When Tara Cato packed up her life in northern Illinois and moved more than 600 miles south to Sequoyah County, she didn’t know she was heading not just toward a new home, but toward a new beginning.
Cato, now 34, grew up amid the fast-moving rhythm of a large metropolitan area and graduated in a class of nearly 450 students. Three years later, in 2013, she and her young son, Noah, left the only place she had ever known and settled in Vian.
She didn’t realize then that her life’s foundation was shifting into place.
“It was the fresh start we needed,” she said.
Soon after arriving in Vian, Tara met the person who would become her partner in every sense of the word, Ty Cato.
“I have been lucky enough to have Ty by my side for the last 12 and one-half years now,” she said. “We’ve been married for four and onehalf years, and in that time we’ve built a beautiful family together.”
That family now includes three boys: Noah, the oldest, and Carter and Tyson, the two children she and Ty welcomed together. The house is full, the schedule is fuller and Cato said she wouldn’t have it any other way.
Coming from a place where the world seemed to move constantly, she says Sequoyah County brought her the one thing she didn’t even realize she needed, and that was a slower pace.
“I enjoy living in Sequoyah County because it’s much more of a ‘stop and smell the roses’ kind of vibe,” she said. “Everyone slows down, holds doors, greets you and there’s usually a quick small-talk conversation.”
It was that every day kindness, those small but meaningful human moments, that made the community feel like home.
“Coming from a large metropolitan area, Sequoyah County was a nice change of pace,” she added.
For the past several years, Cato has been a familiar face at Local Ink, formerly known as M&S Screenprinting, a locally owned shop in Gore. She started there in April 2021 and says the connection with local people and businesses has been one of her favorite parts of the job.
The work is creative, but it’s also personal. The shirts and designs passing through her hands often end up worn by neighbors, school teams, small businesses and friends.
When she isn’t working or chasing after her boys, you can likely find her on the bleachers under the glow of stadium lights.
She’s an enthusiastic supporter of the Vian Wolverines. Friday nights are for hometown football and the rest of the week is filled with National Football League games on Thursday, Sunday and Monday.
Football, for Cato, isn’t just a pastime. It’s family time, community time and a tradition that stitches the weeks together.
More than a decade after that first leap of faith, Cato says she’s grateful for the life she has shaped in Sequoyah County, which is a life built on love, community and the intentional pace of small-town living.
“People slow down here,” she said. “I think that’s exactly what I needed.”
From the bustle of northern Illinois to the quiet charm of Vian, Cato didn’t just find a new town, she found home.
