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The Man Behind
the Mic |
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The Man Behind
the Mic |
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| I was raised on a cotton
farm in eastern Arkansas, the youngest of 14 children. There were 7 boys
and 7 girls in the family. Our mother died when I was 2 years old and
the younger ones in the family were raised by an older sister.
I got the opportunity to go to college when an older brother offered some financial help. I graduated from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville with a Bachelors of Science in Civil Engineering. After eight years of employment as an Engineer with the Arkansas Highway Department, I resigned and with a friend of mine, moved to Rogers, Arkansas and formed my own Consulting Engineering business - Crafton Tull & Associates, Inc.. I have been in this business for the past 34 years. Today our business has over 90 employees and we operate out of 6 offices - three in Arkansas and three in Oklahoma. Our business provides services for the design of highways, streets and bridges, architecture for schools, churches and industrial buildings, as well as land surveying services. My position is Chairman of the Board. It requires many hours on the job. My immediate family consists of my wife, Bonnie, to whom I have been married 42 years, our five grown children (four daughters and one son), and eight wonderful grandchildren. One of our daughters lives in LongYan, China with her husband and their five children. They work for an organization called Food for the Hungry. Our son is an Engineer with the rank of Captain in the Air Force, having gotten a Civil Engineering degree from the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. One daughter is on full time staff for Campus Crusade for Christ on the OU Campus in Norman, Oklahoma. Another daughter is a dietitian in a Methodist Hospital in Dallas. As a farm boy many years ago, we kept horses and mules for the older brothers to work in the fields. On the week-ends, we younger ones would go for rides on the work horses. It was always my dream to own a good saddle horse. When our first children were old enough we were able to purchase two nice gaited horses. All five of the kids had the opportunity to learn to ride. Until the kids were all grown and gone, we attended many small shows all over the country, with Dad as the groom and Mom in the stands cheering for the kids. During one of the shows in Bentonville, Arkansas, we had no announcer and the club asked me to fill in. I did a lousy job, but the next year I was asked again. A few years later the Mid-America Fox Trot Association called and asked me to announce the two year old futurity. That was about 18 years ago. This year I had a total of 26 days of announcing including the six days at the Fox Trot Celebration. I announced shows at Monroe, La., Sulphur Springs and Lufkin, Texas in addition to several shows in southern Missouri. These past 18 years of announcing have been good for me. I enjoy meeting people and the folks I associate with at horse shows are the best. My wife supports me 100 per cent even though she cannot always attend with me. My ambition is to get better and make a minimum of mistakes. I am involved in many community and church activities here in Rogers. My favorite is teaching a young couple's Bible class in the First Baptist Church of Rogers each Sunday. God has blessed my life immeasurably with a devoted wife, a fine family and good friends. Two years ago on October 12, 1995, 1 discovered I had an eye problem - a cancer had formed behind the retina in one of my eyes. After three different doctors had rendered the same opinion, the best recommended solution was to remove the eye completely. This was done and today I wear a prosthesis, or a false eye. I consider it a miracle that the cancer was discovered, and I believe God's hand was in the solution. I am able to live a normal life and to continue my hobby of announcing horse shows. Bob H. Crafton When we hear Bob say, "Bring'um in at a Fox Trot" we all know the show is ready to start. I meet Bob two years ago when I worked center ring for the first time. He always has a friendly smile and a "How are you?" now matter where you see him. This past summer I had the opportunity to work on the center ring committee and one slip-up on my part was no problem for him. When I didn't have anyone to sing the National Anthem, Bob had the crowd join in and sing it together. I also had the privilege of meeting his lovely wife, Bonnie this past summer. It is meeting people like Bob and Bonnie that make the shows so much fun. Thanks for sharing a little about yourself with
us. |
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