heritage magazine fall 2015

HeritageFall 2015

Azle News Springtown Epigraph

Texas Trick

RopersFinding a

‘lost’ forest

A tour of local

wineries

2 | Heritage | Fall 2015

Fall 2015 | Heritage | 3

IN THIS ISSUE

16 The Last Horse Ropers On the CoverOn the Cover

A father and son team – the Durhams of Azle – are keeping an Old West tradition alive.

24 Where are we now?Good luck ID’ing these close-up photos – 2 each from Lake Worth, Springtown, and Azle.

8 Is Milk Good for You?˜ e pros and cons of milk consumption – and a replacement recipe.

6 Fall FestivalsGet ready for big fun with shindigs in Azle, Springtown, and Lake Worth.

4 Lost Maples SNANortheast fall color in southwest Texas.

34 Cooking HeritageNothing says autumn like pumpkins!

10 Winery Tour No. 1 A retired doctor’s local wine history sent him all the way to Austin to change the law.

High-fl ying antics ensue when trick roper Kenneth Durham gets going – he’s shown here in the mid-dle of a “wedding loop” trick. This photo and cover by Misty Shaw

© 2015 Azle News

Heritage Magazine is published quarterly as a supplement to the Azle News and Springtown Epigraph.The entire content of each issue of Heritage Magazine is protected under the Federal Copyright Act. Reproduction of

any portion of any issue is expressly forbidden without the prior written consent of the publisher.321 W. Main St. Azle, TX 76020, 817.270.3340

30 Here we are now!Answers to the quiz on Page 24.

26 Calendar of EventsFall means a slew of activities in every town!

20 Winery Tour No. 2Elegant and approachable, you won’t ÿ nd another winery anywhere like LightCatcher.


Travel | Heritage

Lost Maples SNAForget the Northeast – see brilliant fall foliage right here in Texas

By Mark K. CampbellWant to see some incredible tree color this au-

tumn?You don’t have to head to the Northeast; in fact,

you need to head southwest.The trees in Lost Maples State Natural Area ex-

plode in color in October and November.Naturally, some years are better than others, but

even in down seasons, the beauty never fails to amaze those who think Vermont when they think fall.

It’s a trek – over 320 miles – but you’ll witness something seldom seen in Texas: bona fide au-tumn splendor.

With the clear, cool, spring-fed Sabinal River coursing past camping areas, Lost Maples offers plenty to do if you venture there in the summer-time, too.

Plus the incredibly popular Garner State Park is nearby, so Lost Maples gets plenty of visitors in winter, spring, and summer.

But it’s fall when Lost Maples gets so popular that, even with 250 parking spaces, it literally has to limit entry at times.

Things begin ramping up in October when the Texas Parks and Wildlife website begins its weekly online update – with photos – on the turn-ing of the leaves.

The park is usually at its most brilliant around Thanksgiving – for residents of the area, visiting on that holiday is a family tradition.

However, every year is different.Last fall, a cold front hit in early November, giv-

ing the leaves the jolt they needed to turn.One wonder of Lost Maples is that hiking trails

– some rugged along limestone cliffs and canyons and others through plateau meadows – allow the adventurous to see sights that casual visitors will not.

The East Trail is especially popular. A 3.8-mile jaunt – labeled “challenging” on the map – offers two scenic overlooks, perfect for enchanting breaks.

The one-half mile longer West Trail is also “challenging” as it ventures into Mystic Canyon; a “moderate” loop of 2.37 miles off West Trail heads to a remote Ashe juniper grove.

For those seeking less strenuous outings, a pair of one-mile, “easy” trails offer ample color and shade.

And, in exceptional years, there is a stunning array of chang-ing leaves to see everywhere.

Aside from the maples – which include the unique Uvalde big-tooth – several oaks and other species change color around the

Opportunities for hiking, camping, and leaf-peeping abound at Lost Maples State Natural Area in the Texas Hill Country. The best fall color in the park is found along the East Trail. Photo by Misty Shaw


same time, too.Park officials recommend fall visitors try to arrive on a

weekday; otherwise, on weekends, you might have a wait to get in.

The entrance fee is $6 daily for ages 13 and up.For those not staying in nearby Utopia (15 miles) or Ban-

dera (38 miles), campsites are available in the park.There are 30 with electricity and water ($20 nightly) and

40 more primitive (hike-in) campsites ($10).Reservations can be made online at www.tpwd.texas.

gov and there’s plenty more information about Lost Maples there, too. Just click on “Texas State Parks.”

Geocachers will be glad to know the park has two hidden caches, part of the Texas State Parks Geocache Challenge.

Birdwatchers might spy rare species, including the green kingfisher. And animal lovers might see a bobcat or jave-lina.

However, it’s the autumn leaves that are the stars.So head southwest, not northeast, for some memorable

fall foliage – and try to remember you’re in Texas, not Ver-mont.

Take a stroll along the scenic banks of the Sabinal River, which flows through the heart of Lost Maples SNA. Photos by Misty Shaw


Outdoors | Heritage

Fall FestivalsBy Misty Shaw

Ahh, autumn!It’s the season of sweater weather, all things pumpkin, and

of course, the area’s annual fall festivals.Offering everything from steak cook-offs to bullfrog races,

these local celebrations have a little something for everyone, so bring the whole family and come hungry!

Sting Fling 2015Sept. 11-12 in Azle

Hornet fans will gather on Main Street in Azle this fall for the annual Sting Fling Festival, slated for Saturday, Sept. 12, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

The event is coordinated by the Azle Area Chamber of Commerce (AACC).

“This year’s Sting Fling will be hosted in the business district of downtown Main Street,” said AACC Executive Director Beth Crowe. “All of our white tent booths will be lined up and down the center of Main Street from Roe Street to Church Street, with a free children’s area at the entrance to Central Park.”

Sting Fling offers amusements galore, including midway rides and other activities that start on Friday, Sept. 11.

