APHA answers the call from SBC Southwestern Bell American Paint Horses featured on cover of nearly one million Fort Worth telephone directories

FORT WORTH, Texas-The American Paint Horse Association (APHA) answered the call from SBC Southwestern Bell recently, when the communications company was looking for a beautiful image to grace the cover of its new Greater Fort Worth Yellow Pages telephone directory.

American Paint Horses grace the cover of the new SBC Southwestern Bell Greater Fort Worth Yellow Pages directory. Inside the book is a history of the association, along with a description of the attributes that have made the American Paint Horse one of the most popular horse breeds in the world. SBC estimates that people will collectively use the new Yellow Pages volume more than 84 million times during its yearlong life.

APHA was honored when the company chose Legacy of Color, the new larger-than-life-size bronze of four American Paint Horses that adorns the entrance of the association's Fort Worth headquarters, for its cover image. The bronze, depicting four horses - a powerful stallion pushing along two mares and foal - was unveiled this year to commemorate APHA's 40th anniversary.

APHA is in good company with its new telephone directory exposure. The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Fort Worth was selected for the cover of SBC's White Pages directory. In all, about 1.7 million copies of the Yellow Pages and White Pages volumes have been printed for delivery to households, businesses and government offices throughout the Fort Worth area.

"Our goal in selecting cover photos is to focus on images that truly reflect the local community," said Gary Terry, SBC Southwestern Bell regional vice president of external affairs.

"We believe these covers say 'Fort Worth' loud and clear."

At an official announcement and unveiling of the covers, held recently in Fort Worth, Terry said that both cowgirls and Paint Horses represented "true icons of the American West."

He told those in attendance about APHA, explaining that the association has registered more than 670,000 American Paint Horses since it was founded in 1962. With 100,000 members in 36 nations, APHA services horse owners around the world, Terry noted.

APHA Executive Secretary Jim Kelley helped unveil the new Yellow Pages and accepted a framed copy of the telephone book cover.

"We appreciate the recognition Southwestern Bell has given to APHA," Kelley said. "We're very proud of our association and how far it has come in only 40 years. The American Paint Horse breed is strong, bold and beautiful, just like the bronze.

"And we are delighted that SBC is helping show it off to the huge numbers of people who are going to see it whenever they pick up a Yellow Pages directory over the next year."

SBC Southwestern Bell estimates that area residents collectively will use the new Yellow Pages volume more than 84 million times during its yearlong life - or about 230,000 times each day.

In addition to delivering printed copies of the Yellow Pages and White Pages directories throughout the greater Fort Worth area, SBC also has provided more than 100 business and government locations with a CD-ROM replicating the covers and contents of both volumes. The step helps ensure that the directories' information is conveniently accessible to as many people as possible, and it has a positive environmental impact, said SBC officials.

www.apha.com.

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