her “My Why” for the Women in Military Service for America Memorial in 1997 by her best friend from the Air Force, Col. Glenda Nuckols.

“My ‘why’ is camaraderie, the deep and lasting friendships that one makes while serving in the trenches are a valued phenomenon in my life as it was for Dottie and Pearl,” Bayless said. “One never knows where or what those trenches might be. For some it is a battlefield; for Dottie and Pearl it was a hospital ward; for Glenda and me it was people’s mouths.

“No matter the time of history or the place one serves in the

SERVING TO SERVE: Ret. Air Force Colonel Jeanne Bayless at work as an Air Force dentist (left); Semi-retired Bayless assist with a Mobile Dental Care unit (left inset); Andrea Wallum heads up the creation of a Bosque County Veterans Memorial at the crossroads of Highway 6 and Highway 22 in Meridian (right); Marine Corps Veteran Erin Baker is a middle school teacher at Clifton ISD (far right).

military good or bad, you end up with lasting friendships that are very special because you shared a common goal to uphold the mission you were given.”

Dottie and Pearl have both passed away, but Nuckols and Bayless now have their own chest of memories of their time in the service.

Bayless feels the military is a great stepping stone for young people, teaching them discipline, giving them structure, a chance at leadership, learning a skill if you don’t go to college, and you “earn while you learn.”

She always liked working in a military setting because everybody, from airman to officers, had the same standards to begin with. Military trained personnel know the chain of command and accept authority. It is also a great way to meet people.

“It’s a great way to get launched,” Bayless said. “And have a chance to see the great big world out there.”

When Bayless graduated from dental school, interest rates were at 18 percent, and there was no way she would be able to start her own practice. Serving as a dentist gave her an opportunity to practice her specialty without financial burden. As she promoted up the ranks and received more pay, the paperwork and managerial tasks also increased.

“I love dentistry,” Bayless said. “And honestly, I was not crazy about writing reports, sitting in meetings, going over minutes and such.”

Speaking at the 2022 Daughters of the American Revolution Bosque River Valley Chapter Veterans Day Tribute Nov. 9., Bayless said, “As for my own career, most folks don’t consider that a great number of veterans have never seen a battlefield. All the same, they are the unseen lynchpins that plan, support and operate the military mission and readiness. They serve in military hospitals and clinics, provide legal support and administration, they serve as drivers, cooks, mechanics, they work in logistics, fuel, and supply, they serve in intelligence, training, safety, and compliance. And the list goes on and on.

“I was a mission support officer. I served my entire military career during peacetime, never in a battle zone during my entire 24 years of service. I was prepared and willing to serve if called to do so, but I was never deployed to a war zone. Desert Storm began at the end of my career.”

Bayless said her trenches were in the mouths of servicemen and women. General George Patton reportedly once said, “Let me

married a British Army soldier Lilian Tryner, whose three brothers were soldiers. Wallum and her two sisters are all married to Vietnam Veterans, and her brother was a Marine in Vietnam. Because of this background Wallum has a deep respect and gratitude for veterans and has taken it upon herself to realize a Bosque County Veterans Memorial at the Highway 22/Highway 6 intersection in Meridian.

While it has been in her heart a long time, the veterans’ memorials in Whitney and Cranfills Gap motivated Wallum all the more to step outside of her comfort zone and start up the project. And that was no easy task, because the gateway to Meridian is under Texas Department of Transportation jurisdiction. She was lucky to catch Betsy Pitt, who was instrumental in the gateway project in 2004, before her retirement.

With some restrictions, Pitt approved Wallum’s plan of columns with branch emblems, and a pavement of memorial bricks. The memorial is for anyone that wants to honor a loved one in the military, whether they are active, retired, disabled or deceased from anywhere, not just Bosque County residents.

ERIN BAKER

U.S. Marine Corps veteran

have a dentist with me on the battlefield.“ He knew the importance of keeping his troops in top heath and readiness.

While not born and raised in Central Texas, Bayless has strong ties with Bosque County. When nursing a Marine Corps 1st Lieutenant back to health at a rehabilitation hospital in Idaho, Bayless’ mother Dottie fell in love with and married Morris Rohne, a Cranfills Gap native. For his distinguished service in the Marine Corps at Iwo Jima, Rohne received the Navy Cross and Purple Heart. Additionally, Bayless’ grandmother Emma Reinke has roots in Bosque County. To this day, Bayless and her son enjoy the family property at “The Gap” during weekends, holidays and vacations.

Looking magnificent in her dress blues, Bayless was honored to be Master of Ceremonies at the dedication of the Cranfills Gap Veterans Memorial in 2020. And at the 2022 Daughters of the American Revolution Bosque River Valley Chapter, she was the key note speaker, receiving a Quilt of Valor from quilter Debbie Stubbs.

Andrea Wallum, although not a veteran herself, had a WWII Air Force father, who

To date, four bricks for female veterans have been ordered.

“This is all God’s timing,” Wallum said. “I just happened to be there at the right time, and got to speak to the right people. Sometimes it seems like it’s going too smoothly. It is very exciting to see it move along, and I’ve had a lot of support.”

While other groups have initiated steps towards a veterans’ memorial in the county seat, they have failed to bring a project to conclusion. If she can get the necessary funding through grants and donations, Wallum and the other members of the project committee hope to have the monument completed by the end of next year, but hopefully sooner. And it will be another way that Bosque County shows their gratitude to their military veterans.

The female veterans highlighted in this article are proud of their service and would not change their experiences in the military for the world. They feel the time in the service shaped them into the people they have become, and it gave them a hands-on education for later careers.

By serving the military, they were part of something bigger than themselves –becoming vital cogs in the military machine that defends the country and defends democracy worldwide.

“I met so many interesting people from all parts of the nation. I got to see people of different backgrounds and religions, of different ages. Being in the military broadens your world perspective.”

hands

Poet with clay: Gottfried celebrates the West through sculpture in bronze & ceramics from the bare bones up

There’s nothing in a fresh lump of artist’s clay that might reveal what it ultimately can become. It’s cold, it’s clunky and it’s stiff. True, after warming it and massaging it, the mass becomes more pliable, and you can start molding and transforming it.

But taking it from a lump of fine-grained soil material and transforming it into a striking sculpture takes much more than strong hands. It takes good hands, artistic skill, intuition, knowledge, sensitivity and creativity.

As the sculptor adds a little bead of clay here, a larger clump there, molding here, scraping away there, smoothing in places, a character emerges – a character that offers depth of feeling, and you wonder, “what is this person thinking?”

It is nearly magical to see Jeff Gottfried transform an unsightly armature into an exquisite face right in front of your very eyes. He sees himself as a poet with clay, all the angles of the sculpture being the rhyme scheme, and the details in the creases being the words.

In college, Gottfried read an art book by Canadian naturalist and wildlife painter Robert Bateman, who had resorted to sculpt a water buffalo head to study the shadows. Gottfried was drawing a horse, and following

Bateman’s exercise decided to try making it in clay.

“It clicked as soon as I touched the clay,” Gottfried said. “I never finished the drawing and have sculpted ever since.”

Gottfried never took college classes in sculpting, but experimented with this creative outlet and new love of sculpting on his own, mainly sculpting wildlife and animals in nature and researching a lot about other sculptors.

Much like a forensic artist reconstructing a face from a skull dug up in an archeological site, Gottfried started building his first human sculptures from the bare bones up, adding muscle, laying in the skin and hair, and finally, putting on the clothes. It was a “learning by doing, by observation” process. This step by step building of his sculpture helped him understand and learn about the underlying anatomy that ultimately forms and defines the stance in a torso or an expression on a face. Everything starts with the knowledge of anatomy, as well as the intrinsic ratios and proportions of the average body and face.

For example, the face is divided into three equal parts: hairline to eyebrows, eyebrows to the bottom of the nose, bottom of the nose to the bottom of the chin. The eyes are halfway between the top of the head and the chin. The bottom of the nose is halfway between the eyes and the chin. The eyes are halfway down

the head. But that is not all – the edges of the nostrils line up with the tear ducts of the eyes. The space between the eyes is approximately the width of an eye, and the head is about five eyes wide. The corners of the mouth line up with the pupils of the eyes. The top of the ear lines up with the top of the eyebrow and the bottom with the tip of the nose.

“Sometimes a sculpture’s quality is based purely on how the ears are done,” Gottfried said. “It is a chain reaction with one thing affecting the other. When the nose or eyebrow position is off, then so will be position of the ears.”