“We have the well-known travelling carnival, Talley Amusements, showing up to the front of 404 Main Place to keep things fun and energetic on Friday and Saturday,” Crowe said.

This year’s event also features a steak cook-off competi-tion officially sanctioned by the national Steak Cookoff As-sociation (SCA).

“We will have the SCA steak cook-off in our field teas-ing everyone with the aromas from their grills,” Crowe said, “and the winner of the Azle SCA Steak Cook-Off will qualify for the 2015 SCA World Steak Cookoff held at Billy Bob’s, where Gary Allen will be headlining the event.”

Sting Fling features all the usual festival staples such as food vendors, face painters, first aid and informational booths, a car show and a photo booth, as well as the Weiner Dog Derby, a flight simulator, and the Color Fling 5K.

And in the evening, head over to the Central Park amphi-

theater for live music from 7-9 p.m.“It’s going to be an incredible year for the Sting Fling

Festival,” said Crowe. “The committee works really hard to bring Azle the best, and I think they’ve really outdone them-selves this year.”

For more information, visit www.azlechamber.com/Azle-Sting-Fling.84.0.html.

The 31st Annual Wild West Festival and16th Annual BBQ Cook-Off

Sept. 19 in Springtown

Brought to you by the Springtown Area Chamber of Com-merce, this year’s Wild West Festival and BBQ Cook-off promises to be the biggest and best yet.

The event runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 19, in downtown Springtown.

More than 200 arts and crafts and informational vendors will take over the Square downtown and Springtown City Park for the annual celebration, which also includes a parade and live entertainment under the Tabernacle.

Food vendors will be on hand dispensing tasty festival sta-ples like turkey legs, sausage on a stick, kettle corn, cotton candy, and of course, funnel cakes.

And teams of cooks will be vying for top honors in the BBQ Cook-Off, an event sanctioned by the International Barbecue Cookers Association.

Keep the kids entertained in the park with puppet shows, pony rides, a bounce house, an obstacle course, and much more throughout the day.

Musical performers include local favorites Faye Rowell (singing classics from Patsy Cline) and Wisper Cox, as well as the 20-piece brass ensemble The Buffalo Bill Cowboy Band.

In addition, the Legends of Texas Gunfighters will return to wow festivalgoers with Western gunfights and comedy skits.

Last year’s popular Beard Contest will again be a part of the festivities, as will the Wild West Jail fundraiser operated by National Honor Society students from Springtown High School.

For more information, visit www.wildwestfestival.org.

Steak cook-offs, gunfights, and bullfrog races – what’s not to love?


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Bullfrog West FestOct. 9-10 in Lake Worth

The community of Lake Worth is gearing up for its third annual Bullfrog West Fest, to be held Oct. 9 and 10 at Com-munity Park (on the service road of Loop 820).

The family-friendly event is the year’s biggest fundraiser for the Northwest Tarrant Lions Club; proceeds from ticket sales are used to provide schoolchildren with eyeglasses at Lake Worth elementary schools. Last year over 500 area students received new glasses.

In keeping with the bygone “bullfrog days” of Lake Worth, the Lions Club sought out Chute 2 Productions to produce the event in collaboration with the City of Lake Worth.

The festival kicks off with bull riding on Friday night fol-lowed by a second competition on Saturday night.

Food vendors will be on hand, and the weekend also in-cludes live music, mutton bustin’, and stick horse races for

the kids.Chute 2 Pro-

ductions brings in all the chutes and builds a special 100-foot arena for the venue, complete with big screen TVs to replay all the action.

“It’s not just a buck-out, it’s a bull riding

show,” said Kelly Clark of Chute 2 Productions. “We set up the portable arena, the grandstands, and the whole facility.

“Our bull rider field has really spread,” added Clark, bringing in riders from Kansas, Arizona, and surrounding states for the sanctioned event.

Last year’s festival also included a very popular Bullfrog Race with several local mayors competing for a trophy, which will again be a part of the festivities this year.

“The mayor of Springtown actually won it last year,” Clark said. “They bring in big ol’ bullfrogs from Louisiana” for the race, which are then taken back to their home state.

Clark said the festival has “grown each year, because of the great location – it should be our biggest show yet.

“This year we’ll actually have a carnival with it, so it’s very festive.”

For more information, visit www.chute2productions.com.

Bull riders compete at the Bullfrog West Fest.


Health | Heritage

By Jessica Brace, D.C., C.C.S.P.Some of us grew up in an era where

we were taught that milk was good for us, needed for our bones, and does our body good. For those confused now, is milk good for us? Should we be consuming nut-based, no-dairy milk, soy milk, or any other type of milk/lactose-free substitute in our crazy clean eating, healthy lives?

I will be addressing the changes in cow’s milk over the past few decades and the reason people are trending toward raw milk and/or nut-based milks, such as almond and cashew.

By design, milk is intended for the biggest growth spurt of our lives. Think about it – after birth our moth-er’s milk can grow a newborn from approximately 8 pounds to 20 pounds, depending on the size of the child and the time spent breast feeding. From the time an infant begins breast feeding to about four years of age, we produce the enzyme lactase to be able to digest lactose, or milk sugar. All baby mam-mals produce lactase but production of the enzyme declines and may even disappear after weaning.

At four years of age, this enzyme has decreased to approximately 5 to 10 percent of what we produced as a baby. Therefore, we do not pos-sess the ability to break down, digest and absorb the “nutrients” from any source of dairy milk. This lactose in our bodies creates bacterial growth in our intestines and a mucus reaction. So many people these days blame so many things on allergies and they are correct; these allergies form in re-

sponse to the dairy invasion and not being able to break down what we are putting into our bodies.

Milk is not the most reliable source of calcium. A study of osteopo-rosis (brittle bone/bone loss) shows 40 million Amer-ican women to be diagnosed, though only 250,000 Af-rican women have bone disease. In fact, of the 40 tribes in Kenya and Tanzania, only one, the Maasai, has members suffer-ing from osteoporosis. The Maasai, as it happens, is the only cattle-raising, milk-drinking tribe (1).

