change. Unhappy in her mar-
keting class, she switched to ele-
mentary education and en -
joyed studying to be a teacher.
In 1982, she transferred to
Sul Ross State University in
Alpine to be with her fiancé.
The engagement was broken
off, but she persevered with her
education course, graduating
in 1984. She loved the small-
ness of Sul Ross, and the beau-
ty of the region grabbed her
heart, she says.
Kathy had intended to re -
turn to San Antonio and start
teaching, but stopped at the
Church in the Mountains in
Fort Davis before leaving.
There she heard about a teach-
ing job in the church’s one-
room school house. She took it
and stayed over four years.
Country life was an intriguing
mystery to her, and she relished
Fort Davis’ small-town man-
ners.
The challenge was to teach
12 students, from grades one
through 10, at the same time
and in the same place. The
subjects were history, Bible, sci-
ence and current events. She
found it demanding but fun
and was a natural at it. She was
excited to be able to teach from
the Christian perspective and
challenged at having to be
especially organized due to the
spread of ages of the students.
The school closed in 1989,
and for the next 20 years she
homeschooled her three chil-
dren and engaged in constant
church and civic volunteer
work. So successful was this
work, due to her positive, prac-
tical and non-confrontational
approach (“helped by God’s
wisdom,” she adds) that when a
vacancy rose on the Jeff Davis
County commissioners court,
she was offered the post by
County Judge George Grubb.
Her talents have served the
community well in this capacity.
In 1988, Kathy married
Jimmy Bencomo, whom she
had met at the Church in the
Mountains. The Bencomo
family had been in Fort Davis
for generations. Jimmy’s dad
Arturo started the Exxon
garage, which he later passed
on the Jimmy. Kathy helps out
at the station, as does elder son
Caleb, 19, who is studying
industrial technology at SRSU.
Younger son Josiah, 13, is at
Fort Davis High School.
Her eldest child Addie, 20,
will graduate cum laude from
Sul Ross State University in
August with a B.A. in English.
She was recently named SRSU
woman of the year for her
leadership achievements in a
variety of campus activities.
Soon to be married, she plans
to attend Bible college and
become a youth minister. Like
mother like daughter.
MIKE DAVIDSON
There was always a piano in
the Davidson home in Sugar -
land, Texas, where Michael,
the first of three sons of Sue
and Don Robertson, was born
on January 10, 1953. Don was
a Presbyterian minister, and the
family subsequently moved to
various towns in Tennessee,
Missouri and Arkan sas. Sue
was a housewife, played the
organ in church and later in life
taught school. Mike’s brothers
Tommy and Terry, like Mike,
learned to play music at home
and continue to play today.
At high school in Sugarland,
Davidson learned Spanish,
which was to stand him in good
stead when later doing business
in Mexico. He entered Rice
University at 17 and left a year
later, disillusioned at the class
size and multitude of courses.
Later he resumed his studies of
math and history at a commu-
nity college, but where he real-
ly started to feel fulfilled was as
an itinerant carpenter. As such
he was able to move around in
Central and later West Texas.
This suited him.
In the mid-70s two events
occurred which shaped Mike
Davidson’s life. He took an out-
doors course in South Brewster
County run by David Sleeper.
It included rock climbing and
river rafting and was his first
introduction to desert life,
which gave him a sense of free-
dom and satisfaction. Soon
after, he participated in a three-
day rafting trip through
Mariscal Canyon in Big Bend
National Park where he met
Steve Harris. Leaving the tour
group, the pair continued on
their own through the Lower
Canyons for 140 miles.
It was during this 12-day
trip, when they ran short on
food, that the idea for Far
Flung Adventures, a river raft-
ing company, was hatched.
This, the first professional river
outfitter in the Big Bend, was
founded in 1976. By the mid-
80s Far Flung was running
river trips from Alaska to
Mexico. The company contin-
ued until 2001 when it was
bought, merged with another
outfitter and renamed Far
Flung Outdoor Center.
Today Mike Davidson is still
connected with Big Bend
tourism as executive director of
Visit Big Bend. The only paid
staff member, his almost full-
time job consists of directing
Big Bend’s major tourism
agency, with an annual budget
of $400,000. Based in Alpine,
his duties mainly involve plan-
ning and marketing. He is also
director of the Trans-Pecos
Water Trust, the aim of which
is to preserve the integrity of
the area’s major rivers, notably
the Rio Grande, a vital and
vulnerable asset. He was re -
cently elected to the Alpine city
council.
Music still plays a large part
in Davidson’s life. Since found-
ing the Terlingua All Stars in
1981, and later playing with
Craig Carter’s band in the 90s,
he has headed up Los Pinché
Gringos, Big Bend’s first and
ever-popular border music
band. He lives on “A”
Mountain in Alpine with his
son Jett. A second son, Nick,
studies at Austin Commun ity
College.
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MARFA MONTESSORI
We are excited to announce Marfa Montessori, a pre-school and
kindergarten for ages 3-6, will open its doors in September 2010.
For more information, or to apply for your child, please visit
www.montessori.org, or call Meghan Gerety 432.729.1905.
Applications will be accepted on a first come, first-served basis.
Marfa Montessori admits students of any race, color and national or ethnic origin on a first come, first-served basis.
PO Box 546, Marfa TX 79843, www.marfamontessori.org
Cenizo
Third Quarter 2010
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