Aggieland to infiltrate HLSR

 

The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo kicks off in just over two weeks.

Although NRG Park, where the show is held, is about two hours from here, there are still a lot of local connections. Brazos County may be classified as a large urban county, but it still has deep rural roots and a huge connection to agriculture. Many of those ag skills will be on display at the HLSR, which runs March 4-23.

Bryan ISD, College Station ISD, and Texas A&M University will each have a strong presence at this year’s show. FFA students from area high schools will be competing in a wide variety of livestock judging and other agricultural competitions. There will be calf scramblers at some of the nightly rodeos and probably more than a few mutton busters. There are plenty of Aggies who compete in professional rodeo. Two years ago there were eight Aggies competing at RodeoHouston and several of them are likely to be back this year.

Veterinarian Leslie Easterwood, an associate clinical professor of equine community practice at the Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences in the Large Animal Teaching Hospital, is entering her 22nd year serving as one of two official veterinarians at the HLSR, where they provide care for more than 18,000 livestock animals at the show.

The Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences will be represented this year by dozens of students doing internships at the show. The college’s internship program hosts more than 70 students annually, immersing them in roles that serve all aspects of the event. The college has been working in collaboration with the HLSR for over 40 years.

Undoubtedly there will be any number of former A&M students working as volunteers or operating vendor booths at the show. Needless to say, Aggieland has a very strong connection to the HLSR.

As connected to the three-week event as we are, most people from here go for the concerts, rodeo, carnival and the food. The concert lineup has a mix of country music artists, new “country” artists, classic rock, contemporary Christian, rap and Mexican music.

My love of country music faded in the early 2000s and I just can’t call the stuff played today real country music. My favorite rock band is Journey, and they are returning to the star stage on March 14. Other acts I desire to see again include Reba McEntire (March 4), Brad Paisley (March 10) and Brooks & Dunn (March 22). I haven’t heard of about half the artists performing this year, but that’s been happening more frequently the older I get. My wife, who is much younger than I am, is interested in seeing Lauren Daigle (March 12), Parker McCollum (March 21), and Luke Bryan (March 23), in addition to most of the ones I like.

As much of an attraction as the concerts are, I absolutely love the rodeo. I get a lot of enjoyment out of photographing rodeos, and Houston’s is by far the best in the world. A photographer friend of mine from Alabama and I used to post our favorite “snot shot” photos of the bulls on Facebook. They can really sling the slimy stuff when they get to spinning and bucking!

For several years I served as a judge for the Gold Buckle Foodie Awards. We got to judge several categories of food from vendors at the show. I think I put on 10 pounds just walking into the room! There’s some good stuff to try along with some pretty wild creations. The weirdest thing I tried was a bug pizza that had crickets, meal worms, and scorpions on it. It wasn’t as bad as it sounds.

I’ve been covering the HLSR as a reporter and photographer since 2009, only missing about three years due to COVID and job changes. I’ve reported for five newspapers in that time and am very hopeful that The Eagle will be my sixth (and last). I’ve put in my credential request, but that’s no guarantee of approval. I’ve learned that lesson with Houston’s pro sports teams.

Assuming I get to do some coverage from there I will be on the lookout for locals. If you are showing or participating in any way at the HLSR this year, please reach out and let me know when and where. I’ll do my best to connect with you. Even if we don’t connect, please feel free to send me pictures and let me know about your success stories. I can be reached at joe.southern@theeagle.com.