There are more readily available forms of many of the vitamins, min-erals and nutrients that we need from our diet. According to the New En-gland Journal of Medicine, there is some evidence that pasteurization alters lactose, making it more read-ily absorbable. This, and the fact that pasteurized milk puts an unnecessary strain on the pancreas to produce di-gestive enzymes, may explain why milk consumption in civilized societ-ies has been linked with diabetes (2).

Now, some lucky people are geneti-cally equipped to digest milk in all its forms; however, paying attention to the type and source of milk that does

your body so good is en-tirely up to you. This is where a lot of people stop paying attention to how it af-fects your body and start to pay more atten-tion to the cost and the ease of availability.

A century ago, cows

produced three to four gallons per day, versus those today that produce four times that much. This is accomplished by selective breeding with cows that have overactive pituitary glands and high protein diets. The pituitary gland produces the hormones that stimulate the production of milk and prolactin, as well as growth hormone. These hormones are commonly passed in milk along with the antibiotics used to treat the cows due to the fact they are prone to diseases because of the overactive pituitary gland. According to the USDA, one in six dairy cows in the U.S. suffers from clinical masti-tis, which is responsible for one in six dairy cow deaths on U.S. dairy farms. This reason alone is why so many people are turning to raw milk (3).

Almond milk generally contains fewer calories than cow’s milk, but

Does milk really do a body good?To milk or not to milk...is a really good question


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it depends on the type of milk you buy. Unsweetened almond milk provides just 30 calories per cup versus 90 calories in a cup of skim cow’s milk. One-percent low-fat milk contains 110 calories, two-percent milk provides 130 calories, and whole cow’s milk contains 150 calories per cup. Sweetened vanilla-fl avored almond milk gener-ally contains 90 calories in each cup.

If you must have milk on your cereal, in your coffee, or with your chocolate, the ease of availability that I mentioned above is in your favor. You can now buy al-mond milk, cashew milk, and sometimes coconut milk at your local grocer. Raw milk is still quite hard to fi nd, unless you are near a Whole Foods or local dairy farm that sells it.

Make good and healthful decisions when deciding what you choose to fuel your body. Sometimes milk is not just milk – you may be getting a lot more for your buck than you bargained for.

References(1) Nourishing Traditions, Fallon,S. ISBN: 0967089735(2) N Engl J Med 1995; 333:1358-1359 November 16, 1995(3) US Dept of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service

Ingredients:• 2 cups raw almonds• 2 teaspoons sea salt• fi ltered water• 1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut (an addi-

tional half cup is optional)• 1/4 cup whey (optional – only if you want to fer-

ment the milk)• 1 tsp vanilla• optional: 1/8 cup raw honey or grade B maple syrup,

or Rapadura (See page 536 of Nourishing Traditions for a guide to natural sweeteners)

• 2 teaspoons dolomite (inexpensive and natural cal-cium source)

Preparation:1. Place the almonds, the 2 tsp sea salt and cover with

fi ltered water in a bowl. Leave them to soak 7 hours or overnight. Drain the almonds into a colander and rinse.

2. Place the soaked almonds into a blender or food processor. Add the 1/2 cup coconut and 1 quart of WARM water. Blend the almonds, coconut and water together for a few minutes, then let the mixture sit for 10 minutes.

3. Drain the “milk” off of the almond-coconut meal into a bowl, using a tightly woven strainer or cheese-cloth, or paper towels over a colander. Do not throw the almond-coconut meal away because you will be using it again to make milk. The “milk” that is now in the bowl is the “whole” milk.

4. Place the used almond-coconut chunky meal back into the blender and add another quart of WARM wa-ter (optional: add a half-cup more coconut if desired). Blend the mixture together for a few minutes, then let it sit and steep for at least 5 minutes.

5. Drain this next milk batch into the bowl, this is the “skim milk.” Now you can put the two milks together or enjoy the whole milk separately, it’s up to you. I put them together. Makes 1/2 gallon.

Almond Coconut Milk (Nourishing Traditions Cookbook)


Day Trip | Heritage

Winery Tour: La Buena VidaBy Misty Shaw

Life is good at La Buena Vida Vineyards in Springtown, where owner and winemaker extraordinaire Dr. Bobby G. Smith has worked hard to make it so.

A veritable font of wine and cheese-making knowledge – the subtle arts of which he learned from his parents – the 80-year-old physician is a pioneer in the Texas wine indus-try.

He also authored some important winemaking legislation in Texas, making it possible (in part) for his and other win-eries to flourish here.

When he set out to create his estate, Dr. Smith was one of only a handful of winemakers in the entire state.

Dr. Smith built La Buena Vida Vineyards from the ground up in 1972; the property just south of Springtown proper was part of an abandoned dairy farm he’d purchased in ’71.

“The first year I planted any vines, I planted about three acres, and that just about killed me – that was work like you couldn’t believe,” he said. “And I knew a lot about grow-ing grapes – I wasn’t just an airhead doctor that decided he wanted to be a wine farmer – but the land was badly eroded and had lay fallow for about 10 years.”

Get a taste of the good life with vintage and vittles

Run by Dr. Bobby G. Smith for decades, the verdant Smith Estate vineyard as seen from a hillside – it’s a hidden jewel located just outside of Springtown. Photo by Misty Shaw


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A native of Northern Alabama, Smith was the son of a dairyman who also grew grapes. “I always had it in my mind that I wanted to be a grape farmer of sorts someday, based on my family back-ground,” he said.

Dr. Smith learned how to make cheese from his mother, Nanie Bell, whose name and visage graces the label of the cheeses he crafts using her recipe.

Nanie Bell made good use of excess milk from the Smith family dairy by making cheese which she aged in the basement before giv-ing it away to customers and friends.

As a young man, Dr. Smith attended college for two years before becoming a pilot in the U.S. Air Force, where he served for five years.

He was then recruited with a scholarship to attend Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, where he met his bride of 62 years, Charlotte.

