Parker County Today May 2017 | Page 8

Their Shoes? “Who’s gonna give their heart and soul …
 To get to me and you
 Lord I wonder, who’s gonna fill their shoes?”
 W 6 — George Jones hy is Parker County such a wonderfully interesting place to live?  Thanks to Parker County’s strong and insightful lead- ers of the past and present, our community has remained strong and thrived in the face of economic challenges (during the Great Depression not a single Parker County bank collapsed), tornadoes, droughts, wars, plagues, fires and marauding Indians. Through visionary leaders who forged a better way, encouraged their neighbors to dig in their heels, stay strong and help those who are not as strong to stay their course, they’ve built a robust and enduring community, a community of people who don’t back down, people who may still have fear, but who saddle up anyway, people who simply don’t quit when the road gets rough, steep and treacherous.  At Parker County Today, we felt the need to honor the young leaders in our community, to balance the harshness and negativity that is sometimes hurled at you when you’re the one who courageously steps up to the plate and swings for the bleachers with all your strength. We want to honor your innovation and your fearlessness and we hope that your example will inspire other young people to shake off their timidity and reach for the stars.  Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes is about honoring our young leaders who bravely step into the large shoes of leadership in various areas. It’s also about honoring those leaders who began reaching out for the baton of leadership and excellence at an earlier time. That’s why the awards are named for brilliant and courageous leaders who have inspired us. We’ve named our awards for them as our way of saying thank you to each of them for encouraging us, for mentoring us and for inspiring us to be better than we would have ever real- ized we could be.