Carroll Evans
In Town: “I was the 12th of 13 kids and started working road construction at 15 when the boss fudged on my age because he liked my work. And then at 17 I started with a truck and heavy gravel and kept doing whatever I could find. I ended up with a construction company I have had for 35 years. Now my son is running our company, and although I am semi-retired from it, I still am pretty involved. We have heavy equipment and do about everything. We build from the ground up and have done a variety of projects including chicken house pads, ground work, houses and commercial banks.”
In the Country: Carroll farms just outside Huntsville, Ark. “I’ve worked hard all my life, but I love the country. I lease and own 3,000 acres and have a herd of 120 momma cows. I have seven horses that I use to work cattle. However, I love trail riding as well and do a lot of that too. Our family has done rodeo all of our lives but I can’t handle getting up at 3 or 4 in the morning anymore although my son still does. Another part of my country life is haying, which I sell to local people and neighbors.”
How does your town life and country life complement each other?
“The combination has worked well for me. The town life has allowed me to make a good living for my family and to live the country life I love best. I would like to be in the position to depend on my country life for my living. I am pushing to get to that point in five years. I am tired of driving nails and sawing 2×4”s.”
Story and Photo by Terry Ropp