After finishing medical school in Missouri, Dr. Smith returned to Texas and established his family practice on August 1, 1963 in Ar-lington, where he and Charlotte raised their three children.

“I still work about three days a week,” Dr. Smith says.But the desire to follow in his father’s grape-growing footsteps

remained strong, and in the late ‘60s Dr. Smith began looking for land on which to start his vineyard.

“My criteria was something that I could afford to buy that was

Dr. Smith’s devotion to Texas wine is evident everywhere at his estate, where even the posts on the vineyard rows bear little Texas-shaped markers engraved with the “La Buena Vida Vineyards” label. Photo by Misty Shaw


close enough to my practice so I could drive back and forth, and that’s how Spring-town came about,” Dr. Smith said, adding that he paid about $400 an acre for his initial land pur-chase.

But wines produced by La Buena Vida Vineyards – the name has roots in Dr. Smith’s fl uent Spanish and travels to Mexico – weren’t sold commercially in Texas until 1977 due to a major unforeseen obstacle.

“When I bought this prop-erty, I didn’t bother to check to see what the laws were regarding making wine, and back in those days, you could not make wine in a dry pre-cinct,” said Dr. Smith. “So I discovered that when I got ready to get a winery license in 1976 – I had the vineyard in production, grapes growing and everything – but I couldn’t make wine here.”

Dr. Smith considered his options and found it fi nan-cially unfeasible to haul his grapes elsewhere to produce the wine.

History showed that past campaigns had little success in getting Parker County voted wet, and Dr. Smith had too much invested in his vineyard to pull up stakes and move.

“So my only other option was to get the law changed – and Lord, I didn’t know what a challenge that was going

to be,” Dr. Smith said with chagrin.He’d never had any experience with

the Texas Legislature, but he began studying up on his issue and even

garnered the support of his lo-cal representative and state senator.

With assistance from a knowledgeable indus-try friend in California, Dr. Smith drafted a bill to change winemaking laws in Texas. “I drew up what I thought

the bill ought to be like from my perspective,” Dr. Smith re-

calls, adding that he’d been ad-vised to write the bill in a way that

would make it diffi cult for lawmakers to vote against it.

“Finally, one day it just hit me, boom!, out of the sky,” said Smith. “Just give the bill a name, call it ‘The Texas Farm Winery Act’ – that was the title of the bill, and it was passed in 1977, I believe.

“The governor signed it in June of that year, and Sen-ator [Tom] Creighton told me, ‘The only reason you got that passed is nobody told you you couldn’t do it,’ and I really believe that.”

Dr. Smith’s bill made it possible to manufacture wine in a dry county which could then be sold in a wet one (where the point of sale took place), but he still needed a way to promote his product.

“I couldn’t have a tasting room out here [in Spring-town], and as a small producer, you almost have to sell at retail or you can’t survive, so I fi gured out a way,” the tenacious doctor said.

In searching for land where he could build a small tasting room to which he could then transport and sell his Springtown-made wines, Dr. Smith found the perfect place in the town of Lakeside on Highway 199.

“My place was just this side of the Dairy Queen,” he said. “I built a little building and started my operation there, and that gave me a chance to reach the consumer.”

Dr. Smith enjoyed several years of award-winning success with his wines, but he hit another unexpected snag in the early 1990s when a man showed up at the Lakeside winery to inform him that, “in the name of progress, we’re gonna run a six-lane highway through the middle of your property, you gotta move.”

“I thought, oh my God, here we go,” Dr. Smith said

close enough to my practice so I could drive back and forth, and that’s how Spring-town came about,” Dr. Smith said, adding that he paid about $400 an acre for his initial land pur-

“When I bought this prop-erty, I didn’t bother to check to see what the laws were regarding making wine, and back in those days, you could not make wine in a dry pre-

to be,” Dr. Smith said with chagrin.He’d never had any experience with

the Texas Legislature, but he began studying up on his issue and even

garnered the support of his lo-cal representative and state senator.

a knowledgeable indus-

Dr. Smith drafted a bill to change winemaking laws in Texas.

the bill ought to be like from my perspective,” Dr. Smith re-

calls, adding that he’d been ad-vised to write the bill in a way that

would make it diffi cult for lawmakers to


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with a sigh. They wanted to pay him

less than what he had in-vested, but in researching his options, Smith realized he’d face a protracted and costly legal battle to get a fair price for the Lakeside property, so he swallowed his pride and negotiated a deal that allowed him time to find an-other location.

Luckily, Dr. Smith said, “it just so happened that I had a friend over in Grape-vine who’d called me about six months earlier and said, ‘Would you ever be inter-ested in moving your operation over to Grapevine? We want to develop the Texas wine industry and tie it to the name of our town.’ ”

So he met with his friend and the town’s mayor, “and we had something buzzing right away, so I bought a place in Grapevine – an old, abandoned church – and we made it

into a winery,” Dr. Smith said. “And I stayed there until 2006 when a lady came along who wanted to buy it very badly, so I sold it and just settled in out here” in Springtown.

“And in the interim, they had passed a law saying I could have a tasting room here, so everything kind of meshed together, and here I am.”

This summer, La Buena Vida Vineyards enjoyed a fine harvest from its 10 acres of seven different va-rieties of grapes.

“We just finished going through the vineyard, and this is one of the better crops I’ve ever had,” Dr. Smith said. “And I don’t understand, because they all should be rotten and fall-ing off the vine after all that rain, so that turned out good.”

The winery currently produces nine wines and five ports under the La Buena Vida Vineyards/Smith Estate Wines la-

Dr. Smith, owner, proprietor, and crafter of fine wines and cheese at La Buena Vida Vineyards literally had Texas law changed, clearing a legal path for today’s wineries. Photo by Misty Shaw


bel, all made from Dr. Smith’s grapes.He also offers creations from Nanie Bell’s Artisan Cheese

Shoppe, including two spreadable cream cheeses and a Mexican-style cheese served alongside his wines in the tast-ing room.

