All of us here at Eatons’ Ranch hope you had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! As we look back on this past year we think about how fortunate we are to live where we live, to do what we do, and to have you all in our lives.   The last few years have been challenging, but thanks to your support the challenges we have faced have been more rewarding than ever.

Horses crossing Wild Horse Creek at the Bar 11

All in all the Ranch family has had a good year. We’re healthy, our children are healthy and for that, we are thankful. Many of us had the opportunity to get a for a few excursions during the off season, which is always welcomed before or after four months of the dude season. We welcomed many familiar faces to the Ranch this summer, along with many new ones as well.  Keen Butcher and his family joined us for their annual Ranch reunion in June.  July was a good month for groups and families traveling together.  Thanks to Ted and Laura Mandelkorn, many new people were introduced to the Ranch.  Michael Shinners and his family joined us in July for the third consecutive year.  Mike Holloman and Tim Surrat joined us during the month as well to celebrate Tim’s 50th birthday with many family and friends in attendance.  We had a few guests, who we were very happy to see again, that had taken some time off between visits.  Mary Roby and her
children and grandchildren joined us in July for the first time since 1998.  George and Mary Kenny returned with their family in August after last being here in 1974.  In August we were also joined by the familiar faces of Charlie and Stephanie Fagan, who brought their children and grandchildren.  In addition to the faithful August crowd, we hosted a couple of weddings and for the first time, we hosted a photography workshop by David Stoecklein.  The beautiful wedding of Kate Brewster and Justin Hammerich fell on the same weekend as the
photography workshop, but both events went off with out a hitch.  We plan to host another workshop in 2012.  Our loyal September contingent joined us following Labor Day and we quietly ended the month with the Third Annual Wolf Creek Wrangle trail run and hike.  We look forward to the Fourth Annual on September 22nd.  We kept our doors open for a little longer for the highlight of 2011.  The wedding of Mary Eaton and Nate Schmeiser on October 8th. The wedding of 100 plus family and friends was officiated by Rob Cagnina in Howard Hall. It
was a wonderful event and everywhere you looked there were smiling faces.  So many people commented that they couldn’t have been happier for two very special people.

Ranch kids kicking their heels up at Nate & Mary’s Wedding

This year we are not going to write the usual detailed year in review. Instead, we are shifting the focus to photos from years past and to those we lost in 2011. We hope the photos bring back memories of the time you have shared with your family and friends, and with us. We are sorry to admit that sometimes it takes a year like this to make us realize just how many lives Eatons’ Ranch has touched
and how we in turn have been touched by so many special people. This year we lost a number of people near and dear to the Eatons’ Ranch family. Some left us far too early life, but we are so lucky to have known them. Some had not been able to visit the Ranch in years, but they were the people who supported us year after year and became part of our story.

          In Memory of…….

Jack Stanton, David W. Oskin, Jr., Nancy Payne, Clem Egan, Gerry
Clapp, Miff McBride, Liz Jacobs, Betty Kaufmann, Herb Koether, Betty Lou
Girardi, Blair Klein.

Some of the obituaries, eulogies and notes from families of the departed expressed the importance of Eatons’ Ranch during their lifetimes. Miff McBride first came to the Ranch with his father in 1937 and trips to the Ranch became a family tradition. He passed peacefully at home with an Arthur Dailey photo of Eatons’ Ranch by his bedside. During her amazing lifetime, Betty Lou Girardi, traveled extensively throughout
the world, but in her obituary it said that her favorite place to travel was Eatons’ Ranch. Betty Lou and her husband Joe visited the Ranch for 41 consecutive seasons. Betty Kaufmann first visited the Ranch in 1936 with her parents and their first trip to the Ranch was in 1923. The Kaufmann and Eaton family have a long history together. Betty visited the Ranch for 37 consecutive seasons.  A line taken from an Erika Frey poem over 30 years ago that sits overlooking Eatons’ Ranch still holds true today more than ever, “…when you ride these pastures I have loved, let your heart beat fast for me and I shall not be dead.”

Life is made up of experiences and interactions with others. Based on our experiences and interactions with the friends and family that we have lost this past year and before, our lives are full. To all of those who lost loved ones this past year, please know that our thoughts are with you. If we have failed to mention anyone here, we apologize in advance.

  The printed version of the Wranglin’ Notes will be in the mail soon with even more pictures.  We wish you
all the best in 2012 and we hope to see you this summer! Check out our blog and keep a look out for our upcoming specials!