our cover: PARKER COUNTY’S MOVERS AND SHAKERS
“Who’s gonna give their heart and soul …
To get to me and you
Lord I wonder, who’s gonna fill their shoes?”
— George Jones
Why is Parker County such a
wonderfully interesting place to live?
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Thanks to Parker County’s strong and insightful leaders of the past and pres-
ent, 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 that forged a better pathway, encouraged their
neighbors to dig in their heels, stay strong and helped other Parker Countians
to stay their course, they’ve built a robust and enduring community, a commu-
nity of people who don’t back down, people who may still have fear, but who
would saddle up anyway, people who simply don’t quit when the road gets
rough.
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 people who courageously step up to the plate and swing for the bleachers
with all their strength. We want to honor their innovation and fearlessness and
we hope that their 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 vast shoes of leadership in their fields. 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.