But for Gottfried, life got in the way, and the sculpting was put on the back burner. At a pivotal time of his life while dealing with a divorce, Gottfried picked up sculpting again as stress relief and to soothe his troubled soul enough for him to “figure things out.”

In 2001, a tremendous opportunity came up when he became assistant to Cowboy Artist of America Bruce Greene. With Greene’s mentorship, Gottfried narrowed his subject matter down to Western representational art with a story to tell and a message that matters. He particularly loves the challenge of sculpting people and incorporating the values of the West. With his works, he sees himself as a visual historian, hoping to impact the viewer.

article & photographs by SIMONE WICHERS-VOSS

TEACHING THE TRADE: Sculptor Jeff Gottfried giving a sculpting workshop at the Bosque Arts Center in Clifton.

“I believe in the values that built America – industriousness, courage, fortitude, opportunity, confidence in progress, the simpler life, self-reliance,” Gottfried said. “As a sculptor, I am very proud to carry on the legacy of artistically chronicling these values. I do this by telling the stories of the individuals. I want to personalize them, to make them real, understandable and timeless. I also want to make them artistically beautiful, just as their daily struggles made them beautiful individually. The American West is the perfect setting with which to express these themes.”

Not raised “Western” – his dad was a doctor – Gottfried is proud of the heritage of the pioneer West and its values. His grandparents were hardworking German Mennonites who moved from North Dakota to California during the Great Depression looking for a better place to live and raise their family. That “Greatest Generation,” how they dealt with adversity like the Great Depression, World War II and nature’s catastrophes like the Dust Bowl, is also a big inspiration for Gottfried.

“It is my hope that the sculptural beauty of these works reflect the courageous beauty of these individuals,” Gottfried said.

FINISHING TOUCHES: Sculptor Jeff Gottfried makes some repairs to his “Splendor of the Plains” at the Bosque Arts Center’s 2022 Big Event with a bust of Gottfried’s mentor Bruce Greene in the background.

Part of Gottfried’s sculpture series, The Greatest Generation are “By the Sweat of Thy Brow,” of a farmer stumbling after his plough team with the hard earth clods tripping and hurting his feet, the burning sweat running down his forehead into his eyes; and “The Dust Bowl” of a cowboy caught in a dust storm.

Besides Greene, Gottfried has also talked to and studied sculptor/painter and Cowboy Artist of America John Coleman, especially his work on Native Americans.

Gottfried says his style is influenced by the Italian sculptor and architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini, who is credited with the Baroque style of sculpture, featuring attention to light and shadow, curved lines, and spirals that create a sense of movement. As an innovator, Bernini insisted that beauty is found in observing humans and nature instead of studying Classical statues or Renaissance paintings, and he showed his subjects in less formal settings. Bernini’s sculpture of David differed radically from the traditional poised, forward-facing forms. And instead of showing the moment after David has defeated Goliath, which was customary, he shows him about to fire – with his body twisted in movement, with an expression of concentration and tension in his face.

This influence makes Gottfried’s works a little more delicate and flowing than some other cowboy artists.

“Before you innovate, you have to establish your credibility,” Gottfried said. “The longer I sculpt, the more intuitive I get. Knowledge, practice and confidence allows that.”

And through commissions, awards and other recognition, Gottfried has shown his quality and constant innovation. Awards Gottfried received include the 2007 Cowboy Artists of America’s Award for Emerging Artist, Phippen art show, Prescott, AZ, as well

as numerous other awards including best of show, first place sculpture, and others.

His works are in several prestigious collections, including the Pearce Collection of Western Art, in Corsicana, and the Greeley Stampede in Greeley, CO. Gottfried’s portrait bust of Charles Goodnight is on display at the Charles Goodnight Historical Center in Claude. And he recently completed a sculpture of James Butler Bonham, a hero of the Alamo, commissioned by Texas governor

Rick Perry.

In 2007, Gottfried won the Bosque Arts Center Gold Medal Sculpture and the Art Patrons Purchase Award with his sculpture “Wishful Thinking.”

The sculpture shows a woman sitting in a chair, knitting, but being distracted by something through the window. Her gesture and expression is peaceful, though her knitting alludes to the hardships women settlers had to endure. What is it that she is distracted by? Is her husband coming up over the hill? Is she day dreaming? Is she thinking of home back east? That is for the viewer to decide.

With this design, Gottfried manipulated negative space – the space around the sculpture – encouraging the viewer to look through the window to see the woman’s face. Also, the way the window frame and curtain seem suspended in midair, held up by the woman’s hand, adds to the sculpture’s interest.

In 2008, he entered the BAC Art Classic with his piece “Traffic Jam.” Of this piece, Gottfried said. “During the days of the great cattle drives, it was not unusual for a herd to be driven through the dusty streets of the towns along its path. This longhorn cow and calf are being driven by the tired cowboy through a flock of chickens and a goat that were minding their own business, presumably on a street somewhere. In the days before streetlights and car horns, this traffic jam caused quite a stir.”

You know it can’t be, but the chicken flurrying away somehow seems suspended in air.

His work “Freedom Train” at the Fort Worth T&P train station was one of his first sculptures, incorporating stainless steel and bronze reliefs. In spite of it being a difficult project, because of all the parties involved

“I believe in the values that built America –industriousness, courage, fortitude, opportuniy, confidence in progress, the simplier life, self reliance.”

JEFF GOTTFRIED

and their different ideas on the end result, Gottfried is proud to have been part of it – in saying something important and to honor the African American heritage in Fort Worth.

The wall-mounted sculpture is a timeline from a slave building the track, a porter carrying luggage, to a businessman holding a train ticket. The silhouettes are intended to attract immediate attention by communicating the dramatic yet simple message of African Americans’ progression from slave to porter to businessman – basically from the Crow era to the modern day. The sculpture also incorporates lines from the poem, “Freedom Train” by Langston Hughes.

Additionally, he has done a lot of commissions for religious organizations, for example making a more abstract crucifix for Good Shepherd Catholic Community, Colleyville. Not only does Gottfried want to make a positive impact with his representational sculptures, he also does so as an intermediate school art teacher at Glen Rose Independent School District – “shaping young minds like shaping clay” as the reporter of the Cleburne Times called it.

Gottfried holds a Master’s Degree in Education from Trinity University, San Antonio, TX, 1998. In his art teaching capacity, Jeff taught sculpture at the Western Art Academy in Kerrville for seven years from 2005-12, a month long, six-day a week art scholarship program in conjunction with the Houston Livestock and Rodeo Art program, The Museum of Western Art in Kerrville, and Schreiner University in Kerrville. Gottfried taught adult and children’s sculpture workshops in his hometown of Cleburne and at the BAC.

“I enjoy the teaching part,” Gottfried said. “I enjoy seeing people’s lightbulbs go off as they put the class lessons into their sculpture. But it is a challenge to teach something that is essentially a really complicated process in a simple, eloquent way. ”

In the BAC’s “Intro to Sculpting” and “Ceramic Clay” workshops this year, Gottfried used his 25 years of sculpting experience and his skills as a professional educator to share his passion for the 3-dimensional form. Through demonstrations, lectures, and class activities, students learned basic sculpture techniques – clay manipulation, tools, armature, measuring techniques, and anatomy to make a half-size human bust.

Gottfried demonstrated the different steps while making a twice life-size bust for the students to follow the steps. The main message was “observation, observation, observation.” An additional focus was how to look at and appreciate sculpture in general, by viewing the sculptures in the Roland Jones Memorial Gallery at the BAC.

“Sculpting is an art where you need to have a lot of patience,” Gottfried said. “After all, creating something real look-alike from clay is not easy and definitely takes time. For a beginner, the art of sculpting can seem daunting but you don’t need to worry. Just keep patience and be ready to practice.”

For the students working the clay, they gradually felt a relationship growing with their lump of clay that was slowly transforming into a recognizable face staring back at them – constantly taking measurements and making adjustments – because a small change can make a big difference in the end product.

At the 2022 Big Event at the BAC, Gottfried showed two of his newest pieces, a bust of his mentor Bruce Greene, in which he captures the Cowboy Artist of America perfectly and “Splendor of the Plains” – the life-size, classic depiction of an aged, and thus wise, Oglala Sioux warrior. The magnificent bust of the Native American warrior in all his splendor was sold in auction that evening.

According to Gottfried, his many feathered war bonnet is associated

with prestige, leadership, military prowess, and above all bravery. Each feather represents an individual act of bravery, such as collecting horses from the enemy, defeating a foe, or counting coup during a battle. The dragonfly symbol dangling from his bonnet represents the spirit of the “whirlwind,” meaning fearless and hard to kill during battle, able to dart quickly back and forth.

