Brenda Valentine - Sticks N Stones Article:
Every small town wants to claim to bragging rights for
something. We can’t help it, that’s just the way small towns are. Paris, TN
is home of The World’s Biggest Fish Fry, a week long event complete with a
carnival, rodeo and parade. Country music legend, Hank Williams Jr. makes
his home and offices here. And The First Lady in HuntingTM, Brenda
Valentine, keeps her home and office in Paris. She has hunted 44 different
states and provinces, and 6 foreign countries, including 3 African safaris.
She continues to hunt in Paris and Henry County too, filming several hunting
shows and commercials here. In fact, today we noticed a few turkeys near the
end of her driveway, as we were turning in. We mentioned it to Brenda and as
she picked up a pair of binoculars to look out the window at another turkey
she had been watching, she asked “Were they gobblers or hens?” We only knew
that they were turkeys and in what direction they were heading.
Brenda Valentine has been described as “the shining ambassador of the entire
hunting industry". Hunting was a way of life in her childhood home in rural
West Tennessee. The basic woodsmanship and hunting lessons she learned as a
kid have literally carried her around the world…many times. Today she is the
industry’s most recognized female hunter as she devotes herself full-time to
relaying the message of ethical hunting and conservation. Brenda is also an
award-winning author, seminar speaker, hunting instructor, radio and
television personality.
Brenda co-hosts 2 award winning national TV programs, the Bass Pro Shops’
Hunting program and the Gore-Tex Extreme Hunting program. She is a former
6-time State Champ and a National Champion 3-D archer. She was the first
woman to be inducted into the National Legends of the Outdoors Hall of Fame,
in addition to being an inductee of the TN Sports Hall of Fame. Brenda has
written a very successful humor book titled ”Hunting Mis-Adventures” in
which she exposes her own flavor of country wit. Brenda serves as the
spokesperson and teacher for countless organizations and hunting programs.
She has been a member of the elite Bass Pro Shops’, RedHead Professional
Hunting team for 10 years. Companies such as Mossy Oak Camo, W.L.Gore,
Parker Compound Bows, Winchester Ammunition, Sims Vibration Laboratories,
Hunters Safety Systems, Trophy Rock, Carolina Archery Products, and Mossy
Oak Seasonings have each chosen Brenda Valentine, The First Lady of
HuntingTM, to represent their companies.
Teaching others to enjoy the pleasures of the outdoors has always been very
important to her. Each year she shares her time and knowledge with others by
hosting various hunts and hunting clinics across the country. For this
Tennessee lady, sharing her love of the outdoors and her passion for hunting
is her leisure, her livelihood, and most certainly her legacy. For more
information about The First Lady in HuntingTM, including scheduled events,
stories, and how to get her book, visit Brenda’s website at
www.brendavalentine.com.
We actually ran into Brenda the other day and noticed that she was driving a
sweet new truck. A bright red F-150 SuperCab with all the bells and
whistles. Now, we know Brenda from way back and know that she really enjoys
a ‘pretty truck’. This new truck was nice but, we knew what kind of bling it
needed to really catch the eye. We asked Brenda if she would let us “Trick
her Ride” and after about 2 minutes of consideration she said “Yes”. The
wheels in our minds started to turn. What to do to it? Lots of chrome, of
course! Red looks way too good with chrome to miss this opportunity. Chrome
door handles and a tailgate handle, taillight and headlight trim rings,
mirror covers, pillar post covers, a fuel door, and rocker panel guards. We
went on and on and on. Then we reined ourselves in and decided to go with
just the chrome this time. We’ll save the grille and bull bar for next time.
In these next few paragraphs, we are going to tell you just how easy it is
to take your ride from functional to ‘WOW’ for a few dollars and a little
bit of time. After we were sure of the specifics for Brenda’s F-150, we
placed our order with AutoTruckToys.com and dropped off the truck at the
local detail shop. Our order arrived and we picked up the truck. Wow, all
this cool shiny stuff and time to start the installation.
