This isn’t much of a discussion anymore. \u00a0Even in a rural place like Shattuck, OK, we have became not-really rural. \u00a0 I wouldn’t call us urban. \u00a0But the majority are removed from the farm. \u00a0This is a county of 4,200 people–total. \u00a0Three small schools–no stop lights, lots of cows, wheat and hay when it rains and oil related jobs. \u00a0First hour of the day, I have 26 eighth graders. \u00a0There is only 134 kids in grades 8-12, so I see most of them. \u00a0Great group of kids. \u00a0But out of that class, only one has show animals. \u00a0One other owns livestock. \u00a0NONE of them have parents that are directly involved in agriculture as their primary income. \u00a0A couple have grandparents that do. \u00a0But they are eager and willing to learn. \u00a0An ag-ed class may be more important more now, than ever.<\/p>\n
And speaking of Urban. \u00a0I got an email from a friend about an Urban that “may” move south of Fargo. \u00a0Any of you that know or have known any of the Urban’s understands a message like this. \u00a0I will try to keep this post short but once the topic of the Urban’s comes up\u2026well, let’s just say that there are stories. \u00a0LOTS AND LOTS OF STORIES!<\/p>\n
Probably the most infamous Urban was Ritson. \u00a0Arguably the best sheep person of all time. \u00a0When it comes to the Mount Rushmore of livestock showing–Ritson is the sheep rep. \u00a0This guy understood the game and business of showing livestock. \u00a0And if he wasn’t having fun, something was wrong and was therefore about to change until it became fun. \u00a0Probably at your expense. \u00a0I learned more from him about stock shows than any other single person. \u00a0It was a science but oh, so simple. \u00a0He could make you feel stupid, yet you learned from it. \u00a0Livestock legends knew that Ritson was smarter and better than them. \u00a0And he may not even be the best sheep person in his own family. \u00a0His older brother Kenny is an absolute legend–literally known world-wide in the sheep industry. \u00a0There was also an older brother–Fred. \u00a0I would like you to notice that Fred is a four letter word. \u00a0The Urban family knows livestock.<\/p>\n
I had the honor of teaching in Waynoka, OK. \u00a0This was the home of the Urban family. \u00a0The patriarch had passed when I started teaching there. \u00a0However, the matriarch, Katherine was in prime form. \u00a0Grandma Katherine as she was known to ALL, made the boys look like amateurs when it came to a quick wit, a sly smile and an absolute love to see those that work hard, do well. \u00a0A book and\/or movie should be done about Grandma Katherine. \u00a0State and National baking contest winner, sheep nutritionist, nurse, vet, pep club, keeper of newspaper clippings, driver to all things and a saint of a lady. \u00a0Name a show–any show–her grandkids won it. \u00a0Sheep, pigs, etc. \u00a0She used to come watch Kela win goat shows. \u00a0She didn’t care. \u00a0All kids were lovely and special! \u00a0And if you didn’t agree, you could kiss her ass because you were wrong! \u00a0(Her words as I watched her tell a school administrator, “All kids are special. \u00a0They are lovely and if you don’t agree you can kiss my ass!”) \u00a0One of the biggest honors in my life was being asked to tell stories at her funeral. \u00a0HUGE crowd for a fun lady! \u00a0I could go on.<\/p>\n
Fred, or Freddy, has routinely called Odessa, TX home. \u00a0But he isn’t opposed to bouncing from couch to lazy boy as his travels take him around the country. \u00a0I haven’t actually seen him in over 2 years. \u00a0But I have received “autographed” menus that were mailed to me from the Big Texan. \u00a0Messages sent via courier from a pig sale in Snyder, TX. \u00a0Birthday cards of 3 cwt women in thongs. \u00a0And the random cryptic message from a friend. \u00a0Typical Fred. I’ve got a wicked good story of Fred and I in his ’83 Lincoln with a load of pigs in the trunk at a rest area on I 35.<\/p>\n
Ironically, Duke has recently asked questions about the fat guy wearing sweat pants that used to come around. \u00a0And don’t twist this story into something sick, it isn’t. \u00a0 Grandma Katherine and Fred would come get Duke when he was little. \u00a0Feed him cinnamon rolls, apple juice, cookies, cake and then bring him home. \u00a0Fred would always give the kids M&Ms. \u00a0“Here, put these in your pockets and don’t tell your mom.” \u00a0The kids always followed instructions. \u00a0Then there would be M&Ms in their jeans pockets. \u00a0They don’t melt in your hands but they would dang sure melt when they were in the clothes dryer. \u00a0DAMN! \u00a0Lots of pissed off mommas!<\/p>\n
I miss Grandma Katherine calling. \u00a0I haven’t seen Kenny in years. \u00a0I get to see Michael and Kashen a couple times a year. \u00a0I often think of Ritson. \u00a0Every time I hear the word “treadmill”, I think of Ritson and that big blue butt hog walking backward on a horse treadmill. \u00a0I had asked him if he really could tread a hog backwards. \u00a0He replied, “You give me a 12 pack and a hotshot and I can have a hog wearing a pink tutu turning cartwheels down that aisle right there. \u00a0It ain’t no thing.” \u00a0 I don’t know about the hot shot part, but the rest is true.<\/p>\n
Any of you that know the Urban family knows what I am talking about. \u00a0I hope to see a Toyota pickup with several dings, a bed full of who knows what and over 500,000 miles on it parked in the drive. \u00a0I need my stock show batteries recharged. \u00a0And nothing does that better than an Urban. \u00a0There ain’t nothing more rural than an Urban.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This isn’t much of a discussion anymore. \u00a0Even in a rural place like Shattuck, OK, we have became not-really rural. \u00a0 I wouldn’t call us urban. \u00a0But the majority are removed from the farm. \u00a0This is a county of 4,200 people–total. \u00a0Three small schools–no stop lights, lots of cows, wheat […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/kellnlivestock.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2024"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/kellnlivestock.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/kellnlivestock.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kellnlivestock.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kellnlivestock.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2024"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/kellnlivestock.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2024\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2025,"href":"http:\/\/kellnlivestock.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2024\/revisions\/2025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/kellnlivestock.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kellnlivestock.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kellnlivestock.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}