Roger Grizzard Innovative Educator
Award
Weatherford High Schoolers know Roger Grizzard
as Mr. Grizzard, the economics teacher at WHS,
and owner of the Pizza Place, a South Main eatery
serving and employing students for decades. He is a
gifted educator who has been known to wear several hats at once and to wear them all with a certain
grace and flare. For decades he devoted his days
to working as a WHS teacher. But, once the school
bell tolled, he rushed to Pizza Place, which he has
operated since coming to town 40 years ago. What
better lesson in economics than a f amily owned
restaurant like Pizza Place?
Shelly Mowery Courageous Cowgirl
Award
A cowgirl never quits as Shelly Mowery knows firsthand. She and her husband Rick train and raise cutting
horses. She has been one of the top equine broadcasters for the past quarter century and is a member of the
Cowgirl Hall of Fame in Fort Worth. Each year’s recipient
shares the never-quit attitude of Shelly Mowery.
The Tim Buchanan Excellence in
Coaching Award
Any football coach would be envious of Buchanan’s
success at Aledo, of the Orange and Black. He led the
Bearcats to a Class 3A state crown in 1998. He won
back-to-back state Class 4A, Division II titles in 2009 and
2010. The 1979 Killeen High School graduate has led
Aledo to the playoffs for 15 straight years and at least to
the quarterfinals each year but one. He is now the athletic director of Aledo ISD.
Tom B. Saunders IV Cattleman of The
Year Award
V.A. Littleton Art Award
A little more than half a century ago, Littleton picked up a
paintbrush and hasn’t put it down since. The Weatherford
native has lived on Davis Street her entire life and while
her children attended high school she picked up a new
hobby. She has enjoyed drawing all her life and finds
painting satisfying. Over the years Littleton has completed several hundred pieces and has had her work on
display at the Doss Heritage and Culture Center, in local
banks and is a former member of the Weatherford Art
Association.
Drew Springer Wealth Management
Award
In these turbulent financial times, it’s important to have
a financial planner in your corner who can protect
your assets. Drew Springer, located on the square in
Weatherford, has helped people meet their financial goals
for more than 40 years. He’s done that with great insight
and compassion.
Drew has mentored other financial professionals in the
community and taught high school students the fundamentals of saving and investing.
Mary Martin Performing Arts Award
PA R K E R C O U N T Y T O D AY
Mary Martin was a famous star of stage and screen, but
around here folks think of her first as a favorite famous
native of Weatherford. The daughter of an attorney and a
violin teacher, Mary began taking voice lessons while still
in elementary school. Her performance at a club in Los
Angeles impressed a theatrical producer, and he cast her
in a play in New York. That production did not open, but
she managed to land a role in Cole Porter’s Leave It To
Me. In that production, she became popular on Broadway
and was propelled to instant fame by singing, My Heart
Belongs to Daddy.
On Broadway in 1949, Martin appeared in the
Rodgers and Hammerstein hit South Pacific. Critics loved
her in the comic role of Ensign Nellie Forbush. During
the 1950s, she appeared on stage and in television performances of her roles in such productions as The Skin of
Our Teeth, Annie Get Your Gun and Peter Pan. She won
Tony Awards for Peter Pan and for The Sound of Music,
MAY 2016
The first Tom B. Saunders arrived in Texas in 1850 in a
covered wagon, driving his small herd of cattle. Raising
a large family with seven sons on open range with free
roaming longhorn cattle, they established a sizable ranch,
and after the Civil War began driving trail herds north
to better markets. Each generation since has known the
importance of raising great cattle and riding good horses.
Today our economy continues to be ever mindful of
the quality of cattle and horses that is necessary to build
a good business. Tom B. Saunders II saw the first indoor
cutting contest in the Northside Coliseum. His brother
Will won 2nd place and $25, and “bragging rights” on
the stockyards. Tom B. Saunders III, one of the founders
of the National Cutting Horse Association, created the
first Cutting Horse Chatter monthly report and was also
inducted into the NCHA Hall of Fame.
Still raising good cattle and horses and promoting the
horse industry, the last three Saunders, Tom B. IV, a top
hand and top horse judge; Thomas V., a reputed horse-
man who has represented the American Quarter Horse
Association and Texas A&M in Argentina, Paraguay and
Uruguay in building the industry; and grandson Jordan
Williams, seventh generation and a Texas Tech Equine
Team member who won the national collegiate equine
team championship four years in a row, are still at it on
the Saunders Ranch, making top horses and doing what
they know will help Parker County preserve the prestige
of producing top performing horses and great cattle.
It is in honor of this family that the award given to
the Cattleman of the Year is called the Tom B. Saunders
Award.
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