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By Ted Harbin

Cole Franks is pretty reserved on a daily basis. He doesn’t have a lot to say, but even the news he learned at the National Finals Rodeo left him virtually speechless.

“Wow,” he said after learning that he finished his rookie season with $227,422 in earnings. “That’s crazy.”

He sat stunned after earning $150,029 over 10 nights in the Nevada desert, aided in large part by finishing third in the aggregate race after riding 10 horses for a cumulative score of 860 points. It was an incredible way to conclude his inaugural season in the PRCA.

“I don’t have the words to put to it,” said Franks, 20, of Clarendon. “It is definitely not what I expected when I started the year. It is life-changing money. It sets you up for years to come.”

He was just talking about his NFR earnings. It’s all gravy for the cowboy that almost didn’t get to compete on the rodeo trail after a rough winter and early spring because he didn’t have much money earned. If it hadn’t been for a big payday in San Angelo, Texas, he might not have had the success he had: Rookie of the Year and third place in the final bareback riding world standings.

He finished his first trip to ProRodeo’s grand championship with an 85.5-point ride on Pete Carr Pro Rodeo’s Dirty Jacket. Though he didn’t place, his score helped him maintain his spot in the average, which paid him $44,414. His traveling partner, Jess Pope, won the average title and just shy of $70,000 by having the best cumulative score.

Franks grew up idolizing some of rodeo’s greats. His father, Bret, is a three-time NFR qualifier in saddle bronc riding, but he also has handy friends who own bareback riding world championships: Mark Gomes and Jeff Collins.

But money has changed considerably in the last two decades since those men were awarded their gold buckles. Gomes finished his world-title campaign with $143,000, which is less than Franks earned over the last 10 days alone.

“I’ve always said it would be cool to compete against those guys back in the day,” he said. “Looking back at that, I’d much rather be now.

“It’s crazy how much it has changed. We are athletes, not just rodeo cowboys. Tim (O’Connell) and Jess said that a lot this year. That really hit home. Rodeo has turned into rodeo athletes, not just cowboys anymore, and it shows.”

The money will spend, but the memories made will last a lifetime. Franks is still in awe of his experience in Las Vegas and his magical season that included three college titles – bareback riding, all-around and part of the champion’s men’s team at Clarendon College – and enough money to buy a nice place in his hometown.

“It sets up everything for here next year,” Franks said, referring to another NFR qualification. “That’s the top goal for next year. Once I get here next year, the first goal is to get a gold buckle. I want to get that and more will come after that.”

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute last week announced that former House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry of Clarendon and former Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work were honored with the Ronald Reagan Peace Through Strength Award at the 2021 Reagan National Defense Forum (RNDF) on December 4, 2021.

“Chairman Thornberry and Secretary Work have each devoted decades of their lives to serving and supporting our nation’s armed forces. Their steadfast leadership has contributed greatly to our safety and freedom as a nation,” said Frederick J. Ryan Jr., chairman of the board of trustees of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute. “Their knowledge and understanding of defense strategy, budgeting and modernization have been invaluable to preserving our competitive edge. As we honor them at RNDF, we trust that their contributions to the cause are not yet complete.”

Mac Thornberry retired from Congress in 2021 after representing the 13th district of Texas for 26 years. A leader on national security issues, Thornberry was a longtime member of the House Armed Services Committee, which he chaired for four years, and the House Intelligence Committee. As HASC Chairman, Thornberry worked to update and streamline DoD acquisition to get new technologies into the hands of the warfighter faster and to enhance innovation within the military.

Robert Work served as Deputy Secretary of Defense from 2014 to 2017, and was responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations and management of the Department of Defense. Prior to his confirmation in that role, he served as CEO of the Center for a New American Security and as Under Secretary of the Navy. In 2019, he co-chaired the inaugural Reagan Institute Center for Peace Through Strength Task Force, which produced a report detailing recommendations for the National Security Innovation Base. Work also served 27 years in the Marines, retiring as a colonel in 2001.

Presented at each RNDF since 2013, the Ronald Reagan Peace Through Strength Award recognizes those who have applied, with constant purpose, a strategy to strengthen our armed forces, support our military men and women striving around the world, reinforce our nation’s defense systems and safeguard the lives and interests of the American people.

The award is represented by a bronze eagle set upon a black granite base. The eagle symbolizes the strength, courage and wisdom of both Reagan and the country that he loved so dearly. Captured within the eagle’s talon is a piece of the Berlin Wall, a powerful reminder that, in Reagan’s own words, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.”

Thornberry and Work join a distinguished group of previous award recipients, including former Vice President Dick Cheney; Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI); U.S. Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA); former Secretaries of State Condoleezza Rice and George Shultz; former Defense Secretaries James Mattis, Ashton Carter, Leon Panetta and Robert Gates; former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson; former Sens. Carl Levin (D-MI.), John McCain (R-AZ) and Sam Nunn (D-GA); and retired General Jack Keane.

