North Texas Posse
Events Update
28 January 2001: Fort
Worth Stock Show & Rodeo
Camera Crisis Continues to Curse Crew
at Century-Old Cowtown Celebration
January in North Texas brings
the Fort Worth Livestock Show and Rodeo, just as it has for 105 years—just like old
times, but bigger and better than ever before. This year the North Texas Posse was there,
beginning what will surely become an annual tradition. Another North Texas and Stock Show
tradition is the weather, which can be very unforgiving. But the founders of this
ranchman’s shindig realized that they were tempting fate by having their big show in
January, and wisely built a complex of buildings big enough to hold the entire thing
indoors.
Saturday
the 13th found members Roger, Tina, Pokey, Larry, and Jimmy wandering the
grounds of the Fort Worth exhibition complex. The first three folks went together, and at
press time there we don’t know whether the other two found ‘em or not. The
rodeo was great, the weather was kind, and the beer was, well, it dudn't really need ta be
cold in January, but it was. For some reason, nobody took any pictures.
On Saturday the 27th,
regulars Scott and Mac met for lunch with new posse buds
Jim M., Jeff, Jim G., Tucker,
and Ray at Uncle Julio’s, a local Fort Worth eatery and drinkery,
for a Fort Worth get-acquainted session. There were several Kodak moments, but, as usual
for our group, there wasn’t a damn Kodak in sight. South Texas Posse member Ron
drove in a little later. Posse regular Dave M. fell off the edge of the earth and
wasn’t seen again. After consuming a fair amount of Mexican food (well, Tex-Mex) and
watching Ray and Mac tear into the Tequila, the crew headed over to the exhibition
complex, found parkin’ places that were blocks away, and slogged through the drizzle
to where it was all happ’nin’.
The weather had
brought a week of sunny days in the upper 50s and 60s, but it turned nasty just in time
for the weekend. Those of us coming in from the metroplex or from the south waded through
drizzle that turned to rain; those coming from the north coped with freezing rain, icy
bridges, and temperatures of 30° (ice storm weather!) to the Tarrant County line, as well
as bridge demolition and overturned gasoline tankers. In the soggy cold, the only
amusement to be had on the carnival grounds was watching the ride operators shiver (and
that picture of "Magnum P.I." that looked more like Saddam than Sellick).
Once we got
indoors, it was awesome. The vendors were tryin’ their dead-level best to separate us
from our money. The livestock was groomed and primped to a fair-thee-well. The farm and
ranch equipment gleamed. The food smelled wonderful, despite our full bellies. The beer
was cold (not at requirement at this time). The aroma of the exhibition halls was a mix of
manure, hay, and wood shavings that’s intoxicating to any good ol’ Texas boy.
And the scenery was—well, good lord—just amazing!
After meeting at the
appointed place in the exhibition hall (and, if any of you were there at two and left,
we’re sorry, but we’re always a little late), we broke into smaller groups and
began to check things out. Sales reps were queried. Beer sites were found. Bubbas were
admired. Some of us were lost, then found again. Many thanks to Ron, who used his enhanced
height to advantage and acted as our spotter. Some of the highlights of the afternoon:
Tucker did his best not to seem too shocked at finding out what his new barn will cost
him. Jim, Jim, and Jeff were lost, never to be found again. Mac, on the other hand, found
old friends he hadn’t seen for 15 years. The group as a whole voted (in a secret
ballot) never again to allow Tuck to bring his cell phone along. Mac, Scott, and Ron saw
more show-fowl than they ever thought existed.
We found out the hard way
that weekend rodeo tickets have to be purchased way in advance, and only a few of us got
to go to the rodeo. Larry, the lucky devil, got to go, but with Friends
from Work. A great time was had by all. Special thanks to out to Jim M, who served as
point man as we organized [not!] this whole thing, and who got all the information
right—can’t tell ya how much that means, bud. We’ll see y’all there
next year!
13 January 2001: Callisburg
Ranch Rodeo
On Saturday morning, the week's foul
weather in North Texas broke to give us a beautiful, warm, calm day. Mac drove the
9 miles from his house to the Woodbine Arena, to meet posse regular Jimmy and
newcomers Edd and Neal for the Callisburg Ranch Rodeo. This is just a little
local rodeo, using ranch rules, but this time of the year there are lots o’ rodeo men
and fans who’re just jonesin’ for a little roughstock. There were
competitors from all over North Texas and Southern Oklahoma, as well as a few who stopped
on en route to the Fort Worth Stock Show. And when ya consider that this is the home
stompin’ grounds for the Hart brothers, well, the standards are pretty high. We got
to see everybody from seasoned tour professionals to local FFAers compete, and everyone
enjoyed the sunshine, and a good time was had all around. After the rodeo, we all headed
to the Ranch House in Gainesville, terrorized the local girls who wait tables there, and
ate about 250 pounds of barbecued ribs. A good time was had all around.
