Mike Laegaschar, a member of the Como-Pickton FFA Chapter, exhibits his Brown Swiss cow
to a class winning position at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Dairy Show, on Monday.
Hopkins County Youth Participate in
Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo
by: Bobby McDonald
"Wild and Free," a huge bronze statue scene by Houston artist, Edd Hayes, greets
visitors to Reliant Stadium and Reliant Center. The statue scene was created for the
60th anniversary of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, in 1992.
It's the biggest show in Texas and the entire Southwest, and it's a right of passage for many, many youth from Hopkins County! Showing or participating in the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is a thrill that lives on in the minds of many people living in Hopkins County. Many can remember the "jitters" before participating in a judging contest that was pitting your knowledge and skills against youth from all across the state, in placing the best animals in a class, while for others it is the excitement of showing your own animal against some of the top animals in the state. Then, there are those that will never forget the experience of running around the Astrodome, attempting to put a halter on a calf, in the World Famous Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Calf Scramble.
It would also make an impressive list of the individuals from Hopkins County, who have won educational scholarships in both 4-H and FFA work, that afforded a college education or made it "much more bearable" on parents, when it came time to finance the endeavor.
The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo was begun in 1932 and has been growing ever since, into the largest stock show and rodeo in the region. It has been held every year since the beginning, except in 1937, when the Houston Coliseum and Music Hall was being built to house the growing enterprize. Every late February and early March, oil men, pipeliners, politicians, manufacturers, merchants, and seafarers remove their disguise and become cowboys at heart, as the parades, stock shows, auctions, and rodeo becomes center stage in the largest city in Texas.
Left to right, North Hopkins FFA members, Ely Coffman, Christian Calixto, Caelan Churney, and Ely
McQueen are shown with some of their awards won in the HLSR Dairy Show. Churney won Reserve
Grand Champion Brown Swiss Female in the show.
The Grand Champion Steer, Lamb, Goat, and Swine projects will bring thousands of dollars and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo will award 527, $15,000.00 scholarships to deserving young people in 4-H, FFA, FCCLA, their Go-Texan, and School Art Programs. The scholarship program began in 1957 and has awarded over $235 million dollars in scholarships to date. Currently, over 1900 students are attending college with a Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Scholarship.
And, that's just the youth portion of the show. Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo conducts a World Class Professional Rodeo, in Reliant Center, that is unmatched by any in the Southwest. Top cowboys and cowgirls come and compete for one of the largest purses of any rodeo in the nation, and each nightly performance is focused on a star performer in music, at the show. "Lady Antebellum," George Strait, and Reba McEntire, are just some of the stars that currently play the venue, and they join a list of names such as Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Gene Autry, Chuck Conners, and Donnie and Marie Osmond, that have played the show in previous years.
"Lady Antebellum" was the featured entertainers at Monday night's HLSR,
as they performed their newest hit single, "I Need You Now!"
"It has really changed since we first began bringing youth to the show back in the late 1970's," related veteran North Hopkins Vocational Agriculture Teacher, Johnny Lennon. "Back then, everything was held in the Astrodome and AstroHall, and of course, now things are in Reliant Center, that is much larger and more spacious. And, the kids have changed. The ones we would bring to Houston back then, many of them had never stayed in a motel or hotel, and it was an 'eye-opening' experience for them. But, all the youth still enjoy coming to Houston and competing with their animals, judging skills, and in the calf scramble. It's a great experience for them to learn and to be associated with something so large as this show!"
This beautiful bronze statue of "Wimpy P-1," the first registered
quarter horse, greets visitors to Reliant Center.
And, this bronze of a longhorn cattle drive, depicts the Western heritage of Houston, as it is viewed
outside Reliant Center.
Those students winning in the judging contests at Houston and those who manage to catch a calf in the calf scramble are awarded a certificate that they are given to purchase a registered heifer, that they must return and show the next year, at the show. "Countless youth from Hopkins County have won heifers in both judging and catching in the calf scramble," continued Lennon. "I know of approximately 35-40 from the North Hopkins Chapter, alone!"
Jacob Ball, North Hopkins FFA member, center, is shown with his Ag Science Teacher, Johnny
Lennon, left, and calf sponsor, Yvonne Johnston.
This year North Hopkins FFA members Jacob Ball and Landon Harness, both caught calves in the Calf Scramble and will be purchasing animals to show at the HLSR, next year. And, North Hopkins FFA member, Christian Calixto, won a certificate to purchase a heifer in the judging contest. Calixto's sponsors, met him following the judging contest and are making plans to come to Hopkins County, in June, for the Hopkins County Dairy Festival, and see the calf that Christian has purchased through their generous monetary donation to the program.
Landon Harness, North Hopkins FFA member, is show with his Ag Science Teacher, Johnny Lennon,
and calf sponsor, Ben Joiner, after winning in the HLSR Calf Scramble.
Students from Como-Pickton, North Hopkins, Sulphur Springs, and Miller Grove FFA's have all participated in this year's Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, as well as some of the members of the Hopkins County 4-H.
North Hopkins FFA member, Caelan Churney, is shown showing his Reserve Grand Champion Brown Swiss
at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, on Monday.
Editor's Note: The writer of this story will always remember the great experiences of going to judge, show, and compete in the HLSR Calf Scramble (the Astrodome was a mighty big place to try to catch a calf), in 4-H and FFA. And, I'll always be greatful for the HLSR Scholarship that I was given for my 4-H work, that paid a large portion of my college education, affording me to pursue the career opportunities that I sought! (Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Scholarship Winner - 1974).
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