RNDF is America’s premier gathering for defense and national security experts. Each year, the forum brings together leaders from across the political spectrum and key stakeholders in the defense community, including members of Congress, current and former administration officials, senior military leadership, industry executives, technology innovators and thought leaders. Their mission is to review and assess policies that strengthen America’s national defense in the context of the global threat environment, and to discuss how the United States can lead the world in an era of increasingly complex challenges and opportunities.

The Ronald Reagan Peace Through Strength Award honors those individuals whose courage and leadership in support of our nation’s armed forces, here and abroad, have contributed to the security of the American people and to the advancement of freedom.

With Christmas fast approaching, the Clarendon Chamber of Commerce still has three nights of Late Night Shopping and prize giveaways planned providing plenty of opportunities for people to support local merchants.

Several merchants will be staying open late the next three Thursday nights, December 9, 16, and 23.

This week the First United Methodist Church will hold a Parents’ Night Out on Thursday, December 9, from 5:00 to 8:30 p.m. Parents can drop off kids while they take part in late night shopping. The kids will enjoy games and activities while the parents get a Night Out to finish up their last-minute shopping.

Shoppers can register at any “Shop Donley County” merchant throughout the week for the prize drawings on Late Nights. You must be present to win, and the location of the drawing will be at different locations each week. This week’s drawing will take place at Henson’s at Third and Kearney at 8 p.m.

Merchants known to be open past 5 p.m. this week include Floyd’s Automotive until 5:30, Buckin’ Bean until 7:00, Clarendon Outpost until 10:00, Outpost Deli until 8:00, Cornell’s Country Store until 6:00, Broken Road Jr. Liquor Store until 8:00, Country Bloomers until 5:30, Henson’s until 8:00, Every Nook & Cranny until 8:00, Loaded Nutrition / Rambling Ranch Boutique until 8:00, Floatin’ T Boutique until 8:00, and Saye’s Flying ‘A’ Tack until 8:00.

Also this Thursday at 6:30 p.m., the public is invited to attend a ribbon cutting and grand opening of The Savage Agency north of the Mulkey Theatre at 106 S. Kearney.

For updates on Late Night Shopping information, check out ClarendonTx.com/ChamberEvents.

By Ted Harbin

LAS VEGAS – To most men, the thought of entering the ring with the greatest heavyweight fighters in the world wouldn’t be considered.

Bareback riders aren’t like most men. They don’t mind a prize fight, and Saturday’s third round at the National Finals Rodeo was a 15-round bout. It was Cole Franks’ first foray in the NFR’s “Eliminator Pen,” and he matched up just fine.

“It’s really nerve-wracking,” said Franks, 20, an NFR newcomer from Clarendon, Texas. “When I was waiting on the draw last night, I was getting really anxious and couldn’t sit still.”

By the time he nodded his head, Franks was ready. He rode Four Star Rodeo’s Deep Springs for 85 points to finish sixth in the round, worth $4,352. He has pushed his NFR earnings to $28,071.

“I got really lucky that I drew one I had been on before, which worked out the jitters since I knew what to expect more,” he said. “I hadn’t been on any of these other horses before.”

This was the first night the toughest-to-ride horses in the world are scheduled to be out at this year’s NFR. They will return next Thursday for the eighth round, and they definitely earned their moniker by being true eliminators. High scores were hard to come by, and a couple of cowboys hit the Thomas & Mack Center dirt hard after being bucked off.

Franks had ridden Deep Springs for 82 points in Pendleton, Oregon, this past September, and that allowed him a bit more confidence when it came to trying to spur the strong animal.

“It was definitely a dog fight both times I had him,” Franks said. “he’s real strong and pumps his head, and the rigging drops out of there. He’s just real big and strong.”

The bareback riders get a bit of a break heading into the next two nights. Sunday’s fourth round will feature the “Hopper Pen” of bucking horses, the animals that are supposed to be the easiest to ride. Monday’s fifth round will expose the “TV Pen,” which will showcase the most electric bucking horses in bareback riding.

“I’m going to have to let it all hang out, because it’s going to be a spurring contest,” he said, referring to the cowboys spurring from the horse’s neck back to the rigging in rhythm with the animal’s bucking motion. “Really the only way you’re going to get rewarded (Sunday) night is if you make the perfect ride.”

Of course, as one of the top 15 bareback riders in ProRodeo, he knew it was going to be a battle over 10 December nights to decide this year’s world championship.

“It’s awesome to be part of this field,” Franks said. Everyone here makes you bring your best, too. Everybody here wants you to win just as badly as you want to win, and they’re going to push you to try and beat them.”