26 October 2000: Copenhagen
Cup Finals Rodeo
The men of the North Texas Posse have been
lookin’ forward to the Copenhagen Cup Finals of the Wrangler Pro Rodeo Tour, held at
the Mesquite Rodeo, for some time, and this past weekend was the time! The Texas
weather didn’t cooperate, and the pouring rain kept a few folks from wanting to make
the trip, but those of us who went were not disappointed. Saturday afternoon, Larry,
Jim, and Harold met up with Mac and
guest Steve, of the Kansas Posse, at the Trail Dust Steakhouse for some
beef, beer, good sight-seein’, and unusually slow service. After fillin’ up on
steak, we swam to our pickups and headed the few blocks to the Resistol Arena, where we
met up with Roger and friend of the posse, Tina. Jace
and a couple of his friends were there too, but we never were able to find one another
(mostly because of coinciding beer-breaks). After a real questionable laser light show
(??), accompanied by techno and disco music (??!?), the events began. The third and final
go-round of the semi-finals was held, with the top four cumulative scorers from the three
go-rounds going into the finals that followed. As you’d expect from a national
championship, the field of competitors was excellent, and was matched by the quality of
the stock. We were treated to a hell of a contest in every event, with team roping times
in the low eights, women’s barrel-racing times at 16 seconds and lower, and calf
roping times into the low threes. Bareback and bronc-riding scores were into the low 90s,
and the top bull rider earned a 95 for riding a bull that had only been ridden once before
in 19 outings. Another bull kept his own score perfect at 79-0! The bull fighters
did a fine job and put on a pretty good show themselves. The contests were great, the beer
was cold, and the arena roof kept the rain and mud outside. After a little
reminiscin’ about the Cowboy Reunion in Stamford, and some barrel-racing stories from
Steve, we avoided the closing laser light show and headed home.
19 August 2000: PBR Rodeo, Weatherford, Texas
This past Saturday night, Mac and Larry
made the Parker County Sheriff’s Posse Rodeo, on the Professional Bull Rider tour, in
Weatherford, Texas. Several others had said they might be there, but with daily temps in
the 100s for weeks now, it’s easy to convince yerself to stay in the A/C. Good
bullridin’, and not-bad scenery.
12-13 August 2000: South Texas Posse Barbecue & Dixie Chicks
Concert
Over the weekend, Pokey,
Mac, Deane, Scott, and Scooter
made it down to the big South Texas Posse barbecue at Mike & Mark’s
house in Katy. Pokey rode his Sportster down on Friday afternoon, and Mac drug in about
3:30 a.m., with all the rest coming in on Saturday morning. We got to meet several of our
southern brothers, and Mac and Jake got to catch up on things since the Texas
Cowboy Reunion. The Gulf Coast weather was hotter than hell, and it chased everybody
inside, except Mark, who was outside cooking, and Pokey, who was in the garage doing a
post-mortem on his motorcycle. But the beer was cold, the burgers and dogs and Alsatian
sausage (thanks Jake) were great, and the company couldn’t be beat. This time, Mac
treated (?) everyone to his own Margarita recipe, and later, Mike & Mark’s
next-door neighbor brought his own over to add to the mix. Sunday, after a trip out to see
Bubba, Mike’s roping horse, six of us made it to the Dixie
Chicks’ concert. Then on Monday, Mac and Pokey loaded the dead scooter into
Mac’s Dakota and headed back to North Texas (in deference to the reputation of Harley
Davidson, no picture was taken of this).
05 August 2000: Gettin' Together
Scott, Gino,
and Kenny met up with Mac at Puerto Escondido, a Mexican restaurant on Lake
Ray Hubbard. As Mac walked in, he spotted Scooter at another table, sittin’
there wonderin’ where the heck everybody was. Turned out that none of the other three
there had been to an event where Scooter was, and vice-versa. But introductions were made
all around. Larry showed up a little later—in plenty of time for supper. We
had some of the best Tex-Mex that can be had, tested the establishment’s Margarita
recipe, and terrorized the wait staff, who were wishing they could’ve worked the
wedding party in the next room.
04 July 2000: Independence Day Cookout at Scooter's
There
30 June-04 July 2000: Texas Cowboy Reunion & Rodeo
We had such a good time at this deal, we
gave it its own page.
(Click to see it.)
03 June 2000: Mesquite Rodeo
Well we’d
been informed by some o’ them rodeo-types in Houston that this was a big weekend at
the Mesquite Rodeo, so, even with short notice, we cowboyed up and went. This was our
first real opportunity to get together since the barbecue at Pokey’s, and we figgered
we were up for another get together. After pickin’ up the advance tickets, Mac
and newcomer Deane (he gets Western real good for a Yankee!) made it to the Trail
Dust Steakhouse right on time. Scott was there before the first two got outa the
truck, and Scott scared the pants offa Mac when he snuck up on ‘em from behind a big
blue Chevy truck. Before long, they were joined by Gino & Kenny, just
moved down and settled in from Virginia, and Davit and Ken. Soon after those
big, big steaks (sorry about your scrap, Gino) finally showed up, so did Pokey and
newcomer Robert. Soon after, we headed over to the Resistol Arena, and met up with Roger.
