Eye On Houston

Pasadena Livestock Show and Rodeo

Nick Russo interviews Jim Dutton, Vice President of the Pasadena Livestock Show & Rodeo to talk about how their non-profit organization improves and benefits the community they serve. The segment informs the public on how to become a volunteer, how their contributions to the rodeo benefit the future of education and agriculture in the Houston community and why it serves the community the way it does. There’s also information on the community can be a part of the event this year.

Duration:: 12m
Broadcast on:: 16 Sep 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

"My dad works in B2B marketing. "He came by my school for career day "and said he was a big row as man. "Then he told everyone how much he loved "calculating his return on ad spend. "My friends still laughing at me to this day." - Not everyone gets B2B, but with LinkedIn, you'll be able to reach people who do. Get $100 credit on your next ad campaign. Go to linkedin.com/results to claim your credit. That's linkedin.com/results. Terms and conditions apply. Linked in, the place to be, to be. - As a parent, you always wanna set your child up for success. So when they're struggling in school or they need help with homework, you try your best to step up. But sometimes you might not be equipped to answer. And it's better to leave that to the experts from Ixcel Learning. Ixcel Learning is an online learning program for kids. It covers math, language arts, science, and social studies. Ixcel can help your child really understand and master topics in a fun way with positive feedback. 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Everyone's a winner when you dare to compare with Bob's discount furniture. Shop in store at mybobs.com to play now. - A good morning. My name is Nick Russo from 100.3 The Bull. Welcome to I on Houston, our community show where we talk to great people in our community that have great organizations that help the community in many ways. And today it's my honor to welcome from the pasting a livestock show in rodeo first, Vice President Jim Dutton. How you doing, sir? - Hey, I'm doing great. It's great to sit down and talk to you. We've been friends for quite some time now. I'm a big fan of the pasting a livestock show in rodeo, but how long have you been a part of the pasting a rodeo? - Well, I guess I'm going on something around 16 years now. - Wow, so are you originally from the area? - I grew up in Pasadena, yeah. - Wow, that's so awesome. 'Cause I know statewide you're known. You're a very well-known figure, at least in my opinion. You've got friends all over the state. How would you explain your career and your life personally and professionally? - Well, I'm a contractor, and so being a contractor, doing foundation repair, plumbing, and air conditioning, I meet a lot of different people, and you never know when you've got to call somebody for a favor, you know? - This is true. And so tell me about being first Vice President of the pasting a rodeo. What are some of the things you oversee with the organization? - Well, you know, the biggest thing I'm there for is troubleshooting when directors or committeemen, committee chairpeople have issues that they need to get taken care of. That's what I'm there to help them with, so that we can keep things moving forward smoothly, and then look at long-term stuff. What are we gonna be doing three years, five years, 10 years from now? - And now when you think about the pasting of livestock show and rodeo, and you start to think about all the things that go along with it, whether it's the events, the roping, the riding, the actual livestock show where the kids are showing the animals, it's a non-profit organization that benefits the community at the core. Tell me some of the things that the pasting livestock show and rodeo does for the community. - Well, for the community itself, even the grounds were on, we bought the original 40 acres, donated it to the city. We built the arena, we built the cover, we're in the process of doing a capital campaign fund to build a new ag barn for the kids. We've got 30,000 square feet right now, and we're busting at the seams. We can't take anymore on, so now we're gonna build another 60,000 square feet. That'll go to the city as well. Now, the city of Pasadena benefits from that, and now you all are also reaching out to other, sort of connecting communities as well, is that correct? - Oh, absolutely. I mean, Deer Park, Laport, Clear Creek, they're all part of the rodeo already, and we're adding Galena Park now, and looking forward to bringing in some new school districts as well, when we get that new ag building built. - So how does the new ag building help the kids? Like, what does it provide for them? - The kids that are in FFA, they raise animals, then they bring them to the show for judging. If you place, in the top 12, you go to the auction. When you go to the auction, that's your money pit. That's where you get to get scholarship money, money to buy your next ag project, and continue on with your education process. - So with the larger ag barn, you can accommodate for more students, more animals, more scholarships. We're already accommodating over 600, and we would love to double or triple that. - Now, that's pretty incredible, but you can't do it without raising funds somehow. So what are some of the ways the Pasadena Livestock Show and Rodeo raises money? - Well, obviously, the rodeo itself is there as raising money. It's all volunteers. We actually have only two paid staff for the whole organization, everything else is by volunteer. We do different events like we have a fun run. We have a fishing tournament, a ski shoot. These are all things that are really not rodeo related, but it raises funds. And of course, the big one, no rodeo is complete unless you have a cook-off. - I love it. Now, tell me the first day of this year's Pasadena rodeo, 'cause it's the 75th anniversary, which is amazing. - 75 years, and our kickoff will be Wade Bowen on Friday, the 20th of September. - I love it, and I know you got the giant poster here, so let's run through the whole lineup 'cause it's quite star-studded. - It is. I mean, we start, like I said, with Wade Bowen on Friday night, Saturday the 21st, we got Aaron Watson. On Sunday, we actually do a matinee show. It's gonna be Hispanic, and if you ask me to pronounce the name right, I won't, but it is the Paranda. - It works for me. - Okay. - Monday is Family Night. So you get really reduced tickets. It's only 10 bucks to get in on Monday nights. Then on