The piece is awaiting a spot in a foundry to be cast in bronze, but since the COVID-19 pandemic, smaller foundries have gone out of business and the larger foundries that survived have tripled their prices, are backed up, while dealing with personnel shortages.

These issues with foundries has Gottfried experimenting with ceramic sculptures, creating one-of-a-kind, more affordable and thus more accessible art. It also opens up a whole new world of researching finishes and glazes, using variables like salt, ash and fire licks.

“It is exciting to me to experiment and learn in this new avenue,” Gottfried said. “There are so many surprising options, and because it has less risks involved it allows me to grow as an artist. It joins the traditional arts of pottery and sculpting.”

(Clockwise): Besides Western art, sculptor Jeff Gottfried receives commissions for religious groups. Tools of a sculptor’s trade. The bronze plaque is part of Gottfried’s “Freedom Train” sculpture at the Fort Worth T & P train station. Recently, he started exploring ceramics.

SCULPTURE COLLECTION: A cowboy fighting Dust Bowl winds (top left) and “Traffic Jam” (bottom left), which Gottfried entered in the 2008 Bosque Arts Center Art Classic.

WHITETAIL Telling a

A reflective account of a memorable quest for a muy grande whitetail on New Year’s Day in Texas

photographs by E. BRETT VOSS & courtesy of TEXAS PARKS & WILDLIFE DEPARTMENT

TALE

article by E. BRETT VOSS

Anyone who has ever hunted in the Lone Star State has a story to tell. Many tales told around a camp fire prove to be tall ones indeed. But some are actually true. And while relaxing in front of a hunting cabin’s blazing fireplace with his three young sons sitting on the floor around him, a hunter once recalled the tale of the big buck he let get away.

On that brisk New Year’s Day morning many years ago, the hunter watched the horizon ignite as the sun threatened to rise through the dense South Texas ground fog. A wintry northern wind cut through several layers of clothing like tissue paper, sending a hard shiver down his spine that ultimately smothered in his insulated boots.

But the hunter shook off the chill as a shot of adrenaline warmed his core. He knew that with the briskness of dawn, the game of strategy had just begun. And soon, the brush country’s master of evasion, the Texas whitetail deer, would prove to be a worthy challenge.

The skillful tracker managed to steal only a glimpse of his majestic prey during each of the previous three days. Nothing else occupied the buck’s mind than the playful doe he desperately tried to track down. After picking up her scent, the buck pursued her with the persistence of a adolescent in love for the first time.

Nevertheless, the buck’s enthusiastic desire for courtship had enabled him to unknowingly elude his stalker.

As the holiday dawn of the hunt broke, though, the young outdoorsman sensed this day would be different. This time, he would be ready. Eve lured Adam to his demise, and this buck’s taunting mate would lead him, one of the “muy grande” South Texas whitetail deer, to his fate.

The dewy-damp ground held in the chill as the hunter sat patiently in the brush. The rifle felt cold in his hands, death in waiting.

A twig snapped, and the hunter saw a blur of movement through the thick screen. A doe darted swiftly from the brush and halted briskly in front of a scrap the buck had left for her, his musky love letter. As she dropped her head to consider the proposal left by her admirer, the hunter’s heart pounded loudly against his rib cage while he searched the surrounding brush for the slightest hint of movement.

Over there? No, nothing.

Then, the hunter’s heart stopped as the buck walked firmly out from the cover with his head crowned by a magnificent rack fit for a king. Down on scent, the battle-tested knight stood determined to make a personal appeal to the hesitant lady of his desires. The doe, startled by his sudden appearance, whipped her head in his direction, then bounced off in the other. Swiftly, the buck moved into the territory she previously occupied, anxious to see if she had left him

a response.

The marksman slowly raised his rifle and laid the crosshairs of the scope on the buck’s shoulder, then moved it up toward the bull’s eye on his rut-thickened neck. The noble creature stood distracted in the hunter’s sights, unaware of his dire predicament. The hunter’s index finger slowly met with the trigger’s resistance, and he began to firmly squeeze it into submission.

But with casual majesty, the whitetail buck swooped his head up from off the ground and stared straight down the barrel of the gun. Without a doubt, the buck sensed the danger he faced, and he knew the fatal mistake had been made. But rather than flee his deadliest predator in a fear-filled flight, the proud beast simply stood his ground and faced his fate.

In awe, the hunter continued to gently squeeze the trigger. But as the firing pin slammed him, he jerked the rifle high into

HUNTING HERITAGE: Like his father L. E. “Sonny” Voss, Jr. before him, Chisholm Country publisher E. Brett Voss began teaching his three sons, Jacob (above left), Zachary (above center) and Derek (above right) about the responsibility, tradition and values of the hunting heritage. Jake takes aim on his first whitetail buck (left). As young adults, Jake, Zach and Derek spend some time getting ready for the late dove hunting season in Bosque County by practicing with a few rounds of trap shooting (right).

the sky. The lead death sailed away into the heavens harmlessly.

As the explosion of the gun rattled through the brush, the buck remained standing there, frozen in an unflinching stare, as if in an attempt to fully grasp the meaning of the moment. Finally, the buck turned from the hunter and slowly trotted back into the brush, disappearing behind nature’s veil.

Neither man nor beast really understood the experience, but something had been shared in their encounter, a connection had been made. In the game of death, the gift of life had been given. And strangely, as the hunter walked away without his soughtafter prize, he felt more alive than any other time in his life.

Sitting in front of the fireplace recalling his tale to his sons, the hunter felt warmed by the understanding look in their eyes more than the blazing flames. And with that, he smiled thankfully for his role in the circle of life, in more ways than one.

A Taste of Home

Generational Gastronomy

Embracing tradition, 72nd Annual Smorgasbord supper gathers at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in community of Norse

The silver drizzle steadily paints the ash-colored granite headstones in the cemetery smoky grey, contrasting the rain clouds on this wet, cool day at the end of October. It’s a perfect day to be inside, whip out the aprons, the rolling pins, mix up different batters and bake some cookies.

Friendly, happy chatter fills the large kitchen at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Norse, where three generations of ladies are preparing for a tradition that started 74 years ago. During their work, the ladies share recipe tips and tricks to ensure the best results.

article by SIMONE WICHERS-VOSS

THAT WAS THEN, THIS IS NOW: Smorgasbord hostesses in the Hardanger costumes in 2022 (top) and back in the 1960s (above); Our Savior’s Lutheran church proudly flies the Norwegian colors during their annual Smorgasbord fundraising event that features typical Norwegian dishes (right).

Each year in the unincorporated community of Norse near Clifton and Cranfills Gap, the church holds their fundraising Smorgasbord – a buffet style gourmet meal with a cornucopia of traditional Nordic foods. And hundreds of delicate cookies are being prepared on this October day – fattigman bakkels, spritz bakkels, Berliner kranser and lefse. They are but a few of the future guests’ favorites, which also include rosetter, sandbakkels and krum kake – crisp cookie rolls to be filled with sumptuous sweet whipped cream. Remembering how her father enjoyed them, Kay Owens is dusting the freshly fried fattigman with powdered sugar. They are also called “poor man’s cookies,” because they are made with a few simple ingredients, usually found in any home. The only “rich” ingredients are cardamom, vanilla and two tablespoons of whiskey. The trick is to roll out the springy dough until you can nearly see through it. And they have to be fried in lard, until caramel brown – cookies that are too light or too dark are put on the reject tray, for the bakers to enjoy.

Dora Smith has been making Berliner kranser for the event for over 60 years and gladly shows Pastor Ryan Pederson’s sons Abe and William how to roll the dough, make a wreath and to dust it with sugar before baking. Meanwhile, Pastor’s wife Lilia samples a fresh lefse with butter, honey and cinnamon. And Phyllis Homerstad showed –to whoever wanted to try their hand – how to form the S-shaped Spritz bakkels with a specialized, syringe-type utensil.

Over the years, the Our Savior’s Lutheran Smorgasbord has grown to a unique Norwegian traditional supper drawing people from all over the state of Texas and beyond – serving around 240 people in two sittings. The cost for tickets for the first Smorgasbord initiated by Sadie Swenson Hoel and Pastor Beaver’s wife in 1949 was $1, and the proceeds helped to get running water in the parish hall. Most of the event preparations back then took place in a tent. This year, the Beaver’s granddaughter is coming down from Minnesota to volunteer with the preparations and with the event itself.

