07/29/2025
Tuesdays have been sacred for 16 years in our family. No one scheduled anything on a Tuesday because it was sale day. Even during Blake’s illness we tried not to schedule things on Tuesday because he’d be on the phone texting and conducting business. Today is the last sacred Tuesday at Clinton Livestock Auction.
I feel bad, not for myself but for my crew who stood up and stood by Blake, no matter if you are present or past member of our crew, you were a part of our lives for 16 years, and for that I am grateful. We had the very best crew of any place! People commented on how helpful our crew was and that means a lot to me and meant a lot to Blake.
I feel sad for our producers who trusted their cattle to Blake, who sought advice from him, and who said they wouldn’t take their cattle to anyone else. I’m so sorry. I went as long as I could to give someone the opportunity to carry on Blake’s philosophy of how a sale barn should be ran.
To our buyers, who more than once said “I appreciate the quality of the cattle from your barn.” That is something in which Blake took incredible pride. And more times than I can count I heard Blake tell producers, “you need a different bull” to produce those quality cattle.
To the community of western Oklahoma, thank you for allowing us to serve you, to become friends with so many of you, and for giving us the best 16 years of our lives! It was a pleasure to be among you and to support your communities.
When we bought the barn 16 years ago many thought we were strangers. Blake and I lived in Dill City when we first married and knew many people already. We brought our own cattle up here from Marlow before we bought the barn. Also, Blake’s family is from the Cordell and Dill City area. His dad, known as Jack Berry graduated from Cordell High School and Jack’s parents ran the turkey farm west of Cordell. Blake’s mom graduated from Dill City and her parents were Jiggs and Deva Pyron. Jiggs ran hundreds of head of stockers and that is where Blake got his love for agriculture.
My family had roots in Burns Flat. My mother’s family were McElroy and are buried in the Burns Cemetery. I don’t know much about that side of the family because my mother’s mom died 8 hours after she was born. I remember as a kid coming to Cordell to the most awesome park and pool for family reunions with the Franklin and Mosier Family because they were sisters to my grandmother. My own mother died when I was 23 before I realized I should have asked more questions about family, that interest doesn’t come until you are older.
I will miss my 2 hour drives through the country where I pass homes of friends, pastures of cattle that are cared for by our producers, and familiar places where Blake and I would stop to look at cattle, visit, or eat. Many adventures and sights were encountered on some of those drives like runaway trailer tires, camels in trailers at Porter Hill, elk herds crossing in front of the car on what we called “The Gauntlet” because something could, and often did, jump out in front of you, pulling off the road to allow the passage of an airplne fusilage moving to Tinker AFB because they couldn’t take it down the interstate, and the encounters with the people moving wind turbine parts were all adventures!
So, thank you western Oklahoma for welcoming us, trusting us, and supporting us throughout these years. I want you to know Blake absolutely loved what he did. Today a long chapter closes but it shaped our lives in so many ways. I will continue to teach and with the help of my kids, maintain the herd Blake took a lifetime to put together. Tuesdays will always be a special day of the week.
Thank you. 🤠