Arguably the most noteworthy La Buena Vida Vineyards product, however, is the mead, which was crafted especially for the Scarborough Renaissance Festival in Waxahachie.

Dr. Smith was commissioned by Scarbor-ough Faire to create an exclusive concoction for the annual event, but his mead – made from a specially filtered blend of Burleson’s Honey – became so popular that he began making enough to sell commercially.

Though he does most of the winery work himself, Dr. Smith is often assisted by volunteers, including Matt and Robin Williams of Azle, who help out around the vineyard while soaking up some winemaking knowledge from the expert.

“They wanted to learn about winemaking, and they said, ‘If we’ll help you, will you teach us?” said Dr. Smith. “And I said, ‘Sure I will,’ and they’ve helped me for a couple years now with the harvest and all the other stuff.”

Some recent health concerns – including surgery to repair his fractured hip, from which he’s still recovering – have prevented Dr. Smith from being able to do as much wine and

cheese-making as he’d like.“This has been a very trying sort of year,” he said. “I rec-

ognize that I’m unable to do all the things – I can’t read the instruments anymore.”

But none of that will stop him entirely from making and promoting the Texas wines to which he has devoted decades of his life.

“I’m kind of a historic marker, really, in Texas,” Dr. Smith says with a smile. “When I started, there were maybe three or four of us, and nobody knew we existed and re-ally didn’t care.

“And I think, totally, as a result of getting all the laws changed – and I don’t take credit for all of that, a lot of people helped me with it – but getting the laws changed opened the door, and now there’s 300-something wineries in Texas. It’s a big tourist industry, and none of that would have happened without that first little step.”

The tasting room at La Buena Vida Vineyards, located at 650 Vineyard Lane in Springtown, is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays and from noon to 5 p.m. on Sun-days.

For more information, call (817) 220-4366.

“I’m kind of a historic marker, really, in Texas.

Dr. Bobby G. SmithWinemaker


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People | Heritage

ἀe Last Horse RopersBy Misty Shaw

Everyone has a hobby, or maybe even a surprising talent they keep hidden most of the time.

That’s true of Kent Durham, a local attorney and business owner who’s got more than a few tricks up his sleeve thanks to his dad, Kenneth Durham.

The father and son duo are also known as the Texas Trick Ropers, ex-perts in “trick and fancy” roping, and they’ve been wowing audiences for years with local exhibitions and at ro-deos statewide.

“We’re the last of the horse ropers,” Kenneth, age 74, says wistfully.

He’s speaking of an increasingly rare trick known as “horse catching” – that’s the “fancy” roping part, where one roper lassoes another riding by on horseback – which the Durhams still perform.

A native of Bells, Texas, Kenneth be-

Father and son trick ropers still practice Old West tradition

Kenneth Durham (above) chats with his “talk-

ing” trick horse, Roanie. Kenneth

trained his horses using positive reinforcement

techniques and says, “This horse just loves treats.”

The Texas Trick Ropers (left) –

Kenneth and son Kent (on horse)

– may be the last of their kind still performing this

trick, known as a “horse catch” and “fancy roping” in

trick-roping lingo.

Photos by Misty Shaw


came a trick roper as a young man and stuck with the hobby all his life, eventually passing it on to his son.

“I got into it when I was a teen-ager,” Kenneth said. “My Dad could do a few tricks, and I was out ropin’ calves and he said, ‘Why don’t you trick rope, at least you’d get paid that way,’ so I started rop-ing.

“And what really turned my rop-ing around was when I met Junior Eskew in Martin, Oklahoma.”

Eskew was a world champion trick roper and cowboy in the 1930s and ‘40s, and even though Kent said Eskew wasn’t known to help train many people, he took young Kenneth under his wing.

“He was kind enough to give me trick roping lessons – I was about 20,” Kenneth says, adding that he traveled to Eskew’s home in Ard-more, Oklahoma to study with him.

“I saw him at the Fort Worth Stock Show bulldogging steers, and I went down and talked to him,” said Kenneth. “Some friends of his and mine had told me, ‘You need to go see Junior Eskew, tell him I sent you,’ so I went up there.

“The first time we started ropin’ he said, ‘You don’t need a break?’ And I said, ‘Well, maybe,’ but I just kept roping, and he was just gonna see how long I’d rope.”

But Kenneth’s evident willingness to work hard and learn helped him pass muster, so Eskew taught him everything there was to know about trick roping.

Kenneth worked for 41 years at Kaiser Aluminum, rop-ing as often as he could on the side and later showing Kent the trick ropes, too.

“Kent was roping at Mesquite when he was 6 years old,” Kenneth says proudly. “He does two-loop tricks that no-body else does.”

Kent recalls those childhood days spent alongside his dad at rodeos and practicing his roping tricks at home.

“From before I can remember, really, I was learning how to do some of the tricks,” says Kent. “And we lived kind of outside of town, so I had a lot of time to practice. It’s kind of, I don’t want to say addictive, but you start doing it and it gets to be a habit. It really helped me, growing up.”

Under Kenneth’s tutelage, Kent kept practicing, and re-ally came into his own with trick roping as a teenager.

“We did shows in Fort Worth and different places, but it didn’t really come home to me until high school, when I started doing talent competitions, and it was really success-ful,” said Kent. “We went to the national FFA convention; I did a talent show there in Kansas City when I was a senior.”

Kent also represented his school with performances at two national Beta Club conventions.

Kent Durham performs a jump-through while doing a “Spanish back flat” trick. This incredible two-step feat is just one of his many roping tricks. Photo by Misty Shaw


www.wc.edu | 817-594-5471

Although he had less time for roping while pursuing his higher education, “I got busy, but after college, I still prac-ticed quite a bit and learned some new tricks, especially with two loops,” Kent said.

“It’s kind of like riding a bicycle, I don’t forget much -- I do have to practice a little bit if I have a show coming up,” he added. “But even when I’m busy doing other things, it’s still nice to have a change of pace and do a show.”

Kent says he settled in Azle after relocating from Fort Worth, “just to get back into the country like where I grew up.”