The ticket price has increased over the years, but the profits are still used to help further the ministry in Norse and share their Norwegian heritage as well as God’s love in the church’s community and world. The proceeds primarily go to sending the church members’ youth to summer camps and local charities, but also to help those stricken by disaster,

What started out as a simple fundraising supper for nourishment of the body grew into the unique event it is today. The event is so unique that it was even featured in the Houston Chronicle in 1971.

On a crisp November evening with a star-filled sky as people trickle in for the gastronomic treat, they are greeted in the church sanctuary by Patsy Erikson-Squyres on organ. Alternating years, Erica Ormenson and Steve Heinley usually sing a Norwegian song or hymn. This year, Ormenson filled the sanctuary with “Deilig er Jorden” –

wonderful is the Earth – to the tune of “Beautiful Savior.” Squyres, whose parents were both from Norwegian descent, has been coming to the Smorgasbord since she was six years old – which means she was at the first one in 1949 – and hasn’t missed one since. She has also been the Our Savior’s Lutheran organist for the past 63 years.

Upon entering the elegantly decorated family hall, beautiful crystal and copper serving dishes, silver and glass ornaments on the buffet table glitter in the soft petroleum lamp light. The tables with white tablecloths are decked with real silverware, earthenware plates, water glasses and adorned with American and Norwegian flags. The butter, jelly, yett ost and mysost stand ready in small crystal dishes. Church members in traditional Norwegian Hardanger costumes, with red vests with gold embellishments and lace aprons extend gracious hospitality, showing guests their seats, and offering them Sot Suppe – a sweet, cider-like drink, traditionally served on special occasions and during the Christmas holiday season. It is equally good served hot or cold.

Hostesses and waiters run back and forth to the kitchen to replenish the emptying plates as guests choose their favorite dishes. During the buffet, many church members assist in the large kitchen area – it has been compared to a beehive of organized chaos – making sure the dishes were filled and the empty plates and dishes are washed in preparation for the evening’s second sitting. In a separate room, the “cookie crew” place the previously baked cookies on platters.

BOUNTIFUL BUFFET: The buffet-style Smorgasbord Supper fundraiser at the Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Norse offers a cornucopia of traditional Norwegian fare.

SMORGASBORD SWEETS:

In preparation for the 73rd Annual Our Savior’s Lutheran Smorgasbord, Virginia Heinley rolls out the very thin fattigman dough (above); a cornucopia of Norwegian delicacies in one dish at the Our Savior’s Lutheran Smorgasbord annual fundraiser (above right); Phyllis Homersted bakes Spritz (right); Laurie Aars brings the beet salad she prepared (far right).

Literally translated, smorgasbord means “Bread and Butter” table and it can be seen as the precursor to the now ubiquitous charcuterie board. But with that said, it requires much more preparation. The Norse smorgasbord is anything but “bread and butter.”

The serving table laden is with traditional Norwegian delectable fare with multiple hot and cold dishes table like rulle pølse – rump roast meat roll, sild – pickled herring, salmon mold, rice pudding squares with raisins, Kjottballer (meatballs) and other meats; rodbette and potet salar (beet and potato salad). The Norwegian cheeses, like yett ost (goat cheese), mysost (sweet whey cheese), nockel ost (caraway cheese) and gammel ost (aged cheese), are served with different breads, like limpa, flat brod and lefse (rye

bread, flat bread and potato bread).

There is quite the back story to the flat brod. In the 1980s, the Jensens would come to Norse in a travel trailer to make the ultrathin flat brod for the event. When the Smorgasbord gang took over the task, it turned out to take two whole weekends to get the dough thin enough, and then dry enough in the oven to ensure proper preservation. Two huge dry-cleaner rolls to pass the dough through – like a big pasta machine – turned out to be the answer to drastically shortening the production time.

The choices on the buffet table are endless. While some specifically pick out the true Scandinavian dishes, like sylte (head cheese), the sild (the pickled herring) or the aged gammel ost for their plates, less adventurous guests stick to the delicious meatballs, or the more

traditional ham and turkey. And every guest has their specific favorite dish; one comes for the lefse with mysost, the other for the meatballs, another with a sweet tooth for the fruit jello ring and the sot suppe and yet another for the red beet salad. And there are those that come just for the array of cookies.

The amount of cookies prepared is staggering – 800 lefse, 250 Berliner kranse, 350 krum kake, fattigmans and spritz. And how about rolling 120 meatballs? Luckily, that task is divided by 13 volunteers.

Whereas the church provides the more expensive items like meats, fish, cheese and eggs, most of the cooks donate the ingredients of their gastronomic contribution to the festive event, keeping the costs down. Additionally, some grants are secured. With the cost of groceries going up this year, especially the rulle pølse is an expensive item on the menu this year.

The recipes passed down from generation to generation remain unchanged over the years. Some are the same recipes as brought by the pioneers who settled in Norse as early as 1854. This year’s event chair Laurie Aars did adapt some of the recipes to make them easier to use. The booklet with the Smorgasbord recipes is on sale at the church; the Norwegian names like

DELICIOUS DELICACIES: Crystal, copper and candlelight spotlight the delicious Norwegian dishes of the Our Savior’s Lutheran annual Smorgasbord fundraiser.

Solberg, Ringness and Aars bear witness to the cooks’ Norwegian heritage

“A lot of people are the think tank behind the recipes,” Aars said. “It isn’t likely that you will attempt making this age-old Scandinavian cheese, as the method belongs to the horse and buggy days,” the booklet states about the traditional way to make mysost cheese.

Aars, though, came into the church kitchen with two large jars of beet salad following her mother-in-law’s recipe and mysost cheese. While still labor intensive, she started with one pound of yettost instead of starting with making the whey byproduct. The cheese with sweetened condensed milk and Carnation milk is slowly cooked down and stirred for about two hours in a double boiler to where it caramelizes and thickens. It is left to cool outside the fridge for an evening to avoid graininess and then refrigerated until used.

Knowing some things change but some things stay the same, Aars was pleased to see familiar dishes presented during a trip to Norway, showing that traditions are strong in the land of the Bosque County Norwegian settlers.

“As a member of the church, helping with

COOKIE COOKING: Patsy Squyres and Abel Pedersen fry fattigman bakkels in preparation of the 73rd annual Our Savior’s Lutheran Smorgasbord.

the event is just something you do,” Aars said. “It is an integral part of the church and our community. But my mother-in-law [Rosalie Aars] who ignited the love for the event in me.”

One of the main questions the church hears during the event is “How do you people do this?” It is thanks to team work and strong sense of church community. The lists on the kitchen wall are a witness to the many, many helping hands – around 70 volunteers. The organization has a committee of 12 with a rotating trio in the driver’s seat – this year being Aars, Squyres and Alice Brewer. And there are several sub-committees to assist the planning of the gastronomical evening.

“After 74 years, we pretty much have the organization down,” Aars said.

“You either move away, get divorced or die to get out of helping at Smorgasbord,” Alice Brewer added.

This year, many new faces could be seen in the colorful costumes – new daughtersin-law roped in to assist, younger brothers helping with clearing the tables. Every member of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church has a job to do at Smorgasbord. Whether it’s washing dishes or parking cars or serving as hostesses or bus boys, they truly enjoy

Fattigman Bakkels

(Poor Man’s Cookies or Fry Cakes) Recipe of Mrs. John (Carrie) Homerstad 3 eggs 3 Tbsp. sugar 3 Tbsp. milk 1/8 tsp. cardamom 1 tsp. vanilla 1/8 tsp. salt 2 tbsp. whiskey 2 to 3 cups flour

Separate eggs, beating yolks slightly and whites until foamy, but not stiff. To yolks, add sugar, milk, vanilla, cardamom, salt, and whiskey. Add whites and flour (as little as possible) to make soft dough; divide in half. Roll dough thin; should be rubbery and spring back. Cut in diamonds, stretch out, and cut slit in center. Fry till light brown in deep, hot lard at 375 degrees. (Use only lard). Dust with powdered sugar.

working together to keep this tradition preserved and to pass it on to future generations. And the enjoyment and warmth shows on the faces and the smiles during the special event.

Preparations for the dinner start with a

debrief right after the event. And at the end of October, the whole congregation starts to rally together to make this special and unique event a success year after year. Next year marks the 75th anniversary of the event, but due to COVID-19 restrictions on gatherings for two years, that will be the 73rd time the event takes place.

For many years, Norwegian heritage relives in Bosque County with two traditional feasts – the tasty Smorgasbord buffet at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church at Norse and the iconic Lutefisk dinner in Cranfills Gap. And the only way be part of this very popular Nordic feast offering a unique variety of home-cooked Norwegian dishes is through an advance mail-in request and a drawing.

