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As the daughter of former All-Around PRCA Champion Cowboy and Rodeo Hall of Famer Dave Appleton, Fallon Appleton figured to know a thing or two about boots.

After a successful career in television, Fallon, who calls herself a “Fort Worth girl,” is now senior associate of marketing and communications for Lucchese Bootmaker. But her knowledge of boots, while formidable, might be overshadowed by her knowledge of goals – and the hard work, perseverance and sacrifice it takes to achieve those goals.

Fallon, to quote a longtime family friend, “has taken a family legacy for hard work and turned it into the beginning of a dynamite career.”

Fallon’s dad was born Australia in 1960 and came to America in 1980, determined to win the All-Around Cowboy title. He was relentless in pursuit of his goal and in 1989 he became the first Australian to win a Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association world championship.

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After retiring from rodeo in 1994 because of an unrelated sports injury, Appleton took a career cue from Larry Mahan, rodeo legend and master marketer, by marketing his own western clothing line. Dave also worked in broadcasting, horse racing at Lone Star Park, and the oil and gas industry.

Fallon first followed Dave into broadcasting, quickly rolling up credits in that competitive field before making the move to marketing and Lucchese in 2022.

And, just as Dave Appleton developed a passion for rodeo when he was growing up in Australia, Fallon has a memory from her youth in Fort Worth that sparked her to say yes when Lucchese came calling.

“I will never forget my first pair of Lucchese boots,” she recalled. “They were red with blue and white stitching that at the time matched my Fort Worth Country Day uniform perfectly – cowboy boots were one of the few footwear options allowed in the FWCD dress code at the time.

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“I wore them to class almost every day, and now, 13 years later, I still wear those boots and they look just like they did when I was a junior in high school. I believe that speaks to the craftsmanship that goes into Lucchese’s cowboy boots.”

Fallon said working for Lucchese has been the perfect fit for her. Lucchese has been working with cowboys for 140 years, handcrafting not only boots, but a legacy.

“It is such an exciting time as the company is bringing that legacy to the consumer with 19 world-class stores in locations like the Stockyards, Willow Park, Midland, Denver and Nashville, just to name a few,” she said.

Since she joined the company, Fallon said, Lucchese has partnered with Wrangler on a Wrangler 75th anniversary collection and has become the “official boot sponsor” for Texas A&M athletics and University of Texas athletics.

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Fallon, who was born in Arlington and grew up in the Fort Worth area, is a 2017 graduate of Texas A&M with a degree in university studies-leadership studies. She received a master’s degree in sport management from A&M in 2019.

Fallon got her first taste of the television industry in the summer of 2014 when golf producer Lance Barrow invited her to watch the inner workings of CBS Sports’ PGA tournament coverage at Fort Worth’s Colonial (now the Charles Schwab Challenge) and the Byron Nelson in Dallas. She would spend the next several summers with CBS as a spotter and assisting on-camera talents on the PGA Tour.

During the school year, she worked for the Southeastern Conference on CBS as a sideline assistant during A&M games and nationwide for ESPN as a production and operations assistant. In August of 2016, she began working for 12th Man Productions within Texas A&M athletics as the on-camera student reporter and assistant and later became the post-production intern and student reporter.

In 2019, Fallon joined KBTX Media, the CBS affiliate in Bryan-College Station. She started as the morning reporter for “Brazos Valley This Morning” and by the spring of 2022, she was co-anchor of the program.

“From sports to lifestyle to news to politics, I am very thankful for the experiences and stories I covered during my six years in the television industry,” Fallon said. “However, after almost nine years in Bryan-College Station, I was ready for a new chapter and wanted to move back home to the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

“Marketing and communications seemed like the perfect next step for me as I always enjoyed those classes at Texas A&M. Additionally, working as a journalist at KBTX gave me a great foundation and understanding of what was required and needed of a public relations specialist.”

Fallon, 28, said she has always been inspired by her dad and his determination, calling him “the epitome of hard work and the American Dream.”

“My dad inspires me every single day,” she said. “He came to the United States from Australia at just 20 years old to chase his dreams in rodeo, and with hard work and determination he was successful. He and my mom instilled that hard-working, passionate, and resilient spirit in me. My dad has a saying that he has had me repeat since I was about 16: ‘Proper Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance.’ It’s become our code, and I think it speaks to the value we place on hard work and preparation.”

Though she’s based in Dallas with Lucchese, her heart will always be in Fort Worth, Fallon said. “I spent the majority of my time in Fort Worth attending Fort Worth Country Day, going to church at Christ Chapel Bible Church and enjoying family dinners at Joe T. Garcia’s. I call Fort Worth home.”

