New Site: Buck Fergerson Originals!

If your travels ever bring you anywhere near Bellville, Texas, you really MUST stop in to Buck Fergeson Originals. Not only is it conveniently located right in the square of Bellville, but it is well worth any distance trip. From Linens to wall hangings and from kitchen materials to the neatest furniture you will ever see, the story is as wonderful as the story behind the name...

"Buck" Fergeson spent the first 25 years of his life following his father's footsteps as a Rodeo Cowboy. In the off season he worked as a ranch hand, truck driver and oilfield roughneck. Buck was a regular man's man.

He never had any formal training in art, but he put in many hours with his sketch pad, pencil and carving knife. Buck's first love was wood carving, and with constant prodding of his friends and family, he ventured into clay, wax and bronze sculptures. He started to make sculpted jewelry out of pieces of gold and silver.

Aside from that, Buck was the proud gold card member of the Pro-Rodeo Cowboys Association, and a lifetime member of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. For 17 years he made the bronze sculptured trophies that were presented to the champion bull rider, steer wrestler, calf roper and barrel racer. On February 10th of 2001, Buck was honored by being inducted into the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame in Belton, Texas.

After time, he and his wife JoAnn settled in Bellville, Texas where they shows and sold art in their shop on the square. Their daughter, Kerri Byler, has since introduced a few new items to the shop, such as a complete line of children's clothing, ladies' clothing, home dècor and specialty items. She even has set up a baby and bridal registry.

Since Buck's retirement as a vice president for a Houston fabricating firm, he spent most of his time in the shop or at the studio in his home. His rodeo career, along with his many and varied experiences lend themselves to the creating of the characters and situations found in most of his sculptures. When some used to ask him where an idea came from, he would admit to saying, "I've been there."

Buck's memory is in each of his pieces which are on display and available for purchase at the shop he created so many years ago. Whether you are looking for a piece of Texas history, or a piece to finish the perfect outfit, Buck Fergeson Originals will surely be the right stop.

Visit their website to see some of the wonderful collections and pieces they have to offer.

Redesigned Site: Gulf Coast Surplus!

Gulf Coast Surplus, Inc. has been in business for over 10 years near Houston, Texas. GCS provides new and used restaurant equipment, grocery store equipment, restaurant fixtures, warehouse equipment, and food and bakery prep equipment. During this period, they have been supplying independent businessmen with quality new, used and refurbished equipment. GCS is located just 30 minutes southwest of Houston in Wharton, Texas. Their sales professionals have over 40+ years of grocery/restaurant experience to answer all your questions.

Gulf Coast Surplus offers the best source of new and used supermarket, restaurant, food and bakery equipment on the Gulf Coast. In addition, customers will see a savings of 40% to 60% on used and refurbished equipment and appliances over buying new materials. GCS offers complete store packages, buying and selling equipment as well as expert advice in determining the right equipment for your business.

They are your one stop shop for:

·         Warehouse Equipment and Fixtures

·         Food Prep Equipment

·         Bakery Equipment and Fixtures

·         Restaurant Appliances and Fixtures

·         Stainless Steel Sinks and Tables

·         Cold Room- Walk in Coolers/ Freezers

·         Floral Displays

·         Smalls Wares

·         Ice Machines

·         Soft Serve Machines

·         Competitive Pricing on New

They invite you to stop by and take a look at their showroom anytime! For more information, visit Gulf Coast Surplus, Inc. online.

Rhinestone Gala gone gorgeous!

Earlier this month, Faith Christian Academy held an event fit for the stars; the inaugural Rhinestone Cowboy Gala. This night was a charitable fundraising event for FCA. We were lucky enough to be asked to handle the graphic design and web design and promotion for this event. We have been working with FCA on their site, and what better way to tie everything together? RHD handled the Gala website, online ticket ordering, gig posters, invitations, programs, and much more.

But we didn't stop at promo materials, we also had a table at the event in which we invited some of our closest friend. Attendants included Bob and Vanessa Hudgins, Jim and Luann Williams, Harry and Sarah Goudeau, Brandon Cutrer, Kolton Thigpen and Gene and Sammie Johnston.

The evening was a huge success and we would like to thank the FCA crew for letting us be a part of it!!

Deep in the Heart Movie

This weekend, a new movie is being released here in Texas about Richard "Dick" Wallrath, owner of Champion Ranch and special donor to Texas FFA and 4-H.

The movie will be playing all this weekend (Opening February 17th) at Cinemark Theatres in Texas. Depending on how the movie goes over in Texas this first weekend, it may be released nationwide!

The movie is about a real Texas rancher. Wallrath owns Champion Ranch in Centerville, Texas which raises Brangus cattle. The movie tells the true story of how faith brought Wallrath a second chance. He had hit rock bottom, losing everything - jobs, hope, and his family. Dick found faith, picked himself up and trudged on to eventually earn back the love of his children, build a nationally successful window company and become the leading all-time individual donor to Texas 4-H and Texas FFA Association.