These new generations of Norwegian descent hold true to their heritage, honor and hope through faith. And as the Norwegian table prayer sung by all present before sharing the gastronomical triumph states “Deg, Gud til aere, oss til gavn” – To God the honor, us the gain.”

There is no better way to lead up to and prepare for the Advent than cherishing heritage, community and church and working together for the nourishment of the body and soul.

Golden Hour Girl

Mitchell captures life on the ranch, wildlife & Texas in

It’s the golden hour shortly before sunset – the time of day that photographers love because the light is softer and warmer, the shadows are longer, just magical. And with the softening light, the wildlife on the ranch feel safe enough to come out of the brush.

Armed with her camera and a handgun to defend herself against feral hogs, and always wearing snake boots – because those rattlers have surprised her one time too many – photographer Vickie Mitchell sets out for one of her regular walks on the Mitchell family ranch near Mosheim in Bosque County.

On the ranch that has been in the Mitchell family since 1881, the couple breeds quarter horses, have cattle and lots of resident deer and other animals that give Mitchell subjects galore.

Mitchell stands out as a master of backlit portraits of the horses they breed on the ranch, the deer and other wildlife, giving them a glowing halo in the diffused light – highlighting God’s creatures perfectly. Her love of nature shines through in her photography. And her splendid sunset landscape photos are beyond compare, so vibrant, so full of hope for a peaceful night and the following new day.

Because the delicate light does not linger, it’s all about being at the right place at the right time and catching the wildlife that comes across her path. When the light fades and she heads back to the homestead, she can focus on finding fossils and heart-shaped rocks to add to her growing collection.

Like most mothers, Mitchell began photographing her children, documenting their youth. But it wasn’t until seven years ago that she traded using the old, worn out 35mm camera for a digital camera.

By a stroke of luck, she was able to enroll in a workshop Texas State Photographer Wymen Meinzer, who is a landscape photographer. Mitchell

all its aspects with her camera

article by SIMONE WICHERS-VOSS

GOLDEN EYE: Capturing nature in all its beauty remains Photographer Vickie Mitchell’s passion.

photographs by SIMONE WICHERS-VOSS & courtesy of VICKIE T MITCHELL PHOTOGRAPHY

had to borrow a camera to be able to attend, and things like shutter speed, F-stops and ISO settings were completely new to her. But she absorbed what she learned like a sponge, and it was the start of her journey to becoming the excellent photographer she is today. Mitchell never thought she would love taking photos so much. But as she says, that workshop “lit the fire.”

Since then, Mitchell is always challenging herself to improve her craft by attending workshops, trying different subject matter, scenery and lighting, constantly reading up on all things photography, following well-known photographers on Instagram and learning from Youtube videos.

She loves photographing Texas. On occasion, she and her very supportive husband John make trips, specifically to photograph nature and wildlife. State parks are favorites, along with places like Big Bend, Brazoria Wildlife Reserve, Brazos, Palo Duro Canyon and over state lines to Yellowstone National Park. Many times, John has to hit the brakes as Vickie sees something worth capturing – a group of horses on the horizon with a clouded sky, an elusive moose at Yellowstone, a grinning lama or just a rusty café sign.

And Mitchell knows from experience that she has to be ready to shoot at all times, because in nature, that one special shot might be gone in a split second.

One time at Caddo Lake, which lies on the Texas-Louisiana border, Mitchell was later than the group to go out for a sunrise golden hour session. But again, it was a stroke of luck, because after sunrise a fog came in, changing the cypress bayou into a surreal landscape with the most magnificent hues of taupe, mauve and blush. The resulting photo of a solitary tree mirrored in the water has a Japanese esthetic to it, breathing serenity and beauty.

Recently, on their way back from a wedding, she made John take a detour, just to photograph a known park of Texas windmills. Her camera always with her and ready, she was able to catch a wagon train on its way to the Red Steagall Cowboy Gathering in Fort Worth that same trip. Of course, the rodeo and cowboy life on the ranch also gives some special photo opportunities. And with John being a cowboy, there are many friends with ranches they can travel to.

“I am proud of her work, I try to promote it any which way I can and encourage her,” John said. “And I’ve learned that photography is just like a cowboy or a fisherman – there is always just one more something they need. But I am okay with it, because it is worth it.”

Every now and then, he is a reluctant model for her sunset photos, saying that no cowboy in his right mind would be out on horseback at that time of day. The result, though, is spectacular.

It was John that encouraged her to attend her most recent photography workshop at the Kokernot 06 ranch between Alpine and Fort Davis in West Texas, where she connected with other Nikon photographers – Mitchell uses a Nikon D850 and her go-to lens is the Nikon ultimate utility 70-200 F2.8 lens – photographing the cowboys at work and the remuda of horses.

Mitchell’s nature photography has caught the attention of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, who have used her photo of a jack rabbit on their website. Travel Texas magazine used one of her rodeo photos from the Fort Worth rodeo. And for the third year running, Mitchell submitted photos to and received the honor to be featured on the Western Horseman calendar. Sometime though, businesses have used her photos on their websites without permission. Whereas it is a compliment that they value her photos enough to represent their business, the photos are copyrighted and they should have asked her

permission and pay for the rights to use them.

When Mitchell retires this year, after 41 years of working at Gearench/Petol, she intends to venture into the world of mirrorless cameras, which are faster and have better autofocus modes she wants for her wildlife photography.

Besides getting a lot of positive reactions to her photos, the requests from family and friends have led her to start selling prints. Upon retirement, she hopes to have more time to set up a platform from which she will be selling photography prints.

HOME ON THE RANGE: Photographer Vickie Mitchell and her husband John at their ranch near Mosheim (above); Vickie’s camera captures snake poised to strike (above left).

Seasons Celebrating

photographs by SIMONE WICHERS-VOSS & courtesy of CLIFTON HIGH SCHOOL

COMRADES IN ARMS: Clifton Cub captains Makail Brandenberger (54), Riley Finney (11) Carter Tunnell (6) and Larrett Thomas (24) carry a cross representing their teammate Jackson Newton, who was lost in a tragic vehicle accident last summer, along with Milton Willmann, a member of the 1967 Clifton Cub state finalist team, prior to the rematch with El Maton Tidehaven in a 2022 Class 3A, DII Bi-District playoff game (top left); Memorabilia from the 1967 state finalist season in the Clifton High School trophy case (above center).

article by E. BRETT VOSS

A Lifetime to Remember

In the wake of the 2022 Texas High School football season, it serves us all well to pause and consider how high schools across the Heart of Texas have been stepping onto the gridiron to play America’s game for over 100 years.

Granted, it began as a far cry from the action under the Friday night lights we have all become accustomed to during our lifetimes. But without a doubt, those first games played in 1916 laid the groundwork for the traditions that followed.

During World War I, Meridian College opened its doors for the first time on Sept. 20, 1916 and fielded a football team that very first fall, taking on the likes of the Baylor University freshmen.

While colleges around Texas began playing football as early as 1893, it wasn’t until the early 1900s that high school teams began to spring up. But staggering travel complications and little or no equipment forced most of the fledging high school teams to play nearby schools two or three times in a single season, or take on local make-shift teams and small college teams.

Such proved to be the case in Bosque County. With Meridian College looking for opponents and trying to stay close to home, they put together a secondary team called the Meridian College Scrubs to take on any of the local high schools brave enough to field a team.

In 1916, Meridian High School and Walnut Springs High School did just that. In the only documented game Meridian High School played in 1916, the Meridian College Scrubs handed the high school boys a

12-6 loss on Nov. 3, 1916. To reduce the punishment the high school boys might take at the hands of the college men, the two teams played eight-minute quarters, and the Scrubs were “cautioned not to hit the little fellows hard.”

Regardless, the Meridian High School players were commended for their tackling, noting that “several of their men show promise to be great football players someday.”

From small beginnings come great things.

According to available records, Clifton High School began playing football in 1918, playing just two games but winning both, immediately establishing Bosque County dominance by blanking Valley Mills, 25-0, before crushing Meridian, 48-0. Then 50 years later, the Cubs made their one and only trip to the state championship game.

Among those old enough to have been there, it has become known as “that magical season to remember.” And it’s no wonder. After all, 55 years later, the 1967 Clifton Cubs still rank as the only football team in school history to advance to a UIL state title game.