He and his wife Gracie have two children, Alexandra and Chandler, and Kent works full time at his law firm as well as running Midwest Waste Services, a refuse company he owns.

But Kent still ropes with his dad whenever he can; the Texas Trick Ropers do about half a dozen local shows a year, mostly at private events.

“We used to go to a lot of rodeos back in the ‘80s – the Fort Worth Stockyards rodeo, ropin’ in the Cowtown Col-iseum,” Kenneth says. “In the summertime we used to go to rodeos in Killeen, Lawton, Oklahoma, Belton, Cleburne, places like that.

“If we wanted to travel some, we could stay busy maybe, but Kent can’t get away.”

The Durhams have a host of awards, accolades, and fa-mous appearances under their matching prize belt buckles.

Kenneth even did a Coca Cola commercial back in the ‘90s (which you can find on YouTube) – he was chosen from a group of trick ropers interviewed nationwide.

“It was when they first started doing the contoured bottles,” Kent said. “You know how they used to be just straight? Well, Dad was trying to rope those other bottles and the rope kept slipping off, but he could rope the contoured one.”

Kenneth says it was their trick roping performance in a music video, however, that really got a lot of attention.

“ ‘God Blessed Texas’ by Little Texas – we were in that music video and that got me more attention than anything I ever did around home,” Kenneth said. “I was roping at the Stockyards, and I was practicing doing some jump-throughs and some of them saw me and wanted us to do that. They were gonna get me in the movies and I don’t know what all.”

The Durhams even “got to rope at the Super Bowl when it was here in Dallas,” Kent said. “At the big NFL tailgate party they had out in the parking lot, we performed out there for the pre-show, and a little clip of us roping came out on the Ellen show after that.”

Both men earned “Trick Roper of the Year” titles in the mid-2000s at the now-defunct Wild West Arts Club com-petition.

“They had conventions every year with trick ropers and

Roanie holds a spinning loop with Kenneth assist-ing. Photo by Misty Shaw


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whip artists and hatchet throwers, any kind of Western-themed exhibition,” Kent said. “And they had contests as part of it – Dad won the horse roping every year.

“That was a lot of fun, getting together with ropers from all over the country,” Kent added. “And they came from Ger-many, a couple from Europe, they came from Mexico – it was a big event.”

Kent has showcased his trick roping skills worldwide, as well; on a recent trip overseas, he was so intent on per-forming that he forgot to pack his street clothes.

“Last year I got to rope in Dubai when I went there for a trade show for four days – that was fun and a really neat ex-perience,” says Kent. “Actually, I forgot all my regular clothes, I was so focused on packing my roping stuff, so I ended up having to wear that.

“I looked like Will Rogers the whole

time, everywhere I went, wearing that American fl ag shirt – that went over pretty big.”

Their unique hobby may hark back to bygone days in the Old West, but the ropers Durham say they intend to keep practicing and performing as long as they can, even if they’re the only ones still doing it.

“There’s still a lot of trick ropers, but there’s not anybody doing the fancy ropin’, the horse catches,” Ken-neth says. “Some say they can do it, but if you go watch them at rodeos, there’s really not anybody left now.”

Looks like it’s up to Kenneth, Kent, and their trusty trick horses – 26-year-old Pal and young Roanie – to con-tinue this iconic Western tradition in Texas.

(For more information about the Durhams, visit www.texastrickrop-ers.com.)

Kenneth and Kent (top) have wowed audiences nationwide. Photo by Misty Shaw


By Misty ShawCaris Turpen is passionate about wine. And food.And art.And at LightCatcher Winery & Bistro, the talented wine-

maker, chef, and artist weaved those pursuits into a sumptu-ous tapestry of sensory delights.

Tucked away in the scenic countryside southeast of Azle, Caris and her husband, Terry Turpen, have created the per-

fect escape for wine enthusiasts and casual visitors alike.More than just a commercial winery, LightCatcher serves

as a tasting room, eatery, event venue, and a place to simply get away from it all.

“We’re quite unusual,” Caris says. “Yeah, we’re a winery, we sell wine, we have some food, and we rent the place for weddings and private events, but if that were all it was, why not just go to a nice restaurant downtown?

“But there’s something else here, that has always been

Day Trip | Heritage

Winery Tour: LightCatcherIn vino veritas: “In wine there is truth”

Patrons will discover LightCatcher’s intimate dining room – with ever-changing, mood-setting music, food, and atmosphere – a peaceful oasis. Photo by Caris Turpen


here and just needed form to become perceived, and that is that sense of oasis, and that sense of escape, and the sense that you’re safe here – there’s nothing threatening.”

Caris has worked hard to create a welcoming atmosphere where patrons can relax and enjoy sampling LightCatcher’s fine wines.

“It’s all about, on the one hand, helping people understand the wines a little bit better,” says Caris. “Many people come in and they apologize for themselves, saying ‘I’m sorry, I’m not a connoisseur,’ and I am always so gentle with that be-cause it’s important that people understand, nobody’s born with the knowledge of wine.”

The winemaker acts as a guide and encourages her cus-tomers to be adventurous in what they imbibe.

“You have to try things and figure out what you like and what you don’t like, and then also be open to trying things that you haven’t tried before and perhaps thinking about those things in ways you haven’t thought of before -– and that’s really what I try to do, to open people up,” she said.

The Turpens ventured into the business of making and sell-ing wine almost 15 years ago; LightCatcher started out in a modest rental on Nine Mile Bridge Road before they discov-ered the land for its current location, which they built from the ground up in 2003.

“It was just raw property full of cow patties and shrub-

LightCatcher’s many award-winning wines are on display in the tasting room. Caris (left) and Terry Turpen own the unique business. Photos by Caris Turpen


bery – my husband just happened to be driving by as the broker was putting the for-sale sign up on this little strip,” Caris recalls. “I was the general contractor on this, and I used the experience of that first little place and how I’d set that up to do an expanded version here, because I understood pretty fully what it took to help people feel comfortable and sell the wines.”

