This will be my 10th year on Breeders Greeters, a large committee part of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo (HLSR). I get asked pretty frequently how do I find the time, or why do I make the time - our committee has pretty crazy hours, and you volunteer for about 40 hours (or more) during the three weeks of the Show. I've done at least one middle of the night shift each year for the past 10 years.
Why do I stand in a rainy parking lot at 2 am serving coffee to the youth exhibitors unload their chickens for the poultry show? Why do I take off work to volunteer at the nations largest livestock show? Why do I rodeo?
I rodeo first and foremost because of my grandfather, who joined the show as committeeman in 1978 and eventually was voted in as a Lifetime Director.
I rodeo because it means so much to our family. I rodeo because I love this city, because the rodeo supports education, because in this concrete jungle it's nice to smell cattle and get your boots dirty without stepping outside the loop.
I rodeo because the Show is all about giving back, because it's nice for this giant city to feel like a small town for a few weeks each year, because crown and diet just don't taste the same anywhere else. My time at the Show has been a nice reminder of how much work goes into raising these animals and working the land. I rodeo because...chuck wagon races. Need I say more?
In short, I rodeo because as Hank Junior sings, it's a family tradition. And also... that gold badge comes with a lot of hard earned perks.
My grandfather joined HLSR in 1978 when his friend Lodie Stapleton encouraged him to join the Quarter-horse committee. He was active with the Show for the next 40+ years, until his death in 2013. Its important to note he was in the hospital for the entire duration of the show that year, but he waited until just a few days after the rodeo closed out the 2013 season to breathe his last. He didn't dare interrupt his friends' commitments with the Show to attend his funeral!
After moving back from D.C. post-college, I knew I wanted to join a rodeo committee. At 22, I talked to B (my grandfather) and he got me and my two roommates on BG - he didn't even ask us what committee. Sweet pea, he said, this committee has a lot of young people on it, it's hard to get on, and you'll have a great time. We never looked back. (Okay, maybe we looked back during 3 am shifts in the pouring rain.)
I grew up going out to the stock show each year with my parents and grandparents, riding in the grand entry as little kids, learning to say yes mam and no sir. Though our family never owned land or had horses, I appreciated those things from my littlest days. My dad served on the Junior Quarter Horse committee for a handful of years, and my mom would sneak us out of elementary school to work a half day with him out at the Show, opening gates for horses and feeling we owned the place. I knew then that I couldn't wait to be on a committee, too.
During my days at A&M, I interned for the Show twice. I saw the Show from a whole new side, saw how much the Show values service and character. (And donor dollars, of course.) My first year, I was assigned to write about the exhibitors, mostly high school students from small towns, showing their heifers and hogs. They arrived with their FFA teachers, who rose before dawn daily and worked their butts off to care for their animals. The next year I worked in the executive office and saw how Houston's most prominent citizens scramble for a chance to get involved, how big-timers like Reba and George H.W. Bush value the Show and it's dedication to sending kids to college. I saw how the HLSR year-round staff don't sleep much during the Show to ensure no detail is overlooked, how thousands upon thousands of volunteers give their time to make sure it runs smoothly.
I'll leave you with one of my very favorite show memories. I was on a BG shift, driving a golf cart in the very early hours as exhibitors parked their cars half a mile from Reliant Hall where they had just unloaded their livestock. It was before sunrise, and I picked up a dad and his young son as they exited their truck. We try to be hospitiable despite the time of day (this is Texas, right?) so I smiled and asked where they were from as I drove close to the building.
"Earth," said the dad.
"Oh really?" I asked. That's hilarious.
"Yep." was all he said back.
Earth? Earth?! It is way too early to be such a smart ass, I thought.
"No really, where are y'all from?" I asked again, not so politely, hoping I made it clear I was not going to take crap from this dude. I'm a volunteer at 4 am driving you around, you can at least tell me where you're from!
"Earth," he explained. "It's out in West Texas, long drive from here."
Oh, shoot! Here I was thinking he was rude, and I'm the dummy who had never heard of his hometown. Count on the rodeo to keep ya humble.
And in my defense, I googled it later, and found out Earth, Texas has a whopping population of EIGHT people. Well, now we know.
Happy Rodeo, y'all. Let's have a great Show!
No comments:
Post a Comment