But that’s not to say the Cub football program hasn’t enjoyed its share of success over the years. After playing its 105th Texas high school football season, Clifton has posted a solid .608 winning percentage while amassing a 624-395-43 win-loss record during the last 105 years. In the process, the Cubs have claimed 23 outright district titles, were district tri-champs four more times, advanced to the playoffs 30 times and appeared in two zone playoff games.

While becoming a coaching legend in his own time as Clifton’s winningest coach ever, Aubrey Roberts turned the Cubs into a

REMATCH FOR THE AGES: 2022 Clifton Cubs take the field for a Class 3A, DII Bi-District playoff game against El Maton Tidehaven, a rematch of the Class 1A State Championship game in 1967. Clifton’s Milton Willmann joins members of 1967 Tidehaven team for the ceremonial coin toss (inset).

perennial postseason favorite during his tenure. Getting to the playoffs was not celebrated, it was expected. And in those days, only one team – the district champion –advanced to the playoffs.

Under his guidance, the Cubs were a powerhouse, posting a 155-42-11 record for an impressive .737 winning percentage while capturing 10 district championships in 18 seasons (1956-73).

But 1967 remains the one season everyone in Clifton still talks about.

MAGICAL SEASON

Suffering only one regular season loss in a non-district game, the Cubs steamrolled through district undefeated, outscoring opponents, 168-19. Clifton opened district by crushing Meridian, 65-6, before hammering Valley Mills, 35-6. Then after slipping by Itasca, 9-7, the Cubs blanked Glen Rose, 330, and Whitney, 26-0.

“In my opinion, the entire school – players, band, cheerleaders, teachers, just everyone – lived for football,” recalls Dr. Terry Watson, who was a junior center on the 1967 squad. “Conversations around town in every business and restaurant were usually including excited talk about the upcoming

game or the last win.”

In the playoffs, the Cub defense took over, allowing only seven points in four postseason games leading up to the Class 1A State Championship Game. The stifling Clifton defense became fondly known as the “Norwegian Nogoods.”

“Even a blind man can enjoy our games because you can hear the guy’s shoulder pads popping way up in the stands,” Coach Roberts said. “My tough country boys don’t need weight training. They work lifting bales of hay to get strong.”

For out-of-town games, the Cubs received send-offs fit for conquering Vikings. Banners and streamers lined Fifth Street. For longer trips, the team traveled in chartered buses. No matter the weather or the travel distance, missing a game was not an options of Cub fans.

“I grew up with my teammates,” said the late Garland “Rocky” Rummel (Oct. 12, 1949Aug. 5, 2018), the senior quarterback for the 1967 Cubs. “We all played football together since elementary. We knew exactly what others were thinking, and we just had fun out there.”

In addition to Dr. Watson, former Cubs

Gary Anz, Milton Willmann, John Hoel, Wayne Prescher and Dennis Poe still live in Clifton, while Jim Bryant, Glen Haywood, Robert Ledlow, Garland Braune, Don Hall, Billy Helms, Ronnie Horn, Bobby Golden, David Fehler, Bill Wright, Larry Mueller, C.L. Conrad, Tommy Hafer, David Wilburn, Seth Witcher, Mike Hoff, Louis Felan and G. Wilson Collins made up the rest of the 1967 state final roster.

“This group of guys have been together since the first grade, and we all stuck together as a team until graduation,” said Anz, who played fullback and linebacker as a senior in 1967. “Many of us are still close friends today.”

And for those young men, outside of classroom time, most of every day centered around football, practicing and thinking about the upcoming game and the team we were up against that week.

“I remember those daily feelings of excitement, anticipation, a little fear,” Dr. Watson said. “I remember memorizing new plays, and having a real hope that ours would be the ‘toughest mentally and physically, most ready, and close-knit team’ that the Cubs had ever had. After all, the coaches always told us that repeatedly.

“We all had a strong sense of friendship and spirit both on and off the field. Football was the center of everyone’s day during that season.”

GOING TO THE BIG GAME

When the Cubs put together their most impressive performance of the postseason to thrash Class 1A’s top-ranked Seagraves, 20-0 in the state semifinals, Clifton went wild. The only thing left standing in the way of the school’s first state title remained the undefeated defending state champion El Maton Tidehaven Tigers at Evans Field on the campus of Southwest Texas State College in San Marcos on Dec. 15, 1967.

On the day of the big game, all businesses in Clifton closed. The team attended a reception at the old Charlie’s Cafe across from The Cliftex Theatre before heading to San Marcos. And as the tteam pulled out of town, the streets were lined with people from businesses, all of the families and hundreds of fans.

“Our send-off for the state game was amazing,” Dr. Watson said. “I remember my dad, Orlette, say on the day we played Tidehaven, ‘there is gonna be nobody left in town tonight but old folks in the nursing home and babysitters.’ The town support was

amazing.”

As Clifton and Tidehaven squared off in the anticipated defensive struggle, the Cubs scored early in the second quarter when Rummel connected with Cub halfback Robert Ledlow for a 22-yard touchdown strike. But the point-after kick hit the crossbar and bounced back leaving Clifton with a 6-0 lead at intermission.

“You are now state champs for the first half of this game,” said Coach Roberts during his halftime pep talk. “So, now let’s go for the second half.”

But late in the third quarter, Tidehaven’s Bill Dannels scored on a touchdown pass, then booted the extra point that proved to be the difference in the game. It’s the one point Clifton gave up that season everyone painfully remembers as Tidehaven nipped the Cubs, 7-6.

“You talk about a heartbreaker,” Rummel said. “We lost by one point. On our kick, the ball hit the upright and bounced right off.”

If the game had ended in a tie, Clifton would have won on penetrations.

“I had heard that Coach Roberts used to pace the floors late at night after our loss and this occurred for a long while,” Anz said. “We beat them all over the field, but lost by one

point on the scoreboard.”

A TEAM TO REMEMBER

Despite the loss, the Cubs were awarded the prestigious Jinx Tucker Award from the Waco Tribune-Herald. The Trib staff doles out the honor after every high school football season to a program that shows team success, improvement throughout the season, sportsmanship, fan support and a will to win in the face of adversity.

It’s emblematic of Tucker, who garnered national respect during a 33-year run as sports editor of the Waco Tribune-Herald. Three years after Tucker’s death in 1953, Dave Campbell, his successor at the Trib, founded the award.

“I remember boarding the bus to return home after the anguishing one-point loss that night of the game,” said Dr. Watson. “Coach Roberts stood up front and said, ‘I don’t want to see a tear or hear any crying from a one of you guys. I am so proud of you. You be proud too, because you men are the only Cubs team in history get to a state championship.”

And 50 years later, they still own that proud distinction. But it’s because of those kinds of moments that the players remember so much more than just the magical season under Coach Roberts.

TEAM TO REMEMBER: The 1967 Clifton Cub varsity lettermen with the trophies and hardware earned on their way to the Class 1A State Championship game against the Tidehaven Tigers (above); Senior team captains include quarterback Rocky Rummel (18), center Bobby Golden (50) and fullback-linebacker Gary Anz (44).

“Motivation, that’s what our best advantage was,” Rummel said. “We had a coach that was a motivator. He could fire you up in such a way that you could do things that you normally couldn’t do.”

THE RIGHT STUFF

But certainly, Coach Roberts took a tough, old-school approach to coaching and building young men.

To build stamina and endurance, Roberts had handle bars mounted on the rear bumper of a 1954 Chevy that the players held onto as he briskly drove around the cinder track shouting, “Don’t you let go!”

“The coaches were tough on us and trained us hard,” Anz said. “Coach Roberts would make us run 50-yard wind sprints, one for every point scored against us in the week’s previous game.”

During two-a-day workouts that lasted two hours each in the 100plus degree August heat, Coach Robert had every segment detailed out, right down to water breaks.

“Coach Roberts would hold the garden hose and time each player’s drink time and say, ‘That’s enough!’” Anz recalled. “Then he’d hand out yellow salt tablets to us.”

Sadly, Coach Roberts passed away in 1983 at the age of 57 and is buried in Trinity Lutheran Cemetery in Clifton.

“Coach Roberts lived for football,” Dr. Watson said. “I remember he would constantly stop each player in the school hallway between classes and ask, ‘How are you feeling today? Are you feeling and thinking tough? Are you feeling ready?

“He always demanded 110 percent from his players. We really liked and respected him, and he felt like each of us was a critical part of the team as a unit, whether we were starters or not.

“I feel like I learned a real sense of team spirit, honesty, love of the

game, and what being winners rather than losers meant in my life. A lot of the values of honesty, motivation, friendship, and purpose in my life I feel I learned from Coach Roberts and the other teachers at CHS.”