This sounds to me to be a great inspiring movie about a man who has helped so many youth! Make plans to go see it this weekend, or to learn more, visit http://deepintheheartmovie.com. 

Shorthorn Fever

This time of year always gets us excited about those furry little Shorthorn show prospects, especially when we design the ads and post the new pictures on the WHR website for the Lone Star Edition!

Tag the Date!

Lately we have had the wonderful task of designing save the dates and wedding invites for some of our favorite couples. We are always so honored to play even a small part in their special day that we have to share it with everyone! The save the dates we did for RHD Rep, Cassie Link, were no exception. I warn you - all soon to be brides involved with the cattle industry, prepare to be jealous!!!

How great are these?? Such an awesome idea and such a wonderful couple!!! It is most definitely one of the perks to our job!

If you are interested in getting your own set of custom designed invites, cards or "tag the dates", please contact one of our project managers, tricia@ranchhousedesigns.com or joelynn@ranchhousedesigns.com. We would love to help you with your special day!!

Who's ready for Prom season?!

One of the many perks to our job is getting to work with some extremely talented clients. One of which happens to be a local hotspot for anyone needing anything under the event design category. Jan Powell and her business Rooms to Blooms have been providing Wharton and the surrounding area with top notch interior decoration and floral design for years. Today, we had the awesome opportunity to see some of her masterpieces. She made these for the East Bernard High School Prom, which is this weekend.

How awesome are these?!?! It made us want to go to Prom just by looking at them!! If you want to see more of Jan's awesome designs, check out the Rooms to Blooms website!

Violeta Ranch Beefmaster Sale Trip

Last weekend, I had a wonderful opportunity to attend the Violeta Beefmaster Sale in Hebbronville, Texas, where I was on a mission to buy some cattle for me and Brandon. Brandon was already committed to judging  a show that weekend so I was given the charge to handle buying the cattle for us. Wait. So anyone who is reading this is probably thinking - What? Brandon sent you to south Texas to buy cattle all by yourself. Nah...just kidding. I had the real professional Jim Williams there to help me. But I actually did the picking and bidding, and he did the advising and hauling.

My mom and dad bought a little place in Premont, Texas this year which has become their vacation get-away. Premont is a little town in south Texas that is about 30 minutes away from Kingsville. Home of "The Oasis" restaurant, alma mater of my uncle Terry Powell. And now home of V8 Ranch - South Texas Division.

So we began our trip on Friday afternoon, and after 3 hours of Mollie crying in the car we made it to the V8 Ranch South Texas Division. Mom agreed to keep Mollie Saturday while Dad and I went to the sale. Dad and I got up first thing Saturday morning and made the drive from Premont to Hebbronville, home of Violeta Ranch. Now when I say "Hebbronville, Texas", I say that loosely. Keep in mind that down here, towns are REALLY spread out. The ranch, who's address is Hebbronville, is actually 33 miles south of town, but that is how far they have to go to get to town. 

Following the directions in the sale catalog, we arrived at the beautiful Violeta Ranch, owned by the Garza Family, and home of one of the top two oldest Beefmaster herds in the United States (Lasater and Violeta). We turned into the ranch entrance, and began a trek down several miles of dirt roads, and 3 gates, to finally arrive at the sale site. I'll be honest, at first we thought we were totally going to the wrong place. There were no signs, no people, no visible sale barn in sight, etc. 

Then finally, after crossing through several pastures, we started seeing signs of life (Beefmaster bulls) and we knew we were on the right path.  

To say Jim Williams was in a South Texas paradise is an understatement. As soon as we arrived we both just fell in love with the beautiful ranch setting, the brush country, and the Beefmaster cattle. The Garza family hosted a DELICIOUS south Texas lunch of carne guisada and pan de camp (camp bread) along with the best cakes and desserts you can imagine. Oh and the ice tea was also to die for. 

The sale was a very comfortable and hospitable atmosphere. They sold 80 head (40 bulls and 40 heifers) of ranch raised, linebred Beefmaster cattle that as auctioner Anthony Mihalski described as "Buffal Bred" (i.e. Buffal Grass).  Upon arriving, one of the things I got a chuckle about was the two little baby javelinas (wild hog) that were just milling around the sale. They had made themselves at home and greeted the sale-goers.

We also loved their beautiful working pens, including this fence which is made of solid wood.

After going through the cattle, Dad and I had marked about 16 heifers as ones that we wanted. We set our budget, then sat through 40 head of sale bulls to await the heifer sale. As the heifer sale began, I started bidding, and unfortunately found that nearly every heifer sold outside of our budget, which was $1500/head. We had about 10 marked as "definite must have's" but alas, they got too high for our pocketbooks. Ironically, the family sitting behind us (2 of the 5 white people in attendance) bought most of our favorites...and turns out they also have a ranch in PREMONT, just like Dad! Once the family saw that I was bidding, and getting outbid, on nearly every lot, they leaned over and asked me which ones I had marked, and promised not to bid against me. How nice. 

