Western Heritage Classic: A family affair for Mother’s Day

ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) — The 40th Annual Western Heritage Classic is currently taking place at the Taylor County Expo Center, and many who venture to this event do so while also having the privilege of working with those close to them for Mother’s Day.

The Western Heritage Classic has been a strongly held tradition right here in the Big Country. The event also falls on the same weekend as Mother’s Day, so many who are part of this tradition share it with the ones we owe our lives to.

Talitha Frye and her daughters, Eliza and La Tessah, work a handmade leather craft booth for the Western Heritage Classic and have been doing so together for the last six years. They make everything from leather key chains to gun holsters, and Talitha spoke about their journey with this family business.

“I started doing leather work when the girls were too little to really help. As the girls grew, they started picking up on their little parts of it that they enjoyed doing, and started with half a table at a gun show. And here we are,” Talitha shared.

The Kenney family shares a long history with the event, and for 25 years, Beth Kenney has been taking her children to the Western Heritage Classic. Beth sells raw leather for the other vendors and says her daughter grew up playing on the floor of events like this while she sold her goods. Now grown, Beth’s daughter, Jade Kenney, has her own business where she sells authentic Native American jewelry and always has her booth right next to her mom’s. Beth and Jade describe what it’s been like working so closely together.

Beth said, “It’s awesome… tears in my eyes. It’s pretty cool to watch your kids do well. To see her over here being able to handle herself and growing and just having her own business and just being self-sufficient is just really pretty cool.”

Jade added, “It’s really fun to have my mom in my hip pocket so I can be like, hey, mom, what am I doing here? Can I borrow some change?”

For these moms, the time spent and the pride felt in watching their children succeed mean more than anything money can buy. A fact that Talitha Frye said she enjoys most when working with her daughters.

“My biggest thing is getting up in the morning and going in there and sitting down and working, and all of us being in the same room. I mean, you just can’t beat that,” Talitha expressed. “Money cannot replace that feeling that you get.”