Katy Lifestyles and Homes magazine Feb 2010: History and Historical Events and Information in Katy, Texas

For more than 65 years the Katy Livestock show and Rodeo has been an important event for the Katy community.

L. D. Robinson started the tradition shortly after he was hired to be the vocational agriculture teacher for Katy ISD in 1942. He had 18 boys in his class and $57 in the Future Farmers of America account. Needing to raise funds, he used the money to buy pigs that would be auctioned off when they were ready for market. Expected profits would pay the feed bill and also pay for a hog barn that was purchased for $12.50. By the spring of 1943 the pigs were ready to sell. To draw an audience of prospective buyers Robinson put a fence around a field near Avenue D and 10th Street and organized a sort of rodeo. That first event raised $541.

Locals loved the rodeo so much that for the next eight years during the summer months it became a regular Saturday night event. Folks from the community would come to compete in events including goat roping, flag races, basketball on horses, ladies barrel racing, relay races on horses, goat hair pulling and more. The annual rodeo held in conjunction with the FFA livestock show continues today.

A parade was introduced to encourage community involvement. Bands and groups from neighboring school districts and communities joined Katy residents on the march through town to celebrate and promote the event. The parade

was a huge success. In 1960, the filming of the movie Tomboy and the Champ in Katy even featured the FFA parade.

By 1947, the event had raised significant money. Those funds and generous donations of land, materials and labor allowed for the construction of a new show barn and rodeo arena with bleachers behind the new Katy High School building. That facility was destroyed by fire in 1963 and rebuilt with the help of the school district. The new arena and show barn were later named in honor of Robinson, who retired in 1972 and died in 1986. Katy ISD built a new L.D. Robinson pavilion and rodeo arena in 2004 at the same location.

The Katy ISD FFA and rodeo programs have received district, state and national recognition. This 3-day event is so important locally that a

school holiday was observed on the Friday of the show until the late 1980s. Today the FFA program is directed by many teachers at all six high schools. Since 2003, the rodeo has been coordinated by the KISD FFA Livestock Show and Rodeo As sociation, Inc., a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation. With the support of the Lions Club, Knights of Columbus, VFW Post #9182 and many volunteers, each year the event raises money to help fund the FFA programs and local charities.

The livestock show and rodeo havegrown into entertaining family events featuring animals raised by local youth, professional cowboys and lots of fun. A great carnival is also set up at the rodeo grounds. This year the event takes place on Feb. 25 –27. For more information, visit www.katyrodeo.org.