COUNTY LIFE
Female farrier turns horsin’ around into a new career
By DEBRA DUNLAP
Nikki Smith loves to horse around. In fact, the pretty, soft-spoken Wichita Falls resident spends most of her waking hours with other people’s horses working as a farrier.
There are very few female farriers. Shoeing horses has, for centuries, been a man’s world.
Not so in 2015 as Smith works up way up the ranks of horseshoeing.
How does a 30-year-old wife and mother of two get into horseshoeing? For Nikki, it was a natural progression.
Stephen had recently received a medical discharge from the military due to an active-duty injury. There they were, with all those horses to care for, his career at an end and bills piling up.
“One of the Veterans Administration programs was horseshoeing school,” recalled Nikki. “So I informed Stephen he was going to go.”
He graduated from Oklahoma State Horseshoeing School and went into business. The plan for their new venture, S&S Horseshoeing, was Nikki would to go along with Stephen on jobs to drive, hold the horses, and help him out. Read the full feature in your weekend News.
The Bowie City Council approved a $950,000 project to improve the walking path at Pelham Park on Oct. 27.
Bowie Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Janis Crawley said the upcoming project will repave 26,277 square feet of pathway in concrete, spanning about 0.6 miles in length.
The work covers the trail section northeast of the Blade, curving past the soccer fields and toward the swimming pool.
Another section goes around the pool and sport courts, then back down toward the Blade. The project will also widen the trail section to eight feet and add a new 36-foot bridge.
Read the full story in your Thursday Bowie News.
Bowie High School will honor veterans at 8:45 a.m. on Nov. 11 in the high school gym. Staff and students invite area veterans to join them for a veteran’s breakfast at 8 a.m. followed by a ceremony where each veteran will be recognized for their service to the country.
Veterans are asked to register at: https://bit.ly/VeteransDay2026RSVP.
The staff of the Montague County Veteran’s Service office is partnering with the American Legion Post 220 for its Veterans Day program at 11 a.m. on Nov. 11 at the post home at 801 W. U.S. 82. Veterans and their families are invited to join a complimentary lunch.
Montague County voters joined the rest of the state with a tremendous turnout in Tuesday’s elections.
The elections administration office reported with all 10 precincts counted a turnout of 56.01% or 8,732 casting ballots. There are 15,591 registered voters in the county.
While there were no county contested races, there were two city council and two school board elections.
The Bowie City Council has three places on the ballot. Laura Sproles, incumbent, was not challenged for her place two.
Levi Bailey won the precinct one seat with 925 votes. Valerie Thomerson received 328 votes.
In precinct three, Terry Gunter won with 1,027 votes and Glenda Durham was second with 383
Read the full story in the Thursday Bowie News.
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