The big names we were expecting weren’t at the rodeo, but it was the Mesquite
Rodeo. Everybody had a good time watchin’ the stock, the competitors, and the
scenery. Every once in a while the announcer would give us a little update on the
Stars-Devils game, and fortunately the bad news didn’t hit until the rodeo was over.
It was all over too soon, but we’re gonna do it again. Many thanks to Roger for
checkin’ out the arena and the logistics for tickets, Scott for findin’ the
steakhouse and gettin’ the info up on the web, and to Gino for the chauffeur
services. Sorry about no pics, boys, but all the cameras stayed in the pickups at
the Trail Dust parking lot.
27 May 2000: Mid-South Posse BBQ at Devin's place (a/k/a Rain on
the Mississippi)
We'd started hearin' rumors from up
Tennessee way that Devin was wantin' to do a barbecue of his
own. And sure enough, an invite came down the pike to Devin's place for
Memorial Day weekend. Pokey was already plannin' to take a little
vacation between school terms to ride his scooter to Tennessee, and as the end of the
month drew near, Mac started thinkin' it would be nice to get th' hell
outa Dodge too. On Thursday, with rain in the forecast, the intrepid Pokey headed
off to Tennessee, and rolled in Friday afternoon, dry and happy. Mac had a
high-school graduation party on Friday, but headed out for Memphis early Saturday
morning. Things went fine until Little Rock, when rain struck. The rain
then followed all the way to Memphis, where Mac found Pokey with Devin, Jeff, Kenneth,
Jeb, and Kevin, of the Mid-South Posse, plus Tim
and Danice of the Appalachian Posse, all sittin' around the TV, watchin'
the rain fall outside, and lookin' glum. But never fear--a Mark David Manders CD
(Dev's early birthday present from Texas) appeared, and soon the whole crew was grinnin'
and hollerin' "BEER!!" along with the music. A second helpin' of barbecue
(ask Devin how to barbecue ribs in the rain!), along with some truly amazing home-made
pie, soon followed. The rain quit before long, and as dusk fell, new Mid-Souther Charlie
appeared, along with his Scrabble board. We won't discuss the Scrabble massacre
here, outa good taste.
Sunday dawned sunny and
beautiful. After Jeb fixed The Finest Omelettes in the Western World, Pokey
took off toward Texas and the rest of us went our own ways, with plans to re-unite at
Jeff's place later. Evening found Tim, Devin, Danice, Mac, Jeff, and Terry
on the deck at Jeff & Terry's place in the country, watchin' the sun set in the west
over the fields, after a supper of steak raised by Terry and Dave on
their farm. Awesome!
We talked a bit about a future meetin' of
these two posses, maybe at a midway point in Arkansas or Mississippi. Stay tuned for
details when these plans start to form. Below is a pic of Devin, Tim, Kenneth,
Pokey, Jeb, and Mac on Sunday afternoon, after the barbecue.
29 April 2000: BBQ at Pokey's place
Mike H. and Mac
came in Friday evening to help (?). Mike's pard, Rusty, was comin' too,
but that mud track in Oklahoma was callin, and his car was whinin' to go. We found Pokey
workin' like a madman to get ready. There was floor in parts of his house that we had
never seen before! Finally a little relaxation set in, Devin and Jeff
dragged in from Tennessee about 2 Saturday morning, and we declared everything ready and
everyone ready for bed. Late Saturday morning after the surprise rain stopped (damn lyin'
weather man!), everybody else started coming in, we lit the fire, Devin opened the first
beer (followed by a few of the rest of us), and the festivities began! The 'barbecue
chicken au Pokey' and Mac's tater salad were big hits. Scott must have
worked all night baking those beans, canning them up in real cans, and working on the
'puter to get those matching colored labels just right!! Then he followed 'em up with two
of the greatest homemade pies in history. Another big hit was the brew. It really looked
like Roger had brought enough for the day. Well, maybe a normal day. But
after Mike H. made another trip, and another, we finally had enough. No drownings, though.
We did a little ropin' practice, some spool-ridin' (you'll have to see the pics), wandered
around explorin' the "back 40," threw the tennis ball to Bubba the Posse
Dog about 12,400 times, and the crowd on the porch managed to solve every single
one o' the world's problems. Late that afternoon we got to meet the surviving chicken.
Late in the afternoon Roger left for a rodeo, but the rest of us were too tired! Then, as
darkness fell (and a coupla serious revellers rose again), we gathered around a helluva
bonfire. We even had a straggler or two, Mike D. and Mark,
from close by, drop in then. Not to mention a li'l mud party, huh, Scott?!? Next time get
4-wheel-drive!
A wonderful time was had by all, and we decided it do it again soon. A bunch of us are
plannin' to get together with the South Texas guys, and maybe a buncha other folks, for
the George Strait Festival in June, but I'm sure we'll find a few excuses to git together
up here 'fore then. In fact, I sorta told Gino and Kenny
that a few of us'd pitch in to help 'em move in when they got ready to head down here from
Appalachia . . . guess I oughta tell the other men about that soon, huh? Many thanks to
Pokey for his hostin', and his real comfortable place, and to everybody else, cuz everbody
pitched in.
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Click on either of the pictures to the left
to see pictures of the barbecue at Pokey's. |
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