TTABLEABLE OFOF CONTENTSCONTENTS MAGAZINE COMMITTEE A Message From the President.......................................................... 1 Features OFFICER IN CHARGE The Show’s New Footprint ........................................................ 2 J. Grover Kelley CHAIRMAN Blue Ribbon Judges ..................................................................... 4 Bill Booher Impact of Pay-Per-View — Now and in the Future ................... 6 VICE CHAIRMAN Taking Stock of Our Proud Past ............................................... 8 Bill Bludworth EDITORIAL BOARD 1998 Attractions & Events.......................................................... 10 Suzanne Epps C.F. Kendall Drum Runners.............................................................................. 12 Teresa Lippert Volunteer the RITE Way............................................................... 14 Peter A. Ruman Marshall R. Smith III Meet Scholar #1.................................................................... 15 Constance White Committee Spotlights COPY EDITOR Larry Levy International .................................................................................. 16 REPORTERS School Art ...................................................................................... 17 Nancy Burch Gina Covell World’s Championship Bar-B-Que ....................................... 18 John Crapitto Sue Cruver Show News and Updates Syndy Arnold Davis PowerVision Steps Proudly Toward the Future.......................... 19 Cheryl Dorsett Freeman Gregory Third-Year Committee Chairmen Profiles ................................. 20 Whitney Horton Charlotte Howard Rodeo Round-Up .......................................................................... 21 Ann Jacobs Beth Johnson Calendar of Events ............................................................ Back Cover Melissa Manning Judy Johnston Merrell Ken C. Moursund Jr. MAGAZINE The Cover: The excitement mounts as Gordon Richardson II this Houston Rodeo Beverly Rosenbaum contestant competes for Pat Scherrieb his share in the world’s Susan Williams richest regular-season Leslie Worsham rodeo. Todd Zucker Photo by Frank Martin PHOTOGRAPHER Sam Pierson DESIGN/LAYOUT Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Clarke & McClure HLSR STAFF MAGAZINE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE LIFETIME MEMBERS - OFFICERS MANAGEMENT COORDINATORS Leroy Shafer Joseph T. Ainsworth, M.D. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Jerry Johnston Andrew Suzy Brown Jim Bloodworth Douglas B. Marshall Mike Blasingame Don A. Buckalew Clayton Underwood Ken Caldwell PRODUCTION EDITOR John H. Causey P. Michael Wells John L. Ebeling Johnnie Westerhaus J.M. Clepper Carolyn Faulk STAFF COORDINATOR/EDITOR Dick Graves CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD Charles W. Grant Samantha Fewox Hal Hillman Don D. Jordan Red Griffin Don D. Jordan J.P. “Hap” Hunnicutt III Magazine H. Stuart Lang Jr. PRESIDENT J. Grover Kelley Louis M. Pearce Jr. Jim Bloodworth Dan Lehane, M.D. Volume VI, No. 1 is published by the John O. Smith Kenneth C. Moursund Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Copyright 1998 Tommie Vaughn Lodie Stapleton Letters and comments should be sent to: James M. Windham Jr. Bill T. Teague Marketing Department, Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, P. O. Box 20070, Houston, Texas 77225-0070 GENERAL MANAGER Dan A. Gattis A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT Standing tall with tradition, stepping proudly toward the Other new features include an all-day mini carnival future. — The 1998 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo designed for the younger crowd. A new store, located in Rodeo This slogan, which bridges our past with our future, really University, will sell only logo merchandise, including books, says it all. The 66th edition of the Houston Livestock Show and videos and licensed products. Rodeo will begin in just a few short weeks, and that alone is In an effort to get people home a little bit earlier during something that brings out the best that Houston has to offer. the week, we have moved the start time of the evening rodeo Rich in tradition, our Show brings people of all ethnicities performances to 6:30 p.m. Each night’s performance will and social backgrounds together for three weeks of fun, excite- begin with calf roping and bareback bronc riding prior to the ment, thrills and fellowship. The fourth largest city in the grand entry. nation slows down a notch to welcome performers, exhibitors Our web sites on the Internet <www.hlsr.com> and and students of all ages to the world’s largest livestock show <www.rodeohouston.com> have been redesigned and are more and richest regular-season rodeo. “user friendly.” I encourage you to utilize this valuable resource It doesn’t matter whether you live in a penthouse in down- for