Happy New Year! As always, the new year arrives full of resolution, hopes and dreams.

To those we add promises, commitments and hard work with a good dose of comradery and cheer.

The entire Palo Pinto Press and Cherry Road Media team wish our reader family members and retail sales partners health, wealth and happiness.

While we may yet have our usual “stock show” spell of cold weather, so far in the winter of 24 & 25, the Gulf Coast winds have blessed us with moderate temperatures and some needed moisture.

In delivering single copies across the county the last few weeks, this Ole Heifer has noticed more and more “cow cake” trucks along the rural routes.

For those of you who might not know what “cow cake” is: It’s feed for cattle compressed into cylindrical cubes.

While some smaller livestock owners feed “cake” by hand, opening one sack at a time, larger operations have trucks equipped with bins into which the feed is loaded at the barn and from which it is distributed to the cattle in the pasture.

In either case there is an art to feeding “cake” which requires calling the cattle out of the far corners of the pastures with a strong and ringing vocal call, honing a vehicle horn or a siren mounted on the trucks.

All of this reminded this Ole Heifer how much of Palo Pinto County’s economy is rooted in beef production. And in turn how hard the livestock producers and their employees and families work to keep this most popular protein on our tables.

Good thing Editor Ann chose a Holstein and not a Hereford or another breed for this Reader Column’s logo. Otherwise, this Ole Heifer might be a vegetarian. Haw and Mooooooo.

With a wiggle of the ears to vegetarians and vegans — to each her own — here’s a big, first of the year shout out to all of our residents who are producers.

And to the entire agricultural community, including those folks who work in the Texas A&M extension office and the federal management programs. Here’s hoping for good markets in 2025.

All of this reminded this Ole Heifer of the fact Gail Roberts is one of the Press’ most loyal subscribers. Thanks, Gail. Kudos, dear reader.

Here’s remembering the days when close to 1,500 head of cattle ran through the ring when this Ole Heifer worked at the Mineral Wells Stock Yards. And Dwayne Eaton was just a “kid” and Jesse Gonzales who later developed Jesse’s on South Oak, served the best chicken fried steak in three counties. What a blue plate that was!

Anyway… In turn this writer is reminded of a bumper strip which Gail and her late husband Sonny gave away to customers when they owned and ran the selling and shipping yards.

It read: Support the Beef Industry: Run Over a Chicken. At least the words were similar and there was a wonderful cartoon of a chicken in distress.

So let’s all keep laughing and calling the cows and loving our neighbors in 2025. Life is too short to dismiss family members or friends for cultural, political, religious or racial and ethnic differences.

Some of this Ole Heifers favorite people like tofu and sushi and quiche. For that matter so does this writer. Which leads one to wonder, what did “Suds” and “Blondie” eat on Christmas Day? Those two are another couple of loyal subscribers who are enjoying the coastal winds, even closer at hand than the rest of us.

Here’s a Moot, Moot for Mike and Sheila Sudderth.

Happy New Year to all, and many thanks for supporting the Palo Pinto Press.

Faithful subscribers, please call 844-956-3342 and visit with a Cherry Road Media operator (for longer hours of service) or if you cannot immediately reach the 940-274-6733 ext. 2329 circulation number should your newspaper go askew.

Whether the missing hard copy is a customer service issue or the neighbor’s dog was the culprit – we’ll get you a copy of the newspaper you have missed.

You can also renew your subscriptions at the 844 number or online at palopintopress.com.

Please know you are invited to drop by the office at 501 E. Hubbard to renew Monday through Thursdays from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m.

As always, your patronage of the Press is truly appreciated.

Without subscribers, there could be no local newspaper!