THAT WAS THEN, THIS IS NOW

With 105 years of Bosque County high school football behind us, each season offers a renewed sense of hope and excitement about the possibilities for gridiron glory as we continue celebrating the game onward toward the next century mark.

Certainly, the Clifton Cubs had reason to celebrate in 2022 by earning their first trip to the Class 3A, Division II football state playoffs in three years – led by CHS graduate and longtime assistant turned first-year head coach Brent Finney – as the only 11-man football team from Bosque County in the postseason.

And then, the playoffs produced a rematch 55 years in waiting as Clifton faced the El Maton Tidehaven Tigers in a Bi-District playoff game for the first time since the 1967 Class 1A State Championship. With representatives from both teams on hand for the ceremonial coin flip, the rematch offered the kind of nostalgia only found on the football field.

As the Friday night lights glow across the state each fall, a new generation of fans file into the stands as their team takes the field. Every player will hear the roar of the crowd, look into the bleachers and remember how it felt, because high school football memories live on for a lifetime.

So to cherish that moment in time, every high school football player, coach and fan alike should be sure to take the time to walk out onto the gridiron and smell the grass, taking in what it all means to our communities. There’s nothing else quite like it.

BUILDING YOUNG MEN:

Legendary Clifton head coach Aubrey T. Roberts (above center) with his assistants Buddy Ables (above left) and Richard Liardon (above right).

The 1967 Class A State Championship game program (left).

Heart of Texas

DECEMBER

December 13 – Third Annual Bosque Film Society Christmas Party – The Cliftex Theatre, Clifton, 5:30 p.m.

As a part of its new membership drive for 2023, the Bosque Film Society will host its members-only Annual Christmas Party featuring a screening of the traditional Christmas classic “White Christmas” beginning at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, December 13 at the historic Cliftex Theatre in Clifton.

In addition to refreshments and Christmas treats to its members, the Bosque Film Society will be using a real-time voting system allowing members to choose 12 Film Appreciation Night presentations for 2023, followed by the Christmas feature “White Christmas” at approximately 7 p.m. with founding board member and historian Bryan Davis offering an introduction to the classic holiday film.

Established in 2020, Bosque Film Society is a non-profit organization focused on promoting film appreciation, education and production in Bosque County, Texas, while serving as the “Friends of The Cliftex Theatre,” the longest continuouslyoperating movie theater in Texas, showing films on the silver screen since 1916. For information about becoming a member, visit www.bosquefilm.com.

December 17 – Wreaths Across America – Ceremonies held at different cemeteries across Bosque County, 11 a.m. Wreaths Across America adds to that tradition to “remember, honor, and teach” about the service of deceased American veterans, by placing an evergreen wreath on their graves at Christmastime. In Bosque County an army of volunteers place over 1,000 wreaths on veteran’s graves at different cemeteries. Locations where wreaths are placed were Clifton Cemetery, Clifton Memorial Park, Trinity Lutheran Cemetery, Cranfills Gap Cemetery, Boggy Cemetery, St Olaf’s Kirke Cemetery, Lane’s

Chapel Cemetery, Our Savior’s Lutheran Cemetery and Spring Creek Baptist Church.

Months of fundraising to purchase the wreaths proceed the ceremonies. To honor a veteran with a $15 wreath go to www. wreathsacrossamerica.org.

December 17 – Outdoor Movie Night in the Park – John A. Lomax Amphitheater, Meridian Park, Meridian

The Meridian Parks and Recreation Committee invites everyone to their monthly free Outdoor Movie Night at the John A. Lomax Amphitheater in Meridian. This month, the movie is “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” (2000) with Jim Carrey. Who knows, maybe the Grinch and Cindy Lou will pop by too!!

Bring your lawn chair, or an extra blanket. Free popcorn, water and other snacks available. Check the Meridian Parks and Recreation Facebook page for the exact times. The JAL Amphitheater is located at 306 W. River Street, Meridian

December 18 – Drive-through Live Nativity – Clifton Immanuel Lutheran Church, Clifton, 6-9 p.m.

A manger, surrounded by humble people and Kings alike; shepherd’s leaning on their staffs with children tending to their goats; the donkey led by Joseph that carried Mary into Bethlehem and other scenes portraying the life of Jesus Christ. The Clifton Immanuel Lutheran Church offers a perfect way to celebrate and capture the essence of the Christmas season with their drive-through live nativity.

In case of rain, the nativity will be enacted on Sunday, Dec. 19 from 6-9 p.m.

The church is located at 911 W. 3rd Street, Clifton.

December 27 – Bosque Film Society presents Fred Ward Memorial Tribute –The Cliftex Theater, Clifton, 5:30 p.m.

On the week of what would be his 80th birthday, the Bosque Film Society honors actor Fred Ward with a free screening of

article & photographs by SIMONE WICHERS-VOSS

his most well-known movies “The Right Stuff” and “Tremors.” Prior to the movies, there will be a presentation on Ward, with images from his time growing up in Valley Mills. The movie times are to be announced on The Cliftex website: www.cliftex.com and the Bosque Film Society website: www. Bosquefilm.com. The Cliftex Theatre is located at 306 W. Fifth Street, Clifton.

December 31 – Bosque Ball New Year’s Eve Party – Meridian Civic Center, 8 p.m.-1 a.m.

Let out the year and welcome 2023 at Meridian Parks and Recreation’s spectacular New Year’s Eve party!! Meridian Parks and Recreation invites everybody to their BYOB New Year’s Party in the Meridian Civic Center on Dec. 31.

The party lifts off at 8 p.m. and ends sometime after midnight, because that’s when the music stops. Expect a festively decorated venue, and an evening with all sorts of party favors, a charcuterie spread, and amazing music by an exceptional band – MutherMirm & the Mustang Family Band. The Meridian Civic Center is located at 309 W. River Street.

JANUARY

January 1 – Dinosaur Valley 7th Annual Dino Dive – Dinosaur Valley State Park, Glen Rose, 2 p.m.

Jump into the New Year by attending our 7th Annual Dino Dive! Polar plunge into the Paluxy River Blue Hole at Dinosaur Valley State Park, Glen Rose, Texas. The 2023 Dino Dive medal is bronze with an acrocanthosaurus skull with a movable jaw! There are a limited number of medals available so be sure to reserve yours on line at https://fdvsp.com/dino-dive. The

purchase includes free entry into the park that day. And join one of the New Year’s Day hikes and other outdoor activities prior to your cold dip.

Due to current river conditions, the Dino Dive will look different compared to previous years. Be flexible and ready for whatever there is available. Be sure to bring a towel, water, change of clothes, and costume and fun outfits if you like!

Contact the park at dvspgiftshop@yahoo. com for more information.

January 10 – Bingo Night – Bosque Arts Center, Clifton, 7 p.m.

It’s a big night for prizes at the BAC fundraising Bingo. Bring your own favorite beverage and a dinner will be available.

The Bosque Arts Center is located at 215 S. College Hill Drive, Clifton. For tickets or more information, visit www. BosqueArtsCenter.org or call 254-675-3724

January 14 – Bosque County Genealogy and Historical Society lecture on

migration patterns – Clifton Civic Center, Clifton, 1 p.m.

BCGHS researcher LeAnne McCamey offers a presentation on United States Immigrant Migration Patterns – why they left, where they went and the stories they left behind. The presentation is part of the BCGHS regular monthly meeting.

The Clifton Civic Center is located at 403 W. Third Street in Clifton.

January 17 – Bosque Film Society Film Appreciation Night – The Cliftex Theatre, Clifton, 6:30 p.m.

The Bosque Film Society will host its first members-only Film Appreciation Night of 2023 featuring Fritz Lang’s 1927 futuristic silent film classic “Metropolis” beginning at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, January 17 at the historic Cliftex Theatre in Clifton with an introductory presentation by Bosque Film Society founding president Brett Voss.

Perhaps the most famous and influential of all silent films, Metropolis takes place

in 2026 when the populace is divided between workers who must live in the dark underground and the rich who enjoy a futuristic city of splendor. Restored in its full glory with the original orchestral score by Gottfried Huppertz, “Metropolis” featured elaborate sets that laid the groundworks for landmark films like 2001: A Space Odyssey and Blade Runner.

Established in 2020, the Bosque Film Society offers its members free classic movie screenings each month. Since this will be a private showing, BYOB will be allowed, and the theatre concession stand will be open for purchases. Although the event will be closed to the public, those wishing to become Bosque Film Society members will be admitted.

