Houston, we have a success
Numbers testify to event's impact

By MONETTE TAYLOR | South Central Texas Edition

Brothers Dusty and Jody Spradley use teamwork to put a "shine" on"Hollywood" prior to the steer competition. -- Staff photo by Carolyn Rost

March 24, 2005 - With the end of this year's Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo on March 20, expectations were for the 2004 general attendance record of 1,890,174 to be even higher.

The famed event's impact is also proved by other statistics. The total economic impact of the show is somewhere around $345 million.

Besides events involving livestock, the event's shows are also popular. Estimates noted the pay going out to the 23 star performances to reach $6.5 million. In 2004, country/western singer Kenny Chesney set the "venue/paid" attendance in Reliant Stadium record with 70,668.

Officials reported prize money for professional rodeo riders was expected to be $748,000.

Livestock show coordinators noted they were expecting around 33,000 animals to be shown in competition. Since 1957, the show has provided educational support to the tune of $100 million, with 1,854 students receiving scholarships for the pursuit of higher education.

The first year of the Houston show was 1932, with the name changing from the Houston Fat Stock Show to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo in 1961.

Marvin Rodgers puts a shine on a policy officer's military boot. Rodgers has been at his profession for about 50 years, and has some interesting tales to share. -- Staff photo by Carolyn Rost

This year, visitors could see everything from youngsters practicing their roping (including one little boy about 3-years-old who got tired of trying to make a loop and decided to just "beat" the iron calf with his rope) to 4-H and FFA members competiting in steer shows. There were students grooming and feeding their animals, as well as cleaning their stalls.

One young exhibitor, 8-year-old Kyler Felex, a third grader from Poth Junior FFA, was showing his 1,200 pound steer, "Big Boy," for his first time. Lamar Slover, 12, and a seventh grader from Tyler, came to show his steer, but he was having fun in the roping pen ... as he has been doing for about five years.

Brothers Dusty Spradley, 16, and Jody, 14, were grooming "Hollywood," an FFA project. It was their second year to show steers, but they said they have showed horses, before. Their dad and granddad had introduced them to horses and steers, they said. While having to "get rid" of the animals after the shows is the hardest part, Jody said with a grin, that "taking care of the animals is the best way to keep him out of trouble!" (Some of their friends agreed!)

Perhaps, one of the most interesting adults at the event was Marvin Rodgers of Houston, and formerly of Denton. For the past 50 years, Rodgers has been in the shoeshine business. He noted that his grandfather had owned a barber shop, and after school, Rodgers would go to the shop to learn how to shine shoes. He said he used to go to the State Fair in Dallas with his set-up, but it got too hard to make enough money to make it worthwhile.

What Rodgers enjoys about shining shoes is meeting the different people from all over the world that attend the Houston show. Rodgers shared the "funniest" shine he ever gave by relating that a man and woman came up to him, a bit "tipsy," and the woman had on leather pants. The man asked Rodgers to shine the woman's pants ... from top to bottom ... while the woman was wearing them! Rodgers obliged them, and laughingly recalled that "all of them enjoyed it!"

While shining shoes might not sound like much work, Rodgers said he is on his feet about 13 hours a day, and during rodeo season, shines more cowboy boots than anything else. On a good day, he said he can shine about 35 pair of shoes. Most take between 10 to 15 minutes, but added that he can tell by the way the person acts if he needs to take more time. This also can get him get a better tip! The regular shines he gives in Houston run about $7 per pair of shoes. Tips vary.

One unique horse-related contest that visitors enjoyed was the "Egg and Spoon." The object was for the competitors to carry a raw egg in a spoon ... holding only the spoon handle ... without dropping the egg. The hard part is they were also required to perform various riding maneuvers. We saw Joshua Vickers, 12, from Cypress riding Ishtar's Grace win the competition on March 9 aboard his Arabian horse.

Each day of the livestock show, kids, adults and teachers spent many hours in the barns where their animals are housed, and visiting with other competitors that are regarded as friends. All expressed the pleasure they gain from meeting, greeting, and competing, and all plan to return in 2006!