North Shore Rotary: Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo presentation

NORTH SHORE ROTARIANS learn about Bull Riding from Gary McHenry, left, by acting it out. Participating in the fun are Charles Grant, Don Spies, Matt Davis, Scott Stephens.
NORTH SHORE ROTARIANS learn about Bull Riding from Gary McHenry, left, by acting it out. Participating in the fun are Charles Grant, Don Spies, Matt Davis, Scott Stephens.

NORTH SHORE – Gary McHenry, chairman of the Speakers Committee of the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo, made a presentation to the Rotarians on January 19 at their weekly luncheon.

McHenry covered the usual fact, such as 33,000 volunteers, $430 million in scholarships since the beginning, today’s scholarships of $20,000 for 4 years, and more. This year’s show runs for 21 days, and starts Tuesday, March 7th. He mentioned the first performer was Gene Autry. The show is basically for and about agriculture, and students that are in that field.

But the talk took an interesting twist, when McHenry told about bull riding, one of the most popular events. He said that a rider only had to stay on the bull for up to 8 seconds, and in a full 20 day show could earn $56,000.

To better understand bull riding, McHenry dressed Rotarians in costumes and acted out a bull riding sequence. Imagine a clown, a cowboy rider, a barrel tender, a bull, and a matador type, and the club watched their moves, and listened to an explanation.