Caris had previously been a “hobbyist” in winemaking, eventually going back to school and earning her degree in enology and viticulture “just as a way to expand my knowledge as a hobbyist – I had no ambition to become professional, but doors kept opening.”

It was a combination of perception and bravery that led Caris to fully pursue her new calling.

“I’ve said a few times that my job was to step through the open door – to be brave, and step through. The sense of path became very clear,” she said. “And I was looking for a way to step off the path that I’d been on for 25 years in the film industry, and this opened up as ‘No, you’re doing the right thing,’ and things kept happening – people responded to my wines very strongly.”

There is a small estate vineyard on the property, but LightCatcher’s award-win-ning wines are mostly crafted from a va-

Not just a wine-maker and chef, but an artist as

well, Caris Turpen created the Light-

Catcher Winery logo, and her art adorns the label

of every bottle she makes at the

establishment southeast of Azle.

Top photo by Caris Turpen; left photo by

Misty Shaw


riety of Texas-grown grapes.“I make about 10 different wines a year,” Caris says,

adding that she occasionally imports grapes and wines from out of state when necessary, “just to suit a variety of palates and to keep things fresh.

“But out of the 15 wines on my list right now, just three of them are ‘guest’ wines,” she added. “The wines that I bring in I select very, very carefully so that they match in with our palate structure that’s built into the wines that I make – there’s no huge disconnect.”

Indeed, careful selection goes into everything Caris does at LightCatcher, from “the wine and food, but art and music as well. Even the things that I have on my playlist during the evenings, they’re all hand-picked, I don’t use Pandora – I figure out things that are going to set and maintain a mood that I really want fostered within this environment, and that works out very well.”

With Caris at the helm creatively, she credits Terry for his help in bringing her visions to fruition.

“I’m the creator of this place – my husband jokes that he’s been my mule, and he helps with some of the heavy lifting,” she says. “We make decisions together – he’s my sounding board, he’s my partner – but I am the creator.

“He will counsel me, and there’s a sense of partnership without dictatorship, and it’s really necessary for any small business to have that,” Caris added. “You can’t do this kind of thing by yourself; there are too many facets involved.”

The Turpens have enjoyed continued success by adapt-ing to their customers’ needs and constantly reinventing the offerings at LightCatcher.

“We have made shifts in what we offer over the years, according to what people have asked from us,” said Caris. “We’re really working to not only help people come here for more than one reason, but to try to get to-gether all these qualities of life that I want to help people understand better.

“We’ve expanded in ways that have been what we felt we could offer at a quality level, we’re all about quality,” she continued. “And we’re also about comfort, and be-ing an oasis, and being a place for people to take a deep breath.”

LightCatcher Winery & Bistro is located at 6925 Con-federate Park Road/FM 1886, Fort Worth, Texas 76108.

With a busy calendar of events, the winery offers tast-ings and wine pairings, live jazz, weekend brunch, happy hour, and a special gourmet “Winemaker’s Dinner” ca-tered by Caris. The venue is available for weddings, pri-vate parties, fundraisers, and more.

For hours of operation and more information, call 817-237-2626 or go to www.lightcatcher.com.


Where are we now?

21

Answers on Page 30!

Can you guess where these pictures were taken?

3 4

5

6


Doctors on the medical staff practice independently and are not employees or agents of the hospital. © 2015

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS

AzleSeptember

• 12 – Sting Fling Festival – Vendors open at 9 a.m. on West Main Street• 19 – Drive for Compassion Golf Tournament – 8 a.m. at Cross Timbers Golf Course, 1181 South Stewart Street

October

• 3 – Levis and Lace Gala – 7 p.m. at the Fort Worth Stockyards, 128 East Exchange Avenue• 5 – Azle High School Homecoming Parade – 6 p.m. West Main Street• 6 – Azle Police Department National Night Out – 6-8 p.m. in neighborhoods throughout Azle• 6 – Reno Police Department National Night Out 6-9 p.m. at City Hall, 195 West Reno Road• 9 – Azle High School Homecoming football game against Wichita Falls – 7 p.m. at Azle High School,1200 Boyd Road• 24 – Reno Halloween ‘Spook’tacular – 6-9 p.m. at City Hall, 195 West Reno Road

November

• 14 – Azle Lake Run – 6:30 a.m. at Azle High School, 1200 Boyd Road• 26 – Azle Community Thanksgiving Meal – 6 p.m. at 404 West Main Street

December

• 5 – Azle Community Tree Lighting – 5 p.m. at the Azle Historical Museum, 124 West Main

• 5 – Christmas Parade – after the tree lighting on West Main Street• 19 – Reno Christmas Cookies with Santa – 6-9 p.m. at City Hall, 195 West Reno Road

Azle’s Sting Fling has a new format this year, but the ever-popular Wienier Dog Derby remains. The Azle Lake Run (below) takes off from AHS on Nov. 14. The Homecoming Parade (below left) will mosey through Main Street downtown Oct. 5. Photos by Carla Noah Stutsman


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CALENDAR OF EVENTS

SpringtownLake WorthSeptember

• 7 – Lake Worth Historical Society – 6:30 p.m. at the Lake Worth Multipurpose Facility, 7005 Charbonneau Road• 24 – NW Tarrant Chamber’s Casino Night 2015 – 6-9 p.m. at National Hall, 3116 Roberts Cut-Off Road

October

• 5 – Lake Worth School Homecoming Parade – 7 p.m. in Telephone Road• 6 – Lake Worth Police Department National Night Out – 6-9 p.m. at the Lake Worth City Park, 3501 Robert’s Cut-Off and Loop 820• 6 – Lakeside Police Department and Tarrant County Sheriff Office National Night Out – 6:30-8:30 p.m. at City Hall, 9830 Confederate Park Road• 9 – Bullfrog West Fest – 7 p.m. Gates open at noon Oct. 10 at the Lake Worth City Park, 3501 Robert’s Cut-Off and Loop 820 • 9 – LakeWorth High School Homecoming football game against Castleberry – 7:30 p.m. at Lake Worth High School, 4210 Boat Club Road