I did end up getting 3 heifers, all of which were dunn colored, so I'm guessing maybe the buyers preferred the buyers preferred the solid red colored Beefmasters better. When we went to checkout in the ranch office, we were greeted by this amazing creature....

 What an awesome deer! We were also informed by the ranch staff that this deer was actually part of the "B team" of deer on the ranch, and that there are some much bigger!

All in all, we had a wonderful time, and we definitely plan on going back next year. After the sale, we ended up staying the rest of the weekend, so we could go to the Falfurrias Church of Christ, which is a lovely church that my parents have been attending when they are down at the Premont ranch. Here's a picture of little Mollie all dressed up for her Sunday church. (This dress was given to her by some of our Brahman partners in Brazil, The Jacintho's, and we thought Mollie looked like such a little lady!

And finally, as we pulled out of the drive, look what else we saw!!!!!

This is a blue indigo snake, which eats rattlesnakes. It isn't poisonous so my dad loves to see these things on the ranch and refuses to shoot them. 

New RHD Site: Wilkins Brothers Cattle!

RHD would like to introduce you to the Wilkins Brothers, where the family has been raising and selling show steers since 1978. The crew at Wilkins Brothers carefully analyzes their genetic selections in order to produce the best cattle, capable of show ring success and functionality in the pasture. They have extensive skills, knowledge and experience in raising club calves that they utilize to provide exceptional and personalized service to their customers. While their primary focus has always been to raise quality cattle, the brothers also strive to cater to the wants and needs of the junior exhibitor.

If you are in the market for a show steer, a group of bred heifers, or a club calf bull; please contact the Wilkins Brothers.

Don’t forget that their Pasture Bid-Off sale is next week on January 23, 2012. They are selling calves out of Heat Wave, Milkman, Untouchable, Walks Alone and Texas Rocks (Heat Wave Son). Initial bids must be in by dark and you will not want to miss out on this offering! Steers like this will be selling...

Check out their sale page for more information.

Winners Don't Whine, They Hustle

As I returned home from the Fort Worth Stock Show today, I was delighted to see a copy of the new book called "Winners Don't Whine, They Hustle" in my mailbox. This is a new book written by a personal friend of mine, Dr. Chris Boleman. It is so exciting to me that one of my good lifelong friends and I both published books at the same time.

Last year, I had the pleasure and honor of working with Dr. Chris Boleman on another book project, the "Big Hands, Big Heart" book about Dr. Hesby. But actually I have known the Boleman's for MUCH longer than that. Believe it or not, we actually both showed together in the Texas Junior Livestock program. Chris is MUCH older than me. HA. I remember as I was a young girl showing in the TCCA that the Boleman twins, Chris and Craig, pretty much won every steer show you can imagine with their awesome Brangus steers. I distinctly remember the first time I met them, along with their parents Pat and Dr. Larry Boleman at a prospect show in Cleburne, Texas.

Later, when I started school at A&M, I worked for Dr. Larry Boleman for 4 years as a student worker in the beef cattle extension office. Best times of my life. And then even later than that, when I went back to work at A&M after grad school as the marketing coordinator for animal science, my office was next door to Dr. Boleman. So, to say that I love the Boleman family, well that is an understatement. It's a fact that if weren't for Pat and Dr. Larry Boleman, and Dr. John McNeill, I probably wouldn't be where I am today.

Through these relationships I also had the honor of meeting Dr. Tanksley, who is Pat's dad, Chris's granddad. A wonderful man who was a friend to all. A true Extension educator.

So all of this, I guess counts as a recommendation for the book. To be honest, I have been seeing this book promoted all over the internet for the past few weeks, but I didn't quite know what to expect. When I got it, I was hooked after the first pages. The book has lots of great stories about Dr. Tanksley, the Extension mission, and the special way that so many Extension educators can touch our lives. Then it has lots of great poems too that all relate to livestock.

This book is one of the best books I have ever seen to describe the mission and the heart of Extension educators. And anyone who's done anything in agriculture can attest that along the way, an Extension educator helped them. Whether it be a county agent, a state beef specialist, or a 4-H leader, the people who believe in the Extension program make a huge difference in the lives of farmers, ranchers, showmen, and more. Quite simply, I LOVE Extension programs and educators. And this book is one that describes one of the best: Dr. T.D. Tanksley. Oh man, it's a great one. I highly recommend it to anyone who's ever showed livestock in Texas, or the nation for that matter.

You can order it online at http://bolemanpublishing.com/onlinemarket/itemdetails.aspx?ID=167&PID=10662

And, a personal BIG congratulations to Chris (and to Randi, who probably put in just as much work as CTB did on this one) for publishing an amazing book that is sure to touch the lives of everyone who reads it!