A seven-month-old black European Cross steer appropriately named Lunchbox won grand champion at the Fort Worth Stock Show today.
Stock Martin, the 12-year-old boy from Hereford who showed Lunchbox, is no stranger to the winner’s circle, having shown reserve grand champion steer at the Stock Show last year and grand champion steer at the State Fair of Texas in the fall.
“It’s so exciting I can’t explain it,” the boy said, as he answered questions from the news media after his big win, exchanging high fives and big smiles with family members and a tearful hug with his mother, Sherri Martin. “We knew we had a good one when he was born.”
Lunchbox will be sold in the Stock Show’s annual show-ending Junior Sale of Champions Saturday morning. If history is any guide, Lunchbox will bring more than $200,000 that will be funnelled into Stock’s college savings and buying more cattle.
George Collins is constantly facing an uphill battle in Cattle Barn 4. Three times during the Fort Worth Stock Show, he and another man must completely clean out the barn and get it ready for another round of cattle. Before the steers started arriving at the crack of dawn Tuesday, he spent all day Monday getting ready. "We did it in 8 hours this time," Collins said. "Sometimes it takes as long as 10 hours but we were pretty fast this time." While Tuesday was the hectic move-in day for steers, Collins, who works as a landscaper the rest if the year, said it was relatively calm for him. He was sweeping away manure and stray bits of hay but said it was nothing compared to Monday. "This is an easy day for us," he said. "We just welcome everybody and help them get settled. It's like a reunion for us. We see so many of the same people each year."
-- Bill Hanna
That's what locals call “Stock Show weather.”
On Monday, with temperatures holding steady in the mid-60s, it was another near-perfect day for those attending the Fort Worth Stock Show.
Heading into the final week of the 23-day show, the weather has been decidedly "non-Stock Show."It’s been so nice that jeans are being put aside for shorts. Felt hats are giving way to straw.
In some instances, boots are being replaced with sandals.
And in typical Stock Show fashion, some of those sandals come with spurs. – Lee Williams
Photo by Bob Booth -- Special to the Star-Telegram
Two-legged participants and visitors at the Fort Worth Stock Show Tuesday weren't the only ones sporting pink Tuesday to show their support in the fight against breast cancer.
This Shetland pony gave new definition to the phrase "pretty in pink".
The Stock Show and Rodeo donated 50 percent of Tuesday's ticket sales to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Greater Fort Worth affiliate.
-Deanna Boyd
High school students conducting Stock Show tours for younger children are supposed to be wearing the official dress for FFA.
But that's tough when the temperature soars into the 70s. The students wear a white button up shirt, tie or scarf and corduroy blue jacket that has to be completely zipped up at all times. They're also normally supposed to wear dress shoes, and for girls, knee length black skirts and black pantyhose, but because the teens were walking through barns, that rule was relaxed for the Stock Show, said Arlington Heights High School teachers Linsey Fowler and Cody Davenport. (L: FFA member Sarah Linan assists a FWISD student)
"This heat is refreshing," said Ned Kemble, a Heights senior. "It's excellent Stock Show weather."
By early afternoon, a student from another FFA chapter (she didn't want her name used but allowed me to take her photograph) was regretting her choice of footwear. The Godley High School teen paused while the tour group she was leading went through the petting zoo and took off her high heels.
"I didn't think I was going to be walking around this much," she said.
Jessamy Brown
I was on a mission to buy a cowboy hat and two things were against me: 1. I know nothing about cowboy hats. 2. I have one of the world’s largest heads.
Delores Ward, the owner of Hatters Custom Hats of Fort Worth, knew my head was pretty large right when I walked up.
“Yeah, I might have one for you over here,” Ward said.
She suggested a straw hat. Felt hats are worn in the winter and we probably won’t have much more winter weather.
She handed me a huge straw hat. I placed it on top of my head and she smiled. I took that as a good sign. It probably meant she thought I looked a tad goofy.
She was kind still, and told me that it looked like it fit right. Betting that there weren’t many options for my head-size, I was sold. She asked if I wanted eyelets placed in the top of the hat. The eyelets help with ventilation in the top of the hat. Thinking of the brutal heat we had last summer, I opted for the eyelets.
Ward’s daughter, Lisa Davis, took the hat and began punching the holes in the hat.
Ward bought Hatters from the original owners in 1980. The company has been running for 57 years and makes its hats in a factory in north Fort Worth.
"The Stock Show is where we make our money,” Ward said.
The hats run from $47 to more than $500. Ward’s booth is set up in the Amon G. Carter Jr. Exhibits Hall on the right wall.