November

• 2 – Lake Worth Historical Society – 6:30 p.m. at the Lake Worth Multipurpose Facility, 7005 Charbonneau Road

December

• 11 – Lakeside Tree Lighting and Santa Express– 6 p.m. at City Hall, 9830 Confederate Park Road

September

• 19 – Wild West Festival and BBQ Cook-Off – 9 a.m. at the Springtown Tabernacle• 19 – Drive for Compassion Golf Tournament – 8 a.m. at Cross Timbers Golf Course, 1181 South Stewart Street• 21 – Springtown High School Homecoming Pa- rade – 7 p.m. Pojo Drive• 25 – Springtown High School Homecoming football game against Vernon – 7:30 p.m. at Porcupine Stadium, 459 Pojo Drive

October

• 6 – Springtown Police Department National Night Out – 6-9 p.m. at the Springtown Tabernacle• 17 – The Square Deal – 10 a.m.-10 p.m. at the Springtown Tabernacle

November

• 1 – Run to Remember – 7:30 a.m. at the Spring- town War Memorial, Lake Drive

December

• 5 – Legends Museum Tour of Homes – 5:30 p.m. at Springtown Chamber of Commerce Of- fice, 1120 South Main Street• 7 – Senior Citizen Christmas Luncheon – 11 a.m.-1p.m. at Springtown High School Caf- eteria, 915 West Highway 199• 12 – Christmas on the Square – 11 a.m.-5p.m. at the Springtown Tabernacle

Springtown’s Run to Re-member (left) is Sunday, Nov. 1. The Springtown High School Lighting of the Letters takes place during Homecoming Week. Photos by Natalie Gentry


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CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Christmas on the Square arrives Dec. 12 in Springtown. Azle, Lake Worth, and Springtown all have National Night Out activities planned for Oct. 6.

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Here we are now!1

Metal cacti climb up the entrance to Azle’s El Paseo Mexican Restaurant.

2A paw adorns the home side of Springtown’s Porcupine Stadium.

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Find the cross atop the Wesley Chapel CME Church in Azle.


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This plaque and many others is inside Springtown’s Legend Museum. The clock can be found on Lake Worth’s

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Cooking | Heritage

� e Great Pumpkin!

Pumpkin Ice Cream PiePumpkin pie ice cream is perfectly at home inside a gra-

ham cracker crust. You can substitute fresh, pureed pumpkin or squash for

the canned variety, when available. Serves 8-10.

Ingredients for the crust2 cups graham cracker crumbs1⁄2 cup sugar8 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Ingredients for the ice cream1⁄2 cup sugar5 egg yolks1⁄2 vanilla bean, seeds scraped and reserved2 cups whole milk4 cloves2 sticks cinnamon1 nutmeg pod, crushed3⁄4 cup heavy cream1 1⁄2 tsp. vanilla extract(1) 15 oz. can pumpkin puree

DirectionsMake the crust Heat oven to 350°. Combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter in a

bowl and stir until evenly combined. Press into the bottom and side of a 9" deep-dish pie plate,

and bake until lightly browned at the edges, about 10 minutes.Let cool completely.

Make the ice cream: Whisk together sugar, yolks, and vanilla bean and seeds in

a 4-qt. saucepan; stir in milk, cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg, and whisk until smooth.

Place over medium heat, and cook, stirring often, until thickened and mixture coats the back of a spoon.

Pour through a fi ne strainer into a bowl and stir in cream, vanilla extract, and pumpkin puree.

Let cool and then refrigerate until chilled. Process in an ice cream maker according to the manufactur-

er's instructions. Transfer ice cream to pie crust, smoothing the top with a

rubber spatula, and freeze until set, at least 4 hours.

Enjoy these recipes featuring fall’s favored gourd.

Harvest Pumpkin SoupA savory dish sure to warm you up. Serves 8.

Ingredients2 tbsp. unsalted butter1 large potato1 large onion4 1/2 cups chicken broth1 can pure pumpkinSalt (to taste)Freshly ground pepper1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg1/2 pint heavy cream

Directions1. In a large pot over medium heat, melt butter. Add potato

and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is trans-lucent, about 8 minutes. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook until potato is tender, 10 to 12 minutes.

2. Stir in pumpkin. Using an immersion blender, purée mixture until smooth. (Or, use a blender to purée mixture in batches, then return to pot.) Stir in 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/8 tea-spoon pepper, and nutmeg. Increase heat to medium-high and bring mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook for 10 minutes. Stir in cream and heat thoroughly. Season with salt and pepper, if desired. Serve hot.

Spiced Pumpkin Cider A luscious drink made with pumpkin and plenty of spices.

*Note, this comes out thicker than traditional cider since it's made with pumpkin puree – for a thinner beverage, add more apple cider or water. Reduce the amount of rum if this is too strong or omit it completely and swap in more apple cider. Yields about 2 cups.

Ingredients 1 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)2 1/2 cups apple cider1/3 cup spiced rum1 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spiceCinnamon stick

Directions 1. In a large pot, mix together the pumpkin puree, apple ci-

der, pumpkin pie spice and the cinnamon stick. Bring mixture to a boil then reduce heat to low and simmer for at least 20 minutes. If mixture is too thick, add additional cider or water to thin it out.

2. Strain the mixture through a mesh strainer to remove clumps and cinnamon stick. Add rum and mix. Serve warm.


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· On-site Physical, Occupational and Speech Therapy· 24-Hour Skilled Nursing Care· Beauty and Barber Shop· Resident Council· Therapeutic Whirlpool® Bath Tubs· Interfaith Religious Services

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Whether you’re buying, building or refinancing your home, Pinnacle Bank’s experienced lending team will guide you every step of the way. With low mortgage rates, there’s never been a better time. We can help you with any long-term or fixed-rate mortgage loans.

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heritage magazine fall 2015

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