John DeMers is the author of 52 published books and the host of the Delicious Mischief radio show, heard weekly in Houston, Dallas, Austin and San Antonio.
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Every year except one since 1932, for
According to Hancock, the 2016 edition
twenty nonstop days and nights, otherwise
of “Rodeo Houston” will award $2 million
responsible Houstonians throw various
in prize money for all the agriculture,
cautions to the wind, don outfits they wear
roping and riding competitions, making
at no other time and pay good money for an
the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo
extravagant event staffed primarily by more
one of the richest rodeos on earth. Yet,
than 32,000 unpaid volunteers.
an even bigger result will be $25 million in
scholarships, grants and other financial aid
It’s all for an excellent cause – some
would say the best cause: helping the young
to Texas teenagers, including some who are
people of Texas find their way into a more
destined to become the first members of
promising future. Fascinatingly, for all but
their families to go to college.
the five percent still living and working on
farms and ranches, this future tends to be
monochromatic – a chance for Houston city
reached by way of the half-remembered
folk to indulge in a combination of fantasy
past.
and memory of the Wild West – but today
the actual event is anything but. It is indeed
The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo
The rodeo’s origins may be somewhat
is upon us, once again. “I benefited as
a nationally important livestock show
a youth who grew up showing livestock
mixed with a nationally important rodeo.
in Wyoming and Colorado,” offers Joel
Yet, it has with dozens of other unique
Cowley, president and CEO of HLSR. “I lost
components, such as 20 nights of top-name
both parents
entertainment,
at a young age
a vast array of
and went to live with my grandparents on a fixed income. I understand the value of the scholarships and other programs we offer because programs like
“What we do out here has tremendous, tremendous impact.”
this helped
by John DeMers
retail offerings with a decidedly Western flair, a carnival with rides and classic American midway food, a popular barbecue championship and a series of surprising events
me. What we do out here has tremendous,
showcasing the finest in world cuisine and
tremendous impact.”
wine. People who think they know what a
rodeo is are in for some surprises if they
Joe Bruce Hancock still sees the rodeo
less from his current position as general
encounter Houston’s version without some
manager and more from his 25 years as
kind of warning.
a volunteer in the vast committee system
that keeps the moving parts, well, moving.
executive director of the exhibits and
To Hancock, there have been few things in
attractions division, “and buy anything from
life more satisfying. “As you’re doing your
a purse and earrings, to a mattress, to a
volunteer work on the grounds and you
hot tub. You can spend a lot of time going
see the effect this is all having on kids and
through all the shops, shops that you’ll
the public and you know the result is kids
never see all in one place except here. You
going to college who wouldn’t have had
might see things here that you’ve never seen
that opportunity, it’s a neat feeling. We are
before. Our vendors are always looking for
blessed to have a mission that affects a
new products to keep it exciting.”
whole lot of people.”
“You could come here,” says Julie Bass,
Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo March 1 - 20, 2016
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No one can say for sure whether today’s
after the seven businessmen
multi-day, multi-experience, multi-media
met, taking over the old Sam
Rodeo Houston was exactly what the seven
Houston Hall downtown that
local business leaders had in mind when
had hosted the Democratic
they met for lunch at the Texas State Hotel
National Convention four years
in January 1931. Their goals at the time
earlier. The hall, its boosters
involved cattle and the complex economic
said, would make a terrific
situation that needed more than a nudge
central location for a city in
from behind – a swift kick was more like it.
which most people did not own
After all, there were 2+ million cattle living in
a car. The location was near
the 16-county area that made up what we’d
the Houston Farmers Market,
now call Greater Houston, but there were
where it enjoyed easy access
only 400,000 people.
from the streetcar lines that
then ran all over the city.
The 1920s and 1930s were a time of
dramatic advancement for the area’s
ranchers, not least with the introduction of
thing, getting people to show
the Zebu (Brahmin) and Zebu-Cross cattle
up for it was quite another. Free barbecue
that could withstand heat, humidity and
was promised to anyone attending the
insects better than the English variations
livestock show after 6 p.m. And thanks to
flourishing in the Midwest, where such
an area rancher named Emil Marks, there
things were far less of an issue. Even so,
were a few bucking broncos for cowboys
most cattle raised here still were shipped
and wannabes to ride in the arena. The
to Chicago or Kansas City for slaughter,
first Grand Champion Steer was exhibited
with a small but slowly growing percentage
by Texas A&M and bought by Houston
heading for the now-famed stockyards in
restaurateur George Kelley, who paid $504
Fort Worth. Houston ranked a pathetic 37th
for his purchase.
among the livestock centers in the nation.
Livestock Show and Rodeo was planned,
Throughout Texas, cattlemen of the
Creating a show was one
Intriguingly, what became the Houston
day were talking about ways to increase
organized and successfully launched in the
awareness of their product in hopes of
depths of the Great Depression, when few
developing a market and meat-packing
people other than President Roosevelt’s
center. And, they noticed, every city that
cabinet in Washington were creating
had a major economic impact from cattle
anything new. Local business leaders,
also had a major livestock show.
however, knew it was do-or-die for the
cattle industry, and they joined others in
This fact was hardly lost on James W.