-- Nick Dean
Janelle Hennigan wouldn't admit she came to the Fort Worth Stock Show for any other reason than to see her granddaughter, Carmen Latiolais, show goats.
But there was an ulterior motive for the Coushatta, La., residents, who at 9:55 a.m. Monday were wating for Amon G. Carter Jr. Exhibits Hall's doors to open onto a bazaar that offers treasures from tractors to tiaras.
"We always come shopping," Hennigan said. "That's the fun part."
Hennigan was looking for a leather purse for herself and a "blinged-out" western shirt for a friend. This retail labyrinth was her best shot.
"You can't find things like that in Coushatta," she said. "It's a podunk town that doesn't have even one western wear store."
A booth selling leather handgun holsters didn't get Hannigan's second glance.
"I already have gun leathers for my .38 [caliber], 9 millimeter and .44 [caliber]," she said.
But the bags hanging in the nearby M.P. & K.D. Horn & Leather Shop caught her eye, and a 50 percent off sign drew her in.
Sherri Wilson pulled down bag after bag for Hennigan's inspection, who narrowed it down to a mostly mustard purse with dark-brown accents and a black one with bright metal ornamentation. Both purses were big enough to handle anything Hennigan carries, and had straps she could slip onto her shoulder.
"Well, you're giving me 50 percent off, I'll take both of them," she told Watson.
In photo: Janelle Hennigan, foreground, picks through purses as M.P. & K.D. Horn & Leather Shop employees Michael Williams and Sherri Watson find more for her to look at. Star-Telegram/Terry Evans
Nick Dean, social media editor, holding a goat while Sarah Huffstetler, DME - Multimedia, milks it.
I'll start out by saying we weren't even close to winning. That, however, is beside the point.
The annual Celebrity Goat Milking Contest took place Saturday at 6 p.m. at the Cattle Arena. Contestants were representatives from several local TV and radio stations as well our two representatives -- Sarah Huffstetler, our Deputy Managing Editor/Multimedia and me (Nick Dean).
Sarah and I got there hours before the contest to see if we could pick up some tips from the Stock Show experts. Naturally, we set out to find the goats.
Goat sounds led us to a barn full of the creatures. Some sleeping, others playing around and knocking horns -- all of them udder-less.
"Where are the udders?" I asked Sarah.
"No clue. I was thinking the same thing," she said.
We spent another 20 mins roaming around the goat cages -- at one point I was plotting a way to steal a little goat that was too awesome to leave behind. We still found no udders. How are we supposed to practice on uddless goats?
Finally, we built up the courage to sound like idiots and ask one of the handlers nearby about the goats.
"So, we are in this milking contest in a few hours. Have any tips?" Sarah asked a couple sitting near a few goat cages.
"Don't pull, whatever you do," the woman said.
"It's not a cow. You want to just grip and press down then slide," the man said.
"Gross," was all I had to add, along with "Ok, but why don't these have udders?"
"They are boer goats. You'll be milking dairy goats." the man said.
I think appropriate thing to say here is "You might be city folk if..."
Sarah and I thanked them, tried to regain some diginity, and headed out.
We may not have won the competiton -- but we had at least left the Stock Show knowing a bit more than when we left. Plus, we had a blast with the other media reps from around town.
— Nick Dean, @bynickdean
A pair of booths flank the doorway into the Fort Worth Stock Show's sheep barn, where for more than a quarter century families have stopped for photos.
For the 27th year, Pictures With The Baby Animals and Pictures On The Pony are seasonal money makers for James Milam, who raises Shetland ponies and other animals on an eight-acre family ranch in North Richland Hills.
"It makes us a living," he said. "I've ranched all my life and this beats punching a time clock."
Between now and the Feb. 9 end of the show more than 2,000 framed prints of children riding ponies or sitting on hay bales with baby goats will leave Milam's booths in the hands of proud parents. Two ponies take day-long turns and about 10 kids from 12 days to 2 months old are rotated so they're always frisky, Milam said.
"We do pony rides for church functions with the same Shetlands we use for pictures," he said. "But at the end of the show I either sell the kids or give them away, because I don't do goats."
In the photo, Jennifer Ashinhurst shoots Casper, left, and Everett Moncrief with their grandmother, Patty Adams, and a yet-to-be-named kid. Star-Telegram/Terry Evans
Ashton Metcalfe, left, Kristyn Stewart and McKena Taylor work on an FFA assignment in the Stock Show's Planet Agriculture. Photo and story by Terry Evans
The giggle of girls from Rice FFA jotted facts furiously on flimsy pieces of paper.
Kristyn Stewart, 16, Ashton Metcalfe, 16, and McKena Taylor, 15, were in Planet Agriculture to complete an assignment for their ag teacher. They had to find out a lot about things at the Fort Worth Stock Show.
