The Battle of Rufe Snow… and Beyond

Movements start small, and if they’re any good, they grow.

Jesus spread his message from a little corner of the world. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. started in one church. Barack Obama’s movement began in, of all places, Iowa, a true field of dreams.

And so Dave Lieber’s Watchdog Nation starts now on a street with a funny name most people have never heard of – Rufe Snow Drive in North Texas.

Of course, you can’t compare this pro-consumer, anti-scammer movement to anything as grand as religious, civil rights or political battles. Yet it’s significant in its own humble way. People are getting scammed every day all the time.

Rufus Snow


Rufus Snow

What is Watchdog Nation? It’s an ever-growing group of Americans who defend ourselves against false promises, frauds and other deceptions.

Watchdog Nation is about helping Americans stand up and fight for our rights, or at least make a little noise, the kind that matters. Watchdog Nation shows you how to use your power when you fight your electric company, phone company, credit card company, door-to-door scammers or anyone else trying to pick your pocket.

This Web site and the accompanying new book – Dave Lieber’s Watchdog Nation: Bite Back When Businesses and Scammers Do You Wrong – show how you have enough tools at your fingertips to beat big and small companies and scammers at their own evil game.

As the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s investigative columnist, Dave Lieber has learned tips, tools and strategies that show how to become a part of Watchdog Nation. (There are no dues; your only requirement is a passionate mind and an attitude that you’re not gonna take it anymore.)

And Watchdog Nation begins on its own field of dreams, a busy street in North Texas, Rufe Snow Drive, in Fort Worth’s northern suburbs. The street is named after Rufus T. Snow, a 19th century Texas politician whose name always catches newcomers by surprise. Roof snow? In Texas?

The hardcover book – Dave Lieber’s Watchdog Nation: Bite Back When Businesses and Scammers Do You Wrong – has enjoyed the quietest book opening in publishing history. As part of its small-movement-grows-to-large-one humble origins, the book is only available for worldwide sale in the Yankee Cowboy Store and at four distinctive retail outlets.

Coincidentally, the four retailers are all located along Rufe Snow Drive.

Also noteworthy: none of them are bookstores.

Get the book in a bookstore? Naw. On Amazon? Not yet? Nope, only at and at these four non-book stores.

The four are engaged in a contest throughout December to see who can sell more books. First prize is $100, and second prize is $50. The teams are working hard for the extra holiday cash.

So forget the New York Times’ best-seller list. We are talkin’ the Battle of Rufe Snow here, originating home of the Watchdog Nation movement.

WHO ARE THE SALES CONTESTANTS?

Rufe Snow Self-Storage Depot at 6707 Rufe Snow Drive, Watauga, TX, also a U.S. Postal Service substation. Book at front counter. Sales captain is Mark Russell.

Wendy’s Hair Studio at Hightower Salons, 6651 Hightower Drive, Watauga, TX is selling books in between shampoos, cuts and (this is Texas!) lots of dye jobs. Wendy Marthers is sales captain.

Chef Point Café, the only 5-star quality restaurant in a gas station, offers the book by the register. If you’ve never been to the restaurant at the Conoco station at 5901 Watauga Road, Watauga, TX near Rufe Snow, you’ve never had filling station food so filling … and wonderful. Chef Franson Nwaeze and Paula Merrell are sales captains.

Rufe Snow Dental Group at 5757 Rufe Snow Drive is offering books to its patients at the check-out desk. Sales captain is Dr. Mike McLendon.

These are the kind folks who see the value in spreading the word of Watchdog Nation during this December 2008 contest, the soft opening for this book. The book shows you how to save money, win battles with stubborn customer service representatives, learn your rights and discover tips you won’t find anywhere.

If you’d like a copy (they make great holiday gifts), visit one of the four contestants. Cost is $20, and the books are autographed.

Contest updates and standings will get posted here, along with little tidbits about this movement’s most humble beginnings at the Battle of Rufe Snow.

Welcome to Watchdog Nation!

Early Vegas Line for The Battle of Rufe Snow

  • Wendy’s Hair Studio, 6-1 odds – She’s got ’em in a chair for a half hour, and they can’t go anywhere.
  • Rufe Snow Dental, 5-1 – Those women in the front office are charmers.
  • Chef Point Café, 8-1 – People aren’t used to buying a book at a gas station. Then again, they aren’t used to getting a top-flight meal either, so maybe…
  • Rufe Snow Depot & Self Storage, 4-1 – The joint has a post office! In December! Talk about foot traffic…