And, of course, she’s a big fan of the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo. Dave enjoyed much success at the annual event, taking the championship in bareback riding in 1988. He serves on the FWSSR board of directors and the Rodeo Contestant Greeting Committee.

“He said he won a lot of money there and it was his favorite rodeo,” Fallon said.

Fallon’s hobbies include hunting and spending time with her dog Toulouse, a Catahoula Blue Heeler. She’s an avid sports fan, which includes cheering for the Aggies, watching the PGA Tour and the Dallas Mavericks and Cowboys. She also enjoys cooking, trying new restaurants and traveling.

Along with setting the stage for her success in marketing, Fallon’s broadcasting career provided a lot of fantastic memories, she said. Can she imagine returning to TV in the future?

“At this point in time, I love what I do at Lucchese,” Fallon said, “but my dad always says, ‘Don’t close any door because you never know where the Lord may lead you.’”

Hackberry tree branches hang from the ceiling at the end of the hallway in TCC’s East Fort building.

The branches are part of an art exhibit recounting the last days of Fred Rouse, a Black Fort Worth resident whose death is the city’s only recorded lynching. Rouse was hanged from a hackberry tree on Dec. 11, 1921.

Tarrant County College’s Trinity River campus is hosting the exhibit titled “Shelter in Place.” The creators want to spread awareness of Rouse’s story and spark conversation on how the area can heal from racial injustice toward Blacks. The exhibit closes March 6.

Adam McKinney, president of Tarrant County Coalition for Peace and Justice, collaborated with photographer Will Wilson and Daniel Banks, Co-Director of DNAWORKS, on “Shelter In Place.”

Banks highlighted the exhibit’s ending, where attendees are encouraged to write their thoughts and place them on the exhibit’s reflection wall.

“We are always moved by the community contribution as part of the work and are thrilled to see so many people offering such thoughtful and inspiring responses to the question: How do we heal?” Banks said.

On Feb. 24, a few reflections on the wall included “Taking one step at a time.” and “By accepting pain as part of life and learning from it.”

McKinney represents Rouse in the five landscape portraits on display. Each picture highlights a key location of Rouse’s final days, from Rouse standing in front of the meatpacking company where he worked to his unmarked burial site.

The exhibit includes an augmented reality element. Attendees can use an app that shows McKinney, acting as Rouse, doing a performative in each portrait. Soil from where Rouse was lynched also is on display.

TCC art professor Janae Corrado appreciates how respectful students have been when experiencing the exhibit.

“This is not the typical art exhibit that we show on campus,” Corrado said. “They have been treating it with a lot of respect, but also there’s a lot of reflection.”

What: Shelter In Place Art Exhibit

When: Open until March 6. 8 a.m-7 p.m. Monday through Thursday. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday. Closed on weekends.

Where: East Fork building, Tarrant County Community College Trinity River Campus, 300 Trinity Campus Circle, Fort Worth

Tickets: Free

Juan Salinas II is a reporting fellow for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at juan.salinas@fortworthreport.org or on Twitter. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.

Irving-based Pei Wei Asian Kitchen has announced plans to open several more locations in DFW, including its first digital location on Greenville Avenue.

Pei Wei saw growth in various areas in 2022 and is opening several traditional locations in North Texas and the Greenville digital location, where the restaurant said it has found early success, according to a news release,

"We wanted a business that focused heavily on takeout and delivery and spoke to our delivery service providers to better understand where demand was coming from in the area," said Adam Griffiths, director of Real Estate for Pei Wei, in a prepared statement.

The restaurant brand also said it was expanding its footprint in non-traditional locations, such as food trucks, airports and even inside Kroger grocery store locations. It is also opening more locations throughout Texas and the Sun Belt, including more stores focused on takeout and delivery.

"We plan to open 10-15 more locations this year throughout our Texas, Arizona and Florida markets," said William Rodriguez, Pei Wei's director of Business Development.

The restaurant chain also said it is partnering with a college campus operator to open in 9 university locations across the U.S. over the next year.

Pei Wei is the second-largest Chinese fast-casual restaurant chain in the U.S. and currently operates more than 200 stores throughout the U.S., including 24 in North Texas.

In June of last year, the restaurant chain announced it had signed a new long-term lease in Irving. The company remained near DFW International Airport, moving from 6191 N. Highway 161 to the Class B Westway One building at 1707 Marketplace Drive. The property is owned and operated by Hartman Income REIT Management Inc.