Sartwelle, owner of Port City Stockyards,
the community slipping a bit extra into the
who attended the 1931 lunch and emerged
coffers to make sure the show would go on
as the first president of what was then called
year after year, as it has.
the Houston Fat Stock Show and Livestock
Exposition. His fellow businessmen (there
fire in 1936, causing the city to tear it down
were no women at that lunch) came from
and build the new Sam Houston Coliseum
every nook and cranny of Houston’s
where the Hobby Center for the Performing
financial life: J. Howard West of Fogle-
Arts stands today. The time to do that gave
West Funeral Home, attorney Julian
the rodeo’s organizers a year off in 1937; but
Weslow, Marcus Meyer of Foley Brothers
far from taking an extended vacation, they
department store, dry goods merchant W.C.
met and talked and conspired even more
Munn, Haygood Ashburn of the Chamber
feverishly in hopes the rodeo would be a true
of Commerce and W.S. Cochran of First
“Show of Shows” when it returned. That’s
National Bank. The seven reached out to
when things started to really pop, from
their influential contacts filling a 25-member
promotional motor tours staged throughout
board of directors with industry leaders and
the Texas Gulf Coast and as far away as the
even Governor William P. Hobby of Houston.
Hill Country (with one mission even to
The first show was held just over a year
The Sam Houston Hall was damaged by
what became the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo was planned, organized and Successfully launched in the depths of the Great Depression, when few people other than President Roosevelt’s cabinet in Washington were creating anything new
“It’s like Mardi with smoke and boots.”
Carnival at Houston Live Stock Show and Rodeo Photo Credit - The Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau
Clothing Vendor at Houston Live Stock Show and Rodeo Photo Credit - The Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau Julie Soefer
Mexico City), to innovative ticket-selling
Styx, John Legend and Pitbull.
partnerships with the Junior Chamber of
Commerce, to the already-gathering army
diverse cities in the country, possibly the most diverse,”
of volunteers. These were challenged by
says Cheney. “To find the artists that people want to
their leadership to “grow beards and wear
listen to each year, we cast as broad a net as we can.”
big hats, boots and spurs” and “put a touch
of Wild West and Western heritage into the
entertainment, two other Houston passions have
show.” This they did beginning in 1938, and
attached themselves to the rodeo in recent years, and
most of them still do – except that with
their popularity shows no sign of letting up: food and
thousands of women volunteers, there are
wine. The celebration gets kicked off annually by The
fewer beards.
World’s Championship Bar-B-Que Contest – a title
bolstered thanks to participation by each year’s winners
By the outbreak of World War II,
“We understand that Houston is one of the most
Still, for all the agriculture, heritage, shopping and
and particularly after the United States
of the Jack Daniels and American Royal competitions.
entered the fray in the aftermath of Pearl
The event stretches across what seem to be miles of
Harbor, there were many who thought
NRG parking lot, filling the air with what rises from 250
staging a rodeo was inappropriate. Many
teams doing their best work. “It’s like Mardi Gras with
voices suggested the event be
smoke and boots,” laughs Jeff Jones, vice
shelved for the duration of
president and officer in charge of the
the war, along with quite a few other
bar-b-que committee.
traditions across the country.
And if a first-timer came
By then, however, the show
to the rodeo from someplace
was a major attraction and a
like Mars or New York City, he
significant economic catalyst
or she would surely be caught
for Houston. If anyone needed
off guard by the importance of
further direction from above,
fine wine - yes, in many cases,
President Roosevelt exhorted
the expensive stuff. A series of
the American cattle industry
events have come together that
to produce 18 percent more beef
reflect wine’s growing appreciation
in 1942. The livestock show that
in what was once a small segment
supported the Houston cattle industry
of the Texas population but isn’t small
suddenly seemed the only patriotic response.
In a sense, this rodeo’s near-obsession with top-
anymore – especially since Texas became the nation’s fifth-largest wine-producing state.
name, top-dollar entertainment grew out of World War
II. With the carnival portion shut down by the nightly
major honors bestowed by sommeliers, wine critics,
blackout, it became more important than ever to
industry professionals and selected wine enthusiasts,
produce something lively and memorable indoors. A
plus the always-packed Rodeo Uncorked events
company owned by cowboy movie and music icon Gene
(including the Best Bites competition for food), and the
Autry had recently been hired to produce the rodeo,
Champion Wine Auction that tosses $2 million into the
so Autry himself was invited to perform. He became
rodeo’s charity hopper after rating and ranking 12,000
the Houston rodeo’s first real star. Autry strummed
bottles of wine. And every day during the rodeo, there’s
and sang shortly before entering the military in 1942,
a Wine Garden where Houston’s Joes and Josephines
spending $100,000 of his own money to stage a new
can purchase glasses or bottles of the vintages getting
type of “Rodeo Glamour.” And he returned the following
the best scores.
year on leave, arriving in Houston by train in his
sergeant’s uniform.
this actually fits really well,” says Allyson Tjoelker,
executive director of the agricultural exhibits division
According to Dan Cheney, the former professional
There’s The International Wine Competition with
“Our mission is to promote agriculture, and
steer wrestler now in charge of the rodeo’s booking
that coordinates these wine events. “Viticulture is
department, country artists remain the heart and soul
agriculture. We also have the passion of our volunteers
of those 20 headline performances – with names like
that adds to the quality of the competition. A lot of
Alan Jackson, Reba McEntire, Toby Keith, Keith Urban
people can relate to wine.” She ponders a moment, then
and, of course, George Strait to prove it. But just as
states the semi-obvious. “We have plenty of demand to
legendary rodeo concerts featured the likes of Elvis and
be on this committee.”
Selena, modern schedules feature the likes of Kid Rock,