FORT WORTH, Texas — The weather isn’t stopping the Fort Worth Livestock Show and Rodeo.
On Wednesday, a significant winter storm moved into North Texas, blanketing many areas in snow and ice. Tens-of-thousands of power outages were also reported during the overnight hours.
But for participants, like 13-year-old Riley Sims, it was important to be at the 2022 rodeo.
"I’ve been looking forward to this all year!" Sims told WFAA. "This is the big moment we’ve all been waiting for."
Spokesperson for the show, Matt Brockman, kids from 230 Texas counties have waited for more than two years to show off their hard work because of the continuing pandemic, and they deserved the chance to present it over the next two days - despite the weather.
”These kids work all year round," Brockman said. "We did not have a show in 2021 because of COVID, so they came back ready to show this year, and by-golly we are going to have a show for them."
Brockman said in recent memory, the show has only been called off one time and that was last year because of COVID. Even in 2011, when a severe ice storm hit North Texas during the Super Bowl, the Livestock Show and Rodeo went on.
At stake are millions of scholarship dollars for the kids who sell their cattle.
Brockman said the rodeo made $4.7 million in 2020. He expects to far exceed that number this year.
"This year, if we do what we think we are going to do, it will top $5 million,” he predicted.