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Recipes, genetics, music, dinner party guests and magazines
require “just the right mix ” to make them really
exceptional. Without the right mix it doesn’t take long for
them to simply “fade to bland ”.The right mix usually has a
lot to do with a combination of talent, spark, and
ingenuity; keeping it captivating does not mean
“perfect ”.Perfect is often very dreary and
monotonous. When we first began pulling up our boot
straps to saddle together the issue of this magazine
you ’re holding in your hands we determined from the
get go to broaden our horizons and deliver to your mail
boxes a magazine that was more then just another “cow
book ”.Before we could even get out of the chute however,
we had to pull together “just the right mix “of people and
creative power. We are enormously blessed with an impressive
array of writing talent: Wes Ishmael, Kindra Gordon, Heather
Smith-Thomas, Lisa Schmidt, and Sharla Ishmael are
simply some of the finest of our business. The input,
resources and innovation that they supplied were the
mix that brought this remarkable book in sync.
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Drawn straight from the headlines is this year ’s Pacer Awards.
These were the news stories that had profound effects on the
beef industry. These Pacer stories go in-depth and bring
home the complete picture, they ’re a comprehensive look at the
events and what the consequences will mean to all of us. Will
every one agree with what we feel are the headlining events
of the year? Most likely that won ’t be the case; the waters
always get murky at this point, so you make the decision to wade
in or just dive into deep water. I ’ve always been the “diving ”
type, so what we do know is that while you may not concur
with us on every measure, it is our hope that you come away
better informed. New this year at the end of the Pacer Pieces is
the Pacer Crossword Puzzle, and for those of you with a
competitive bent we ’re offering Western Cowman caps to the
first ten correct puzzles to reach our offices.
The Pacer articles are
just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the line-up of
incredible reading contained in this issue. We ’ve provided a
variety of learning power exchanges to those unique articles
about people, places and events that are making their mark
in the West right now. On vacation this month is Hooter McCormick
but he ’ll be back in force with his buddies in the
September edition. In this month ’s “just the right mix ”,we
’ve got a special photo essay titled “Men at Work ”,and I bet
there may be one or two of those gentlemen you may even
know.
This magazine is like a
tough colt to break, the wranglers in our office have to be
consistent, smart, and resilient, and use every creative technique
in their bag of tricks to produce the quality of the issue
you ’re holding. At this point in the trail I want to say a
special thanks to Peter Wisham, Jason Sabourin, and Steve
Martinez for providing “just the right mix ” with their creative
energy and marvelous resourcefulness in getting this colt
out the gate. My thanks also goes to Sheila Stamnas for
always making sure I knew the trail I needed to stay on each day.
Finding ‘just the
right mix ” can be pretty elusive, like any trail it can have its
share of slippery slopes. I ’m very thankful to have had the
skills of our writers and artists to escort us on the route
as we developed, pushed and prodded this very special
magazine into reality. Now it ’s time for you to find your own
“cold right mix ”, kick off the boots, get comfy and take an
excursion on our trail.
My own trails keep
diverging, some have been hot and dusty this past month,
while others have provided views I thought I would have never
explored. I want to thank all of our readers for staying the
Trail with us as we head into our 10th year of producing the
Western Cowman magazine. We promise to keep pursuing the
“right mix ”,keep it interesting and always stay a reflection of
our readership.
Happy Trails … |
