Neighbors

The recent closure of the Warrior Transition Unit at Fort Leonard Wood, combined with the loss of a group therapy Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) social work counselor, have severely limited treatment options for soldiers suffering from the residual effects of multiple combat deployments. Fortunately, a family with deep roots in the Ozarks, going back five generations, is working to address this critical shortfall through healing horsemanship.

There might be some new faces at the former Lebanon Livestock Auction facility between Lebanon and Phillipsburg, Mo., but they are no strangers to the livestock auction world.

Livestock sales have been a mainstay in the world of agriculture for over a century, providing farmers and ranchers an avenue to sell or purchase livestock in a controlled setting.

Cliff and Helen Alewine moved from Texas 23 years ago and purchased 160 acres near Westville, Okla. Because nearby family was involved in poultry, they decided to raise broilers for Tyson and cattle because the pairing is efficient.

Marsha Hedge, who owns 300 acres in the rural Fayetteville, Ark., area, is a perfect picture of what determination and courage can do for someone owning and operating a farm alone.

How many of us would like to change the path we set out on? Would we do what we love or feel compelled to follow the status quo? If we could jump into that uncertain future, what would it look like?

“It was my dream job,” is the way Barbara Becker of rural Pulaski County, Mo., described her five years as a Clydesdale handler with the Budweiser dynasty, working throughout the western United States. Originally from the Dixon-St. Robert, Mo., area, Barbara said she put together her resume in 1988 and took it to St. Louis, where she interviewed for the job. She was basically told, “Yes, well, everyone wants to work with the Clydesdales.”

Rock’N C Farms, operated by the Stigall family, is located deep in the Ozark Mountains in Stone County near Galena, Mo.

“I’ve been a teacher ever since I can remember,” is the way Ozarks farmer and disabled veteran Wendy Lombardi defined herself recently, sitting on the front porch of her home that sits on 40 acres in the far southeastern corner of rural Laclede County, Mo.

Mike Reynolds is getting ready for the next step.