updated schedule and ticket information throughout the town Houston or hail from rural West Texas, there’s a place for year. you at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. It is our hope that these changes will improve the quality of Our tradition is well chronicled and certainly vital to our our Show and enhance its entertainment value. Pride and tradi- success. We are most proud of the more than 12,000 volun- tion have always been the cornerstone of the Houston teers who are the lifeblood of the Show. Without the tens of Livestock Show and Rodeo — it is our willingness to look to thousands of hours these dedicated people provide, we could the future and take decisive action that allows our proud tradi- not function at the level at which we now enjoy. tion to live on. We are proud of our accomplishments as a charity, provid- ing educational aid and scholarships to more than 16,000 stu- dents during the past 41 years. Commitments through the 1997-98 school year will push us over the $50 million mark in Jim Bloodworth overall educational support. President The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo continues to be a major success story because we maintain its rich Western her- itage while being open to change. Despite the current success of the Show, we can never afford to become complacent. We must look to our future with the same vision that brought us where we are today. Our staff looks to improve the Show each year after analyz- ing feedback from our volunteers, staff, sponsors and cus- tomers. Sometimes a slight revision is in order, while other times require a complete overhaul. There are several major changes in 1998, most notably the new layout of the grounds. The “footprint” for the 1998 Show has been changed to a more customer-friendly design. Destination: AGVENTURE and AGVENTURE Grandstand will be placed closer to the Astrodome, making both more accessible. The main carnival will extend along Circle Drive, from the West entrance to the North entrance of the Astrodome, allowing expansion for the World’s Championship Bar-B-Que Contest. 1 By Beverly Rosenbaum the Show because of conflicting activities. The Grandstand will “In the interest of convenience and customer satisfaction, offer ongoing entertainment beginning at 10 a.m., including we have made the new layout more ‘customer friendly’ by plac- daily performances of the Wild West Show. Up and coming ing Destination: AGVENTURE and the Grandstand area closer to country music entertainers will take over at 5 p.m., followed by the natural flow in and out of the Astrodome,” said Dan Gattis, local bands and dancing from 9 p.m. until closing. general manager of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Destination: AGVENTURE, now located between the This will be accomplished by wrapping the carnival and Westridge and Murworth entrance gates, will be more educa- AGVENTURE Plaza around the west and northwest sides of the tional in nature than last year. “We’ll be adding an area to the Astrodome. Exhibits will be more accessible, encouraging visi- livestock exhibits that will feature beekeeping and horticulture. tors to arrive early and stay on the grounds after the perfor- Enhancing the beef cattle static display will be a live cattle mances in order to see everything. “One of the primary goals is exhibit, which will range from calves to feeder steers. The pri- to create entertainment earlier in the day to get more people out mary focus will be on educating the public about the cattle when we have the space and facilities,” industry,” Wagner explained. Gattis added. The Houston Livestock Of the Show’s three petting zoos, The layout of the Show has been two will be located in AGVENTURE Plaza, redesigned for four basic reasons, according Show and Rodeo’s quest to along with pig races, pony rides, a tent- to Skip Wagner, assistant general manager, covered food court and plenty of picnic Operations Department. The first is to make each year’s tables. The Go Tejano Committee’s improve safety. The former layout around presentation better and Tejano Diner, along with three other the Astrohall near the Westridge entrance commercial food vendors, will be locat- allowed livestock loading and unloading as easier for attendees to see ed within the tented portion of the well as the west loading dock operations to Plaza. Additionally, five food booths occur in areas of heavy pedestrian traffic. everything has inspired from Double E Plaza will be relocated to This permitted too many vehicles for trash, revisions resulting in this an open-air area at Westridge. recycling, vendor service and livestock with- New to the Show will be University in the public area. year’s layout or MarketPlace, a store within Rodeo The second reason is to improve logis- University, dedicated to merchandising tics. Service vehicles will now be able to “footprint.” Houston Livestock Show