First the Willmore rocker panel covers. This 12 piece set of 7” wide
polished stainless steel pieces is backed entirely with automotive grade
adhesive for a rock solid application. We test fit all the pieces before
removing any of the backing and then cleaned the application area with
rubbing alcohol as per the directions. Now it’s just a matter of peeling the
backing off the adhesive line up the top edge with the lower body line,
press and stick. Pull off the protective film from the front of the pieces
and wipe with a soft cloth while pressing firmly to ensure proper adhesion.
Now you can reposition these pieces if you get one slightly crooked but they
are not coming off easily. Holy cow, what a difference! Cost $254.95 and
installation time about 1 hour. Sweet!
Also, from Willmore we got a set of laser cut pillar post covers. Cut from
high quality stainless and polished to a brilliant shine, these covers
install in about 30 minutes with same procedures as the rocker panel covers.
Cost $49.95. Being part of this transformation will just almost give you
chill bumps.
We chose the Putco door handle covers because Putco matched the style and
contour of these covers to the OEM handles. Nice touch! This application
process is the same. Test fit, clean application area, peel adhesive
backing, and stick. Check location and wipe firmly with a soft cloth. Stand
back and admire. Cost $69.95 door handle and tailgate handle covers, with
installation time of approximately 30 minutes.
The chrome mirror covers we picked are made by Putco, too. They are made
from ABS chrome to match the OEM chrome finish. Installation process is
again just test fit, clean, peel and stick. We are starting to feel like
professional installers now. One thing to note when ordering your mirror
covers is whether your truck has factory turn-signals in the mirror itself.
Cost $69.95. Installation time – 15 minutes. This is awesome!
The F-150 has fairly intricately designed headlights. Putco designed the
perfect trim to enhance the features in the lights, without overwhelming
them. Again we used the same simple procedures for installation. Test fit,
clean, peel and stick. This is so easy and looks so good! Product cost
$79.95 and installation time 15 minutes.
Brenda’s F-150 has the Flareside bed, so we went to Quality Automotive
Accessories for the taillight trim. Again we are using the same installation
procedure. A cost of $109.95 and installation time of approximately 15
minutes just make you want to smile.
Lastly we chose a replacement fuel door from All Sales that is machined from
a solid piece of polished 6061 TL aluminum. This is the only product we
added to Brenda’s F150 that required any tools. We had to have a Phillips
screwdriver for the 4 screws that attach the fuel door. This door is
available in a locking version and fitment is specific to your bed type.
Cost $119.95. Installation time was about 30 minutes. This was the only
product that we thought the installation instructions were a little vague
on, but we after checked out the instructions on AutoTruckToys.com,
everything became clear.
We know that Brenda’s truck isn’t going to get babied around. She uses her
truck for what it is, a truck. You are just as likely to see it in the
woods, as you are to see it at the post office or the air port. The facts
are simply that, now-a-days trucks are nice. Nicer than some cars. You can
have a truck that you fish, hunt, or work out of and still use it for your
Saturday night cruiser or Sunday morning go-to-churcher. Bottom line is that
for less than $800.00 and less than 4 hours install time Brenda’s bright red
F-150 went from nice to “Wow, check out that red F-150!”
When we delivered Brenda’s truck back to her it was raining. Not exactly the
presentation we were hoping for, but she seemed pleased. This is what she
had to say “My first car was a truck and I've never seen any need in owning
anything else. A truck fits my needs and my lifestyle besides making a clear
statement of independence and individuality. Since I'm not particularly
mechanically inclined my basic system has been to simply buy a sharp off the
lot production truck. The only after-market items I've ever purchased have
been tires, seat covers, and a tonneau cover. I simply had no idea what a
difference just a few extra touches of bling would make to the overall
appearance of my truck. I likened it to the improvement a little makeup
makes to the looks of a woman. Yep, I'm one of them truck drivin' women
whose favorite color is camo but that doesn't mean I don't like a few frills
on both. Thanks Auto Truck Toys for tricking my ride.”
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