Diann spent the entire day working the registration and check-out table at the McKenzie's 15th Annual Bull Sale. This was her fifth year to work it. She is out there all day long and is a real trooper.
The entire thing has become a combination family reunion and glimpse of a disappearing way of life.
Almost everyone in the Fort Stockton-Marfa-Alpine-Fort Davis region who still raises livestock was there. Many of the larger ranches have been sold to corporations who turn the property into hunting retreats for clients, but the cow-calf operators all show up for this thing.
It all starts with a full barbecue lunch for everyone who comes.
It then moves on to be a social hour as folks visit before the auction kicks off. Good to see the only other Baylor alumni (besides me!) in Pecos County, Walter Groth and his wife Janet.
(Walter played end at Baylor under John Bridgers, then was drafted by the NY Jets in 1970!)
Also good to see my "neighbors", Ernest Woodward and Warren Nutt. (They don't show it in the photo, but they are both funny guys. Crack me up whenever I talk to them. Dry wit, well timed.)
Of course it IS a bull sale auction, so let's get to the bull. These are all registered, Black Angus bulls, going for a top dollar.
Sarah and Lydia (Houston and Laura's daughters) helped the auctioneer run the show, while grandson Henry herded the bulls into the pen.
Entire affair was held inside one of their hay barns.
It's all a snapshot of life out in Texas, west of the Pecos River. Glad to be a part of it!!!
The entire thing has become a combination family reunion and glimpse of a disappearing way of life.
Almost everyone in the Fort Stockton-Marfa-Alpine-Fort Davis region who still raises livestock was there. Many of the larger ranches have been sold to corporations who turn the property into hunting retreats for clients, but the cow-calf operators all show up for this thing.
It all starts with a full barbecue lunch for everyone who comes.
It then moves on to be a social hour as folks visit before the auction kicks off. Good to see the only other Baylor alumni (besides me!) in Pecos County, Walter Groth and his wife Janet.
(Walter played end at Baylor under John Bridgers, then was drafted by the NY Jets in 1970!)
Also good to see my "neighbors", Ernest Woodward and Warren Nutt. (They don't show it in the photo, but they are both funny guys. Crack me up whenever I talk to them. Dry wit, well timed.)
Of course it IS a bull sale auction, so let's get to the bull. These are all registered, Black Angus bulls, going for a top dollar.
Sarah and Lydia (Houston and Laura's daughters) helped the auctioneer run the show, while grandson Henry herded the bulls into the pen.
Entire affair was held inside one of their hay barns.
It's all a snapshot of life out in Texas, west of the Pecos River. Glad to be a part of it!!!
“If you have a job without aggravations, you don’t have a job.”
Malcolm Forbes
Malcolm Forbes