Plateau Magazine June-July 2023
This issue we feature women entrepreneurs with locally run businesses and cowgirls who are protecting local animals. We also highlight protecting the land and fields that are important for bees and butterflies pollination. And for the foodies, check out our feature on the Highlands Tavern. Get outdoors with this issue, with our interview on legendary hiker Jennifer Pharr Davis.
This issue we feature women entrepreneurs with locally run businesses and cowgirls who are protecting local animals. We also highlight protecting the land and fields that are important for bees and butterflies pollination. And for the foodies, check out our feature on the Highlands Tavern. Get outdoors with this issue, with our interview on legendary hiker Jennifer Pharr Davis.
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The Cowgirl Way<br />
40 Something Cowgirls know exactly who they are<br />
By LIESEL SCHMIDT » Photos by CAROLE SHEPARDSON<br />
THE DICTIONARY DEFINES A COWGIRL AS A GIRL OR WOMAN WHO TENDS TO AND HERDS CATTLE,<br />
often on horseback. But the more accurate definition would tip its cap to the ethos these women live by, the spirit that<br />
defines them and makes them so unique. “To be a true cowgirl is to demonstrate love openly; give encouragement<br />
and take criticism; be a shoulder to lean on; catch others when they fall; give all you can give; be humble, helpful,<br />
and honest; be truthful but kind; be a leader; be strong but sensitive; be a role model for the here-and-now as well<br />
as for the future of society; and be a human with compassion, concern, and care.”<br />
88 | The<strong>Plateau</strong>Mag.com<br />
Those words sum up the cowgirl mentality—and<br />
for the women of 40 Something<br />
Cowgirls, those are characteristics that<br />
bind them in sisterhood and give them an<br />
incredible bond that has seen some of them<br />
through intense struggles. Created in 2010<br />
by Kristi Williams of Breckenridge, Texas,<br />
the organization was born of Williams’s desire<br />
to encourage and inspire middle-aged<br />
women like herself to reclaim their passions<br />
and their lives for themselves. She found<br />
that she was surrounded by amazing women<br />
in their 40s—as well as their 50s and<br />
60s—wanting to literally “get back in the<br />
saddle and have fun for themselves.” These<br />
women were wives, mothers, and careerwomen<br />
who had spent years putting their<br />
energies into everyone else, and together,<br />
they became the 40 Something Cowgirls.<br />
More than a decade later, those original<br />
women have turned into 65 chapters<br />
nationwide, with two chapters in North<br />
Carolina. “Our chapter has approximately<br />
24 members,” says Tammy Stingone, current<br />
Queen and former Princess of the<br />
Franklin, NC chapter. “We have retired<br />
nurses, retired teachers and bus drivers,<br />
business owners, active working nurses, a<br />
nurse practitioner, mothers, a lawyer, and<br />
retired law enforcement ladies. Our age<br />
group ranges from mid-40s to mid-70s.<br />
(Above:): Lynda Palmer, Princess of 40 Something<br />
Cowgirls, Franklin Chapter, on horse Marie.<br />
Coweeta Lab, Nantahala National Forest.
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