Sold! Couple makes marriage deal in Hills Prairie sale barn auction ring

By MONETTE TAYLOR | South Central Texas

Jim and Stephanie Rosborough could have repeated their wedding vows in the church that family had used for generations, but the couple opted for making their wedding very memorable.

May 2, 2002 -- The groom wore boots and a cowboy hat; the bride was attired in traditional white. Not unusual ... in Texas. But how about if the wedding was held in a sale barn auction ring and officiated by a brand inspector?

Jim and Stephanie Rosborough of Smithville met and started dating, a number of years ago, while growing up in the Corpus Christi area.

A year ahead of her in school, he left home for Southwest Texas State University (SWTSU) in San Marcos, then returned home after deciding it wasn't for him. He enrolled in a Corpus Christi area community college where Stephanie was, yet decided that wasn't what he really wanted, either, so in 1995, he made a decision that would eventually lead him to a sale barn wedding.

He enrolled in auctioneer school.

Before he found out about the school, he had thought about the profession, but said he "thought it was something your were born into." After attending classes at Kenneth Gregg in Plainview, he returned to South Central Texas to look for work near his family.

After a long courtship, Jim gave Stephanie a ring, and they went to show it to his mom. Since three generations of Rosboroughs had married in the same church in Smithville, it was assumed that they would follow suit, but Jim and Stephanie weren't comfortable with that plan.

"We were just driving along and I was telling him about what his mom had said and everything, and how I was telling her, jokingly, that we'd probably get married in a sale barn. We were laughing and it got real quiet. Jim said, 'What if we did?'" said Stephanie.

After attending various auction barns and conducting sales at several, Jim met Dr. Charles Graham of Elgin who owns the Prairie Hill Auction Barn. One day while sitting beside Graham, he got up his nerve to ask about getting married in his barn.

"We were sitting there in the barn, one day, and we were just talking about stuff. I said, 'Dr. Graham, I have a favor to ask of you. I want to get married in your auction barn, here in the ring.' He said. 'Oh, you're

kidding me! I'd love for you to! I'd be honored!'"

So, this spring, in the main ring of the Hills Prairie Auction Barn in Hills Prairie, Jim and Stephanie were married in front of over 100 guests. The couple said numerous people told them it was the "neatest" wedding they'd ever attended.

Jim's major concern was that Stephanie, in her long wedding dress, didn't trip coming into the ring. She was worried that her dad might trip. Neither did, and the wedding went just as planned -- music, attendants and all.

"Hills Prairie is like the Hilton of barns," the bride laughed.

Mark Nygard from Copeland, a preacher and a brand inspector that Jim met while working, conducted the ceremony.

Jim said that Nygard added a lot of humor to the service that only cattle people understood, but it was still as serious as a regular church service.

"He (Nygard) said that, normally, he had to split a pair (cow/calf) when they came into the ring ... and, this was the first time he'd ever seen them joined in the ring," said Jim.

Now, the newlyweds are living in an older home close to family and raising cattle. Jim has three auctions a week, and is looking for two more to meet his goals. Stephanie, who completed a degree at SWTSU, is enrolled at Austin Community College in Austin and will earn her Registered Nurse degree in May of 2003.