“The first part is all about Planet Agriculture,” Stewart said.
Metcalfe chimed in: “We have to find 40 facts. I’ve gotten 20, and I’ve been at it about 15 minutes.”
Taylor said the assignment was interesting despite all the learning that happened at the same time.
“It’s neat to actually see all the things that are in what we eat and wear,” she said.
Stewart said she and Metcalfe got to work in the Children’s Barnyard last year, just to the west of the Poultry Barn where Planet Agriculture is.
“This year we missed the deadline, so we get to just hang out and fill out these forms,” she said.
Metcalfe said Planet Agriculture isn’t lame at all.
“Some people really want to know about agriculture,” she said. “It kind of interests me.”
Lenay Call, left, photographs Rendyn Ongley as Paw Paw (Dan Ongley) helps. Photo and story by Terry Evans
Rendyn Ongley loved the pony, the hat and the chaps, but she wasn’t thrilled with the pink bandana that photographer Lenay Call tied around her neck.
Paw Paw (Dan Ongley of Tolar) couldn’t get his 2-year-old granddaughter to smile as Call took shot after shot in the Picture on a Pony booth in the Stock Show’s Sheep Barn. But when MiMi (Felecia Ongley) asked Rendyn if she wanted some ice cream, the pearly whites gleamed.
Call is an accountant by trade, but during the Stock Show she works one of two photo booths owned by her dad, Larry Rinehart of LBR Ranch Photography. The Ongleys were her umpteenthousandth customers.
“This is constant, especially Friday through Sunday,” she said. “Everyone wants a picture of their kids on a pony, or with the baby goats.”
The goat kids were nearby in Rinehart’s Picture With a Baby Animal booth. A photo is $12; in a wooden plaque, $24.
Digital cameras are part of every element of the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo. Cal White, the show’s technology specialist, said there are vendors beyond number like Call and Rinehart, as well as five official photographers.
“James K. Phifer does the rodeo,” he said. “Barron Photografix does the livestock.”
Larry Williams is the horse show photographer, Susan Olcott handles the calf scramble, and Glenn Ellman works the Will Rogers Memorial Complex grounds, White said.
Bright green metal monsters are guaranteed to stop kids in their tracks as they walk through the Amon Carter Jr. Exhibits Hall.
"Kids want to climb on them and parents want to take pictures of their kids climbing on them," said Mike Barker, who's at the Fort Worth Stock Show to sell John Deere tractors. "We're OK with that if they're careful."
Primarily it's livestock owners who stop to talk, Barker said. But he gets questions from all types of folks.
"Greenhorns want to know what you do with various pieces of equipment," he said. "Livestock owners want to know the horsepower and features of particular pieces, usually something they've been looking at buying."
And anyone who's been looking at tractors probably has looked at the green ones, Barker said.
"John Deere is a 175-year-old company," he said. "All of our competitors put together haven't been making tractors that long. Plus, John Deere is the only American brand. The majority of them are made in the U.S.A."
The best selling Deere is the 50-horsepower model with a front loader, brush hog and trailer package, Barker said.
Mike Barker is a John Deere salesman out of McKinney.
Story and photo by Terry Evans
Robert McClanahan is a welder/fitter most of the year.
But when January comes, the Haltom City resident is in John Justin Arena 12 hours a day, seven days a week for the Fort Worth Stock Show's full run. And one of the most important jobs he has is barrel guy during the barrel racing competitions.
"If the barrel is off, the horse tends to knock it down and that adds 5 seconds to the rider's time," McClanahan said.
To the casual observer, the task might look merely physically challenging. After every fourth run, the barrel guys run out and pick up the barrels and carry them out of the way so other guys on tractors can smooth out the dirt. Otherwise, all a barrel guy has to do is set a barrel back up when it gets knocked over.
But McClanahan said the barrel has to be level and the pig tail (a length of nylon rope anchored deep in the dirt and sticking up about six inches) has to be just at the barrel's outside edge. Oh, the barrel guy also has to make sure the name on the barrel's side is toward the photographer.
"Gotta get that advertising in," he said.
When he's not moving barrels, McClanahan leads a team of six or seven other guys who do everything from herding cattle during cutting competitions to herding llamas during the llama show, for which he also announces.
"I do whatever needs doing," he said. "It's a fun job and the pay's good."
Story and photo by Terry Evans
Fans of the Fort Worth Stock Show who don’t like being herded into the Will Rogers Memorial Center’s parking lots – and paying for it – have another option.