For more information about joining the

Bosque Film Society’s non-profit efforts to support The Cliftex Theatre, the longest continuously-operating movie house in Texas, showing films since 1916, visit the website at: www.bosquefilm.com.

January 21 – Bosque County Genealogical & Historical Society DNA workshop – Clifton Civic Center, Clifton, 9:30 a.m.

Vice-President of the Dallas Genealogical Society Patti Huff Smith returns to offer a DNA workshop “Getting Started with GED match & Beyond” for the Bosque County Genealogical and Historical Society. Please come on time to set up your computer and get online.

Huff begins with a quick review about DNA and how to use your DNA results from your testing site company. Participants

should have DNA testing results from ancestry.com, Family Tree DNA, Myheritage or 23andme at the time of the workshop, and have the GEDmatch account set up by Jan. 19.

For more information contact the BCGHS contact information through their Facebook page or website at bosque-heritage.org or through email at bosquegenealogy@gmail. com.

January 21 – Gene Watson in Concert –Bosque Arts Center, Cllifton, 7 p.m.

The Bosque Arts Center offers the opportunity to hear one of country music’s best ballad singers Gene Watson. His music peers even named the Texas born and raised vocalist “The Singer’s Singer” for his octave jumping range and smooth tone and soulful delivery. Gene Watson has 34 studio albums,

scored over 72 charted songs, including 23 Top Tens and 6 #1 hits over his sixty-year career.

Please call for tickets at 254- 675-3724 or on line at www.bosqueartscenter.org.

The Bosque Arts Center is located at 215 College Hill Drive, Clifton.

FEBRUARY

February 4 – Bosque County Go Texan Extravaganza fundraiser – Texas Safari Saloon, Clifton, 5:30 p.m.

Supporting Bosque County scholarships, the area Go Texan committee is holding their annual Go Texan Extravaganza event Feb. 4. The adult-only event at the Texas Safari Saloon starts at 5:30 p.m. The dinner starts at 6:30 p.m. with the raffle drawing at 7:30 p.m. and a live music dance to follow. Besides a beef tip dinner and live music, there will be a $5,000 grand prize, a stretch raffle and a gun raffle.

Tickets for this great cause and event are $100 per couple can be purchased from any Bosque County Go Texan Committee members. For more information please contact Amanda Alley 254-231-6633 or Kathy Winters at 254-644-2967.

February 4 – Murder Mystery & Dinner – Bosque Arts Center, Clifton, 6:30 p.m.

Help solve the murder at the Bosque Arts center during this Clue-inspired murder mystery dinner. Chef Oz and his team from University High School in Waco along with their master detective Matt Menefee help you solve this dastardly deed over one of their deliciously prepared dinners.

Feel free to adopt one of the characters such as Colonel Mustard, Miss Scarlett, Professor Plum, Mrs. Peacock, Dr. Orchid or

Reverend Green. Dress the part or just come for the fun and great food.

The evening begins at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $100 each and seating is limited to 30. Please call for tickets at 254- 675-3724 or on line at www.bosqueartscenter.org. The Bosque Arts Center is located at 215 College Hill Drive, Clifton.

February 14 – Bosque Film Society Film Appreciation Night – The Cliftex Theatre, Clifton, 6:30 p.m.

The Bosque Film Society will host its monthly members-only Film Appreciation Night featuring the 1952 musical romantic comedy “Singing In The Rain” beginning at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, February 14 at the historic Cliftex Theatre in Clifton with an introductory presentation by Bosque Film Society founding board treasurer Miriam Wallace.

Directed and choreographed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, starring Kelly, Donald O’Connor, and Debbie Reynolds and featuring Jean Hagen, Millard Mitchell and Cyd Charisse, the classic musical offers a lighthearted depiction of Hollywood in the late 1920s, with the three stars portraying performers caught up in the transition from silent films to “talkies.”

Established in 2020, the Bosque Film Society offers its members free classic movie screenings each month. Since this will be a private showing, BYOB will be allowed, and the theatre concession stand will be open for purchases. Although the event will be closed to the public, those wishing to become Bosque Film Society members will be admitted.

For more information about joining the Bosque Film Society’s non-profit efforts to

support The Cliftex Theatre, the longest continuously-operating movie house in Texas, showing films since 1916, visit the website at: www.bosquefilm.com.

February18 – Bosque Animal Rescue Kennel Annual Fundraising Gala –Bosque Arts Center, Clifton, 6 p.m. Celebrating 20 years of this incredible organization that is the ambassador for stray, abused and abandoned dogs in Bosque County is this fundraising gala with a glamorous Hollywood theme this year. There will be a silent auction and raffle along with drinks, appetizers and music starting at 6 p.m. with a dinner starting at 7:30 p.m. and a live auction following.

February 25 – Fairytales On Ice –Bosque Arts Center, Clifton, 2 p.m. & 7 p.m.

Yes, the performers are on ice skates

on a real ice rink on stage in the Bosque Arts Center “Fairytales On Ice.” This family friendly entertainment for both children and adults features two shows, a matinee show starting at 2:00 p.m. Light concessions will be available for sale.

Sponsor tickets on the first two rows, both adults and children are $35 each. Remaining seating is $15 for adults and $10 for kids 16 and under. Please call for tickets at 254- 675-3724 or on line at www. bosqueartscenter.org. The Bosque Arts Center is located at 215 College Hill Drive, Clifton.

February 25 – Annual Clifton Chamber of Commerce Banquet – Texas Safari, Clifton, 6 p.m.

Hospitality for the 53rd annual “Boots and Business” banquet begins at 6 p.m. with dinner by Rocking K & C served at 7 p.m.

Enjoy live music by Miriam Wallace and the Bosque Band, a great stretch raffle and many excellent live auction items. During the banquet, the prestigious Community Service and Lifetime Achievement awards are presented.

Tickets are on sale now, and are limited to 275. Please call Clifton Chamber of Commerce to purchase tickets at 254-6753720.

MARCH

March 3-6 – Walnut Springs Rattlesnake Roundup – Walnut Springs

Annual Walnut Springs Rattlesnake Roundup carnival-style weekend with vendors and snake-handling exhibitions, kids carnival, Saturday night dance, IBCA sanctioned

Rattlesnake BBQ cookoff and Snake hunters prizes – most pounds, and heaviest snake –Sunday, all proceeds go towards the Walnut Springs Youth in Agriculture

March 14 – Bosque Film Society Film Appreciation Night – The Cliftex Theatre, Clifton, 6:30 p.m.

The Bosque Film Society will host its monthly members-only Film Appreciation Night featuring Alfred Hitchcock’s 1959 spy thriller “North By Northwest” beginning at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 14 at the historic Cliftex Theatre in Clifton with an introductory presentation by Bosque Film Society founding filmmaker-in-residence William Godby.

Established in 2020, the Bosque Film Society offers its members free classic movie screenings each month. Since this will be a private showing, BYOB will be allowed, and the theatre concession stand will be open for purchases. Although the event will be closed

to the public, those wishing to become Bosque Film Society members will be admitted.

For more information about joining the Bosque Film Society’s non-profit efforts to support The Cliftex Theatre, the longest continuously-operating movie house in Texas, showing films since 1916, visit the website at: www.bosquefilm.com.

March 22-29 – eBAC Online Auction –Bosque Arts Center, Clifton

For more details and items available for bid, visit the Bosque Arts Center website at: www. bosqueartscenter.org.

March 25 – Outdoor Movie Night in the Park – John A. Lomax Amphitheater, Meridian Park, Meridian

The Meridian Parks and Recreation invites everyone to their monthly free Outdoor Movie Night in the Park at the John A. Lomax Amphitheater in Meridian Park featuring the 2009 mystery action film “Sherlock Holmes”

with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law.

Bring your lawn chair, or an extra blanket. Free popcorn, water and other snacks available. Check the Meridian Parks and Recreation Facebook page for the exact times. The JAL Amphitheater is located at 306 W. River Street, Meridian.

March 31-April 1 – 41st Annual Big Event Weekend – Bosque Arts Center, Clifton

Viva Las Vegas Casino Night, Friday, March 31, 7-10 p.m. $50 per person

Big Event Annual Dinner, Saturday, April 1, 5 p.m., $250 per ticket. Dinner, drinks, silent auction & raffle followed by premium seating for Elvis tribute artist, Al Joslin in concert, Frazier Performance Hall.

Elvis Is In The House! Elvis Tribute Artist Concert, Saturday, April 1, 7 p.m. Concert Only Seating, $75 and $50 reserved seating. Frazier Performance Hall. Tickets on sale to the public February 27.