“Echoing” from an actual rodeo road trip, this column is to give a sincere salute to rodeo committee members everywhere and a group of rodeo committee members in particular—those from RodeoHouston.
I caught a ride in K.C.’s rig in March following the Timed Event Championships in Guthrie, traveling to Houston via his home in Decatur, Texas, arriving in Houston mid afternoon March 8 for the three performances he drew up in for Super Series III. You may recall that a Texan friend, Sally, and I experienced our first RodeoHouston adventure a year ago, so this March she also met me in Houston plus long-time classmate and friend Carolyn from Denver. “Adventure” hardly explains our four days there, but that’s for another story.
However, a year ago Sally’s daughter, Tippy, went with us to her first BIG rodeo (they don’t get much bigger than Houston), and from that night on, she was hooked on rodeo. Although she’d been to her great grandparents’ ranch in Southeast Colorado as a youngster, her childhood was anything but rural having lived with her family in military bases throughout the world—usually in large towns.
Attending rodeos for this cosmopolitan girl was quite a stretch from her normal life. Thus, as a single mother of a teenage son with a full time job, volunteer time was scarce, but the impact of RodeoHouston prompted her to become one of the 22,000 volunteers for the organization. From Tippy I learned a little of what it means to be a “volunteer for the rodeo.”
Although you would think volunteering would be free, not so! There are levels of membership in the volunteer organization ranging from $50 upward and Tippy’s financial obligation was $100. An application process allows a prospective volunteer to decide which areas he/she is interested in, and a committee chairman decides if and where the volunteer may serve in one of the 100 committees — from agricultural mechanics to wine auction; from calf scramble to llama and alpacas; from sky suites to parade, etc.
Tippy chose ticket sales, so for the past year she joined volunteers from all walks of life including lawyers, doctors, homemakers, teachers, etc. who keep the vision of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo (HLSR) alive. Along with many others, she attended Rookie Boot Camp to learn the basics plus several general and specific committee meetings where she enjoyed the food, drink and fellowship of all who had gathered.
These volunteers donate an average of 67.7 hours of service for the HLSR, including their year-round efforts to raise money for scholarships, coordinating with auction buyers, setting up the grounds, to name a few. When we visited HLSR several days into the March 3-22 event, Tippy had already worked several nights selling general admission tickets. She recounted she was tightly guarded before and after sales to transport the cash, followed by a procedure to “balance” to the penny the money generated. She found it great fun but also tiring to work all day, rush to the ticket booth, then arrive back home at 11 p.m., and be ready for her work the next morning.
As for me, I was most interested in the committees that served the rodeo contestants. Their efforts became evident even before I arrived when K.C. commented to traveling partner Clayton Morrison as we drove toward Houston, “Yea! We’re going to have free meals for the next 6 days—Houston’s committees cook for you three times a day!”
Indeed, the meals are just part of the services offered by the Rodeo Contestant Hospitality Committee. Foremost, a 10-acre area in a rural area south of Reliant Stadium provides a home away from home for the contestants. Complete with a fenced and guarded area, warm-up arena, temporary shaded stalls, electrical outlets and a dining area, the only thing I could see missing was some shade trees. Fully staffed 24-hours a day, security is tight with this rodeo mom and friends showing identification each time we visited as K.C.’s name was carefully checked on the list before access was gained.
These volunteers provide meals three times a day for the contestants and families, deliver and pick-up laundry, and provide any number of other services for them. A quiet place for them to relax between performances, its location removes the families from the carnival, livestock show, rock concert and general noise of a large livestock show and rodeo — a nice change from their usual parking areas.
Back at Reliant Stadium, a separate log cabin (not a makeshift mobile trailer) at the corner of the contestant (performance only) parking provides easy access for the contestants to the rodeo secretary. On the ground level of this five-level stadium is a large contestant hospitality room with one end set up as a play area for toddlers and four large screens where contestants can dine at eight large tables munching on delicious meals while watching the action in the arena.
Each evening after K.C.’s or Clayton’s run, we three friends joined them for a delicious meal where 10 to 12 volunteers had provided a delicious buffet complete with fresh salads, breads, deserts, fruit, ice cream, drinks and a main entree worthy of any restaurant. The volunteers (undoubtedly weary by then) were always friendly and accommodating even though it was nearing their 10:00 p.m. closing time when K.C. and Clayton had put up the horses, signed autographs and filled their plates to visit and watch the live concert appear on the screens.
Perhaps the services of the committee I enjoyed the most, however, was that of transportation! With the complex covering nearly 30 acres, let me assure you that walking from the admission gate to the horse show pavilion, education complex, food vending areas, Reliant Stadium, etc. proved to be a little more exercise than we three wanted. A volunteer in a large golf cart pulling up besides us almost immediately as we left an area (no matter where we were) was a service we never turned down!
So here’s to Tippy and the 22,000 volunteers at HLSR and those volunteers at every rodeo who are such a vital part of the rodeo world. We send our heartfelt thanks!