Shuttle buses are available 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. during the weekends, with departures about every half-hour from the Macy’s at Ridgmar Mall, 2008 Green Oaks Road in west Fort Worth, and about every 20 minutes from Billy Bob’s Texas, 2520 Rodeo Plaza in north Fort Worth.
Parking is free at the shuttle pickup spots. Fare to ride the bus is $1 per person each way.
The Fort Worth Transportation Authority will operate the shuttles Saturday, Sunday (Jan. 28-29) and the final Stock Show day Feb. 4.
For more information, visit www.the-t.com or call 817-215-8600.
@gdickson
Cothelle Dodson's 40-year career at the Fort Worth Stock Show began in a hot tub.
In 1972, she was asked to model in a hot tub at a stock show display. Sometimes, she spent eight to 10 hours a day in the water. "My skin got a little pruny, but I recovered," Dodson, 70, quipped.
The hot tub gig lasted for four or five years, she said. But today, Dodson is better known as the announcement lady at the Amon G. Carter Jr. Exhibits Hall. Proudly displaying her soft and somewhat shaky voice, she routinely makes announcements about lost children and lost husbands. She's also quick to add to the stock show's festive mood. If the weather is bad -- as it often is in late January or early February -- she will take the mic and tell the crowd the day's forecast calls for "sunshine and a balmy 70 degrees."
"Nobody loves her work more than this lady," co-worker and friend Fay Monkres said. At the beginning of this year's show, Monkres and other co-workers presented Dodson with a shiny belt buckle commemorating her 40th year of employment at the stock show.
Dodson, a 1959 graduate of Arlington Heights High School on Fort Worth's west side, considers her announcement window on the north end of the exhibit hall (look for the Cavender's boots display) "the best people-watching window this side of the airport."
"We had a streaker dart by one time," she said. "We've just about seen it all."
@gdickson
Anybody know the history of these really cool western paintings/murals at each portal of the Will Rogers Coliseum? My family and I went to the rodeo last night, and my wife noticed them. There's nothing necessarily special about them artistically, but they're just really pleasant to look at. If I'm counting correctly, there are 28 portals leading from the coliseum concourse to the seating area, and each one is bedecked with a Western painting. Today, I'm out at the the Will Rogers Memorial Center helping with the Star-Telegram's stock show coverage. If you know the history of these paintings, Tweet me @gdickson or send an email to gdickson@star-telegram.com ...
I just ran into Punch Shaw, the Star-Telegram's rodeo and stock show guru, and he says the artwork has been a feature on the coliseum portals as long as he can remember. He says the paintings may have been redone, or freshened up recently, but the presence of artwork in the coliseum seating area is nothing new.
The Will Rogers Center and adjacent Landmark Pioneer Tower were built in 1936, the year of Texas' centennial celebration, according to FWCulture.com ... It was named after humorist and writer Will Rogers.
@gdickson
While a heavy rain drenched the grounds of the Fort Worth Stock Show Thursday morning, Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price remained in good spirits as she greeted local students arriving for class field trips.
"Most of them are pumped about being here," Price said. "I'd be here doing this everyday if I could."
Price also spoke to some Texas FFA members who were volunteering to guide students throughout the Stock Show. Price said she told them how important it is to volunteer at events like this and around the community, both as a way to learn an area’s history as well as providing a boost to college applications.
Price also snagged a few photos with the Stock Show's mascots, the Moos Brothers. (Price is the one in the middle.)
-Aman Batheja
Firefighter Grady Young, left, Lt. Heath Turner and Firefighter Kyle Omberg work a shift at Station 80, the Will Rogers Memorial Complex, for the Fort Worth Stock Show. Photo by Terry Evans
A surprised Lawton Berry hoisted a blue ribbon over his head and a crowd of Royse City residents roared.
Berry, 11, walked Squeaky by himself as the Poland China Spots gilt took first place in the Swine Show Breeders Class 65 Monday. But you’d have thought the 60 or so family members and friends were next to him at every step.
“We’re all here for each other,” said Texas State Trooper Jeff Berry as he rubbed down his son’s pig in a pen near the Swine Arena at the Fort Worth Stock Show.
Randy Hancock, the Royse City school district superintendent and former agriculture teacher, said that bringing about 35 hogs to the Stock Show is about more than showing what farmers in the town northeast of Dallas can do.
“It’s all about the kids,” he said.
That’s why Lawton’s family pitches in to help raise an FFA project like Squeaky, said his mom, a pharmacist named Lezlee Berry.
“It’s a family hobby,” she said. “We do it as a group.”
And as a group, Royse City FFA won the Herdsman Award, which recognizes their effort to keep their pens clean and organized. That’s something almost as great as taking a blue ribbon, Hancock said.
