Part 2: Velma Tucker continues her story of after they had moved onto the Bar Eleven ranch. Being active with the Arizona Cattle Growers Assoc., Velma, as the wife of a cattleman, was also involved in the Arizona Cowbelles. She was instrumental in organizing the Gila County Cowbelles in 1971 and became their president in 1976. She went through the chairs and became the Arizona State President in 1980, when they sponsored the National Beef Cook Off in Scottsdale. By now their two older children were in college and their youngest was a senior in high school. When their son Roy returned, he moved to the 30-acre HZ headquarters and helped his father work the Bar Eleven ranch. They made a land swap with the Forest Service of the Gleeson Ranch on the Salt River for the Spring Creek area, and then when they sold that land to the Baptist church in 1994, Leroy and Velma bought a 3,052 ranch in Kansas and leased the grazing rights to son Roy. But Roy's departure left them short of hands in what was predicted to be the beginning of bad times. Leroy and Velma decided to sell the Bar Eleven just before another drought hit. The rancher who bought was assured by the Forest Service that everything would be okay, but soon the environmentalist pressure on the U.S. Forest Service to close off access to the river and lake to cattle effectively forced him to fail. After Leroy and Velma had sold, they moved back to the HZ headquarters and Leroy stayed busy working for other ranchers. In 2004, there was enough rain that the Forest Service allowed them to put some cattle back on the range and so they leased the grazing rights of the 2 Bar, located near the Tonto National Monument cliff dwellings. Velma was appointed to the Arizona Beef Council where she served for 12 years. Governor Babbitt then appointed her to the National Livestock and Meat Board, where she served another 8 years. These were exciting times for the Tuckers because they were never previously able to take vacations, but now she was required to travel around the United States to conventions and Leroy could be an inexpensive tagalong spouse. Velma served on the Promotion Committee that came up with the familiar slogans of "Where's the Beef?" and "Beef, it's what's for Dinner." She was also on the Education Committee that produced educational videos for schools promoting beef. Now retired, she's happy to just ride and look at the baby calves. After graduating from college, their older daughter worked in the field of the blind and deaf until she retired. Their youngest daughter has had a long career in banking. The Tuckers have now sold their Kansas ranch and Roy has bought another ranch in New Mexico. The Tuckers are comfortable in their longtime home, and Leroy, now 82 years old, still rides daily. Velma concludes saying they still enjoy working cattle. It's a good life.
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