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“Echoing” from an actual rodeo road trip, this column is to give a sincere salute to rodeo committee members everywhere and a group of rodeo committee members in particular—those from RodeoHouston.
I caught a ride in K.C.’s rig in March following the Timed Event Championships in Guthrie, traveling to Houston via his home in Decatur, Texas, arriving in Houston mid afternoon March 8 for the three performances he drew up in for Super Series III. You may recall that a Texan friend, Sally, and I experienced our first RodeoHouston adventure a year ago, so this March she also met me in Houston plus long-time classmate and friend Carolyn from Denver. “Adventure” hardly explains our four days there, but that’s for another story.
However, a year ago Sally’s daughter, Tippy, went with us to her first BIG rodeo (they don’t get much bigger than Houston), and from that night on, she was hooked on rodeo. Although she’d been to her great grandparents’ ranch in Southeast Colorado as a youngster, her childhood was anything but rural having lived with her family in military bases throughout the world—usually in large towns.
Attending rodeos for this cosmopolitan girl was quite a stretch from her normal life. Thus, as a single mother of a teenage son with a full time job, volunteer time was scarce, but the impact of RodeoHouston prompted her to become one of the 22,000 volunteers for the organization. From Tippy I learned a little of what it means to be a “volunteer for the rodeo.”
Although you would think volunteering would be free, not so! There are levels of membership in the volunteer organization ranging from $50 upward and Tippy’s financial obligation was $100. An application process allows a prospective volunteer to decide which areas he/she is interested in, and a committee chairman decides if and where the volunteer may serve in one of the 100 committees — from agricultural mechanics to wine auction; from calf scramble to llama and alpacas; from sky suites to parade, etc.
Tippy chose ticket sales, so for the past year she joined volunteers from all walks of life including lawyers, doctors, homemakers, teachers, etc. who keep the vision of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo (HLSR) alive. Along with many others, she attended Rookie Boot Camp to learn the basics plus several general and specific committee meetings where she enjoyed the food, drink and fellowship of all who had gathered.
These volunteers donate an average of 67.7 hours of service for the HLSR, including their year-round efforts to raise money for scholarships, coordinating with auction buyers, setting up the grounds, to name a few. When we visited HLSR several days into the March 3-22 event, Tippy had already worked several nights selling general admission tickets. She recounted she was tightly guarded before and after sales to transport the cash, followed by a procedure to “balance” to the penny the money generated. She found it great fun but also tiring to work all day, rush to the ticket booth, then arrive back home at 11 p.m., and be ready for her work the next morning.
As for me, I was most interested in the committees that served the rodeo contestants. Their efforts became evident even before I arrived when K.C. commented to traveling partner Clayton Morrison as we drove toward Houston, “Yea! We’re going to have free meals for the next 6 days—Houston’s committees cook for you three times a day!”
Indeed, the meals are just part of the services offered by the Rodeo Contestant Hospitality Committee. Foremost, a 10-acre area in a rural area south of Reliant Stadium provides a home away from home for the contestants. Complete with a fenced and guarded area, warm-up arena, temporary shaded stalls, electrical outlets and a dining area, the only thing I could see missing was some shade trees. Fully staffed 24-hours a day, security is tight with this rodeo mom and friends showing identification each time we visited as K.C.’s name was carefully checked on the list before access was gained.
These volunteers provide meals three times a day for the contestants and families, deliver and pick-up laundry, and provide any number of other services for them. A quiet place for them to relax between performances, its location removes the families from the carnival, livestock show, rock concert and general noise of a large livestock show and rodeo — a nice change from their usual parking areas.
Back at Reliant Stadium, a separate log cabin (not a makeshift mobile trailer) at the corner of the contestant (performance only) parking provides easy access for the contestants to the rodeo secretary. On the ground level of this five-level stadium is a large contestant hospitality room with one end set up as a play area for toddlers and four large screens where contestants can dine at eight large tables munching on delicious meals while watching the action in the arena.
Each evening after K.C.’s or Clayton’s run, we three friends joined them for a delicious meal where 10 to 12 volunteers had provided a delicious buffet complete with fresh salads, breads, deserts, fruit, ice cream, drinks and a main entree worthy of any restaurant. The volunteers (undoubtedly weary by then) were always friendly and accommodating even though it was nearing their 10:00 p.m. closing time when K.C. and Clayton had put up the horses, signed autographs and filled their plates to visit and watch the live concert appear on the screens.
Perhaps the services of the committee I enjoyed the most, however, was that of transportation! With the complex covering nearly 30 acres, let me assure you that walking from the admission gate to the horse show pavilion, education complex, food vending areas, Reliant Stadium, etc. proved to be a little more exercise than we three wanted. A volunteer in a large golf cart pulling up besides us almost immediately as we left an area (no matter where we were) was a service we never turned down!
So here’s to Tippy and the 22,000 volunteers at HLSR and those volunteers at every rodeo who are such a vital part of the rodeo world. We send our heartfelt thanks!