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Get ready to celebrate the stars of Fort Worth's restaurants and bars. The annual CultureMap Tastemaker Awards return this spring — and tickets are on sale now.

Join us April 27 at The 4 Eleven for an evening honoring the very best of Fort Worth's culinary scene.

That means our signature tasting event where you'll sample special bites from this year's participating nominees and sip an array of cocktails, beer, and more. Then we'll reveal the winners in our short and sweet awards ceremony.

The Tastemaker Awards shine a spotlight on the people making the local restaurant scene special and honor their innovation, energy, and creativity. Nominees and winners are determined by a panel of industry experts, including past winners — except for Best New Restaurant (more on that in a bit).

This year, we’ll award winners in all of the following categories: Restaurant of the Year, Chef of the Year, Bar of the Year, Brewery of the Year, Rising Star Chef of the Year, Neighborhood Restaurant of the Year, Best New Restaurant, and — just to add a little sizzle — Best Burger.

You can see all of the nominees here and learn more about them in our special editorial series leading up to the big event.

At the awards ceremony on April 27, we’ll unveil the winners in each category, including the winner of Best New Restaurant, which will be determined by you in a bracket-style online tournament.

A limited number of Early Bird tickets are on sale now at discounted rates of $60 for general admission and $99 for VIP (includes early access to the event, valet, and a dedicated bar). Prices will increase April 2 (or whenever Early Bird tickets sell out). Grab your tickets now, because this party will surely sell out.

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The event is brought to you by Goodstock by Nolan Ryan, Deep Ellum Brewing Company, Ellum Ranch Patio Water, Topo Chico Sparkling Mineral Water, and more to be announced soon.. A portion of proceeds will benefit our nonprofit partner, Cuisine for Healing.

Bass Performance Hall is bringing Broadway hits such as “Hamilton” and “Frozen” to Fort Worth over the next year and a half.

Performing Art Fort Worth announced the 2023-2024 Broadway at the Bass schedule this week. Since 1998, Bass Performance Hall has brought the arts to downtown Fort Worth and Sundance Square.

Nine productions in total make up the 2023-2024 season, that brings acclaimed musicals and plays from across the country to the Fort Worth theater. Season ticket holders have until March 24 to renew their plan, while tickets to the general public go on sale on April 11.

For those looking to get a sense of Broadway at the Bass, the 2022-2023 season has nearly concluded. Only three productions remain for the season: “Annie” from March 28 to April 2, “Tootsie” from May 9-14 and “Hadestown” from June 27 to July 2. Tickets are still available for the three remaining shows.

From Disney adventures to historic musicals, there’s a little bit of everything for people during the 2023-2024 Broadway at the Bass season:

“The Book of Mormon” follows a pair of mismatched missionaries sent halfway across the wold to spread the good word. Trey Parker, Robert Lopez and Matt Stone, are the trio behind the Tony-winning musical.

Based on the hit 2013 Disney animated film, “Frozen” follows sisters Elsa and Anna on a winter adventure. The musical comes from Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez, Jennifer Lee, Michael Grandage and Rob Ashford.

“Jagged Little Pill” hits on themes of joy, love and heartache, all wrapped up in the music of Alanis Morissette. The musical comes from Diane Paulus and Diablo Cody.

Harper Lee’s 1960 book “To Kill A Mockingbird” follow Atticus Finch, a 1930s lawyer defending a Black man against an unjust charge. The Pulitzer Prize-winning book was made into a film in 1962 and has now been adapted by filmmaker and playwright, Aaron Sorkin.

This musical follows the “Six” wives of Henry VIII into a 21st century girl power remix of over 500 years of historical heartbreak. The musical comes from writers Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss.

Disney’s “Aladdin” tells the story of a young thief on a magical adventure with the girl of his dreams, a Genie and magic carpet. The musical is based on the 1992 animated film and comes from Alan Menken, Howard Ashman, Tim Rice and Chad Beguelin.

“Tina” follows the life story of acclaimed singer who produced hit songs such as “What’s Love Got To Do With It” and “The Best”. The musical comes from Katori Hall and Phyllida Lloyd.

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s historical epic tells the story of founding father Alexander Hamilton in a score that blends hip-hop and R&B. The muscial comes from Miranda, Thomas Kail, Andy Blankenbuehler and Alex Lacamoire.

“Mamma Mia!” tells the story of a daughter searching for her father on the eve of her wedding day, all told through the music of ABBA. The musical is based on book from Catherine Johnson and a 2008 film.

This story was originally published February 27, 2023, 11:28 AM.