Fayettechill in Dallas: An Interview with FC Field Rep Josh Wiggins

 FC: How did you get started with Fayettechill?  

Josh: I was fortunate enough to be directed to FC by multiple mutual friends that are outdoorsmen that are friends with the guys involved and by a few different vendors I knew locally here in DFW. I’m from Arkansas but live in Texas and most people who know me don’t usually forget that--as a diehard Hog Fan, I usually make it known where I’m from.  So I met the FC guys while they were rolling through Dallas with the Chillstream, later hung at Wakarusa, and the rest is history. Once I heard about their story and roots, future goals, and business morality, I knew I wanted to be involved in helping spread the message and love of the Ozarks to DFW.

FC: What do you love about the Outdoors?  

Josh: Everything, but hard not to just go with my first natural response: mountains, rivers, and fishing.  Some of my earliest memories include racing my best friend up Pinnacle Mountain in Little Rock.  As a kid I started fishing some of the amazing Arkansas fisheries, and have always had a fascination with “the catch”.  Though my father passed away when I was a teenager, early on he taught me the way of the river, how to catch fish, and most of all, how to respect the wilderness and all that it holds. After a long hiatus due to emotional loss, I was able to rekindle the lifestyle my dad and I had shared together via support from my fiancé, Coy.

FC: What type of events and groups have you linked FC with in DFW?  

Josh: A few-- I would say the biggest has been through the Dallas Chapter of the Arkansas Alumni Association, in which we have helped out with Razorback watch parties during football season and the soon to be annual “Dallas Community Fest”. The original fest was held last March and we hosted a group bike ride and pop up shop that was very successful in raising money for a scholarship.

The events I’m most proud of helping out with have been with local non-profit fly fishing organizations like the Fort Worth Fly Fishers Club. This is a non-profit club that works alongside Reel Recovery and Casting 4 a Cure to assist with donations for cancer research. The club regularly networks volunteers that takes cancer patients out for a day of fly fishing whether they’ve been fishing for years or never even picked up a fly rod. It’s super powerful stuff and  I’m very happy to be involved.  

I’ve also worked with the International Fly Fishers Federation-Texas Council, which is responsible for the local program, Educate, Conserve and Fly Fish the Waters of Texas. They have a huge focus on conservation, water rights, and the Adopt a Stream program.

FC: What are the goals of the future, how do you see FC evolving in DFW?  

Josh: I’d love to get involved with even more local events, volunteering opportunities, and networks of like-minded folks trying to break out of the “big city" cliché. 

I feel like if I have any local mission, it is to open folks’ eyes to realize that we are in a great area geographically and there is tons to do outside! I hope to help people realize that we are within a couple hundred miles’ radius from rivers, lakes, mountains, and even state parks and national forests.  I want to encourage people to think outside the box, to turn off the TV,  to close the laptop, to answer the call of the unknown, and to care about your environment as you go experience life outside.  

Photos provided by Rush Urschel, Matt David King, and Zak Heald