Tuesday, we're gonna try something new this year. We're going rock and roll with an AC/DC cover band. That's gonna be back in black, and Wednesday the 25th will be Drew Baldridge, Thursday, Neil McCoy, Friday, Kevin Fowler, and we finish up on Saturday the 28th with the Randy Rogers band. - Man, that's so awesome of a lineup. Congratulations to you guys for putting that together. - It really is. It's a great lineup, and you can go to passingradio.com. You can see the full list, buy your tickets, and be ready to come out for the 75th anniversary. - And now folks can also volunteer. There's volunteer positions available as well. Someone is listening, and they want to be a part of the passing rodeo. - If anybody tells you there's no volunteer positions available, they're lying. We got plenty. - Or they're trying to keep all the fun for themselves, right? - That's it. And you know, it's really for volunteers, it's a great thing too, because you can badge on a committee, which gets you access every night to these entertainers. - And that pays for itself. - It does. - That's pretty amazing. No, I've always shared my connection to the Pasadena area and the Pasadena rodeo. I love being down there every year and getting to partner with you guys. It's perhaps my favorite event that's not totally put on by us, if you will. But I just appreciate you guys coming by so much. Now, real quick for, I'll let you go. We're talking to Jim Dutton, he's first vice president of the Pasadena Livestock Show in rodeo. They're getting ready for their 75th Pasadena Livestock Show in rodeo. Also, they're gonna have the cook-off before. And this is I on Houston, it's our community show. If you're just joining us, this is our show where we talk to great folks in our community who have great organizations and benefit the community in the Pasadena Livestock Show in rodeo, does that in so many ways. Tell me, the number of scholarships, or is there a dollar amount that you guys can put on to how much y'all raise? - Well, last year, the students ended up walking away with $648,000. - Wow, so how do y'all decide which students get the scholarships? - Well, the scholarships are applied first to the ag students. And then everything is looked at as far as, hey, did you fill out your application? Why are you putting in things like that? But a lot of the money they get is from the animals themselves as well. - And so I always had this question about the auction too. Like let's say I go in and I go to the auction, can anyone walk in and be a part of it? Or do you have to like, is there like only a certain class that can-- - Nope, it's open to the public to come in. - So. - You register, you get a paddle and-- - So if I wanted to buy a cow, I could go in there and we could go buy a cow. - I'll make sure you can buy a cow. - Yes, no, anybody can come in and bid on the cow. - 'Cause, you know, growing up, I remember my family. So I'm from Goliad originally and-- - And then just FYI, we call them steers. - Steers, but that's okay. - Or bull, right, it can't be a bull in a steer, that's for sure. (laughing) So if you were gonna buy a steer, you could eat the steer, is that correct? You can have it but you're down. - Absolutely, and they're great eating. - So that's what I was getting to. When I was growing up in Goliad, my family would do that. They would all go in, they would join families and they would all pitch in and buy a steer at the livestock show, and then they'd have it butchered down in the stakes. - I do my best and bid to get one every year myself and fill my freezer that way, because unlike me that you get at the grocery store, this stuff's not full of chemicals. They're tested when they place to make sure that they weren't injected and all that. So whether it's the steer or chicken, turkey, goat, lamb, pigs. - Yeah, maybe I'll stick with the chicken. I feel like that's a little less expensive. (laughing) Pound for pound? - Steers better. - I love it, well, Mr. Dutton, thank you for joining us. I appreciate you very much. Real quick, the website, so people can get tickets for the Pasadena Rodeo and information on how to become a volunteer. - Both items, go to PasadenaRodeo.com and you got information for both of the things. And again, the cook-off starts first. We got a great carnival at the Rodeo for our 75th and just come out and have a great time. It is a family event. - We love it very much and I appreciate you taking the time. Thanks so much. - Thanks for having us. - My dad works in B2B marketing. He came by my school for career day and said he was a big row as man. Then he told everyone how much he loved calculating his return on ad spend. My friend's still laughing me to this day. Not everyone gets B2B. But with LinkedIn, you'll be able to reach people who do. Get $100 credit on your next ad campaign. Go to LinkedIn.com/results to claim your credit. That's LinkedIn.com/results. Terms and conditions apply. LinkedIn, the place to be, to be. - As a parent, you always want to set your child up for success. So when they're struggling in school or they need help with homework, you try your best to step up. But sometimes you might not be equipped to answer and it's better to leave that to the experts from Ixcel learning. Ixcel learning is an online learning program for kids. It covers math, language arts, science and social studies. Ixcel can help your child really understand and master topics in a fun way with positive feedback. Powered by advanced algorithms, Ixcel gives the right help to each kid no matter the age of personality. And when you sign up, one subscription gets you everything you need for all the kids in your home from pre-k to 12th grade. Ixcel is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts in the U.S. with one in four students across the country using the program. So don't wait any longer. Make an impact on your child's learning. Get Ixcel now. And listeners can get an exclusive 20% off Ixcel membership when they sign up today at Ixcellearning.com/audio. Visit Ixcellearning.com/audio to get the most effective learning program out there at the best price. - From the mind of a two-foot tall talking spokespuppet comes this year's biggest challenge. It's time for Bob's dare to compare. The hottest game show on TV that asks, "What happens when you compare Bob's to the competition?" You get style. - Ooh. - You get quality. - Ooh. - You get beeps and boops and dings and wobs and thousands of dollars in savings. Everyone's winner when you dare to compare with Bob's discount furniture. Shop in store at mybobs.com to play now.