Rodeo Time

Does every State have a GO Day?

We here have Go Texan Day, and I'm not sure if it's an entire statewide deal or if it's just a Houston thing... but it cracks me up every year.

We got this email at work the other day:

All NCI Staff:

Neighborhood Centers Inc. is pleased to announce that we will honor the city-wide tradition known as “Go Texan Day” and permit staff to wear western attire, including jeans, to work this Friday, February 27, 2009.
This celebration officially begins Rodeo season in our city, one of the largest of its kind in the world. The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo website describes “Go Texan Day” in the following way:

“It's been called a spirit. It's even been referred to as a fever. Very few individuals - if any - can explain it. People in Houston just know that there's something in the air, and they know that it arrives early in February and lasts about a month. They smell pit-smoked barbecue for miles. They see their friends wearing jeans and boots. And while driving to work, they pass hundreds of men and women on horseback, some even in wagons. Most Houstonians know exactly what's going on - they've been around it for many years…. It was in 1938 when the general manager of the Houston Chamber of Commerce initiated a motion to immerse the city in excitement for the Houston Fat Stock Show and Livestock Exposition. It wasn't, however, until the mid 1950s that the Go Texan movement was officially launched, as a result of an advertising agency promotion. In 1954, Archer Romero chaired the first Go Texan Committee, and members of the newly-established group encouraged everyone to wear Western clothes. They also distributed posters and other publicity material. This Go Texan spirit has expanded throughout the last four decades, partly due to the efforts of the Show's seven Go Texan committees. These committees help publicize the Show through numerous promotional events and Go Texan contests.”

I always love Go Texan Day... I don't know why - I don't go all out with it - I haven't even been to the rodeo in several years, but I love the excuse to wear jeans to the office and see what everyone else has chosen to wear. I laugh at those of us that don't really pull out the western wear - but get really tickled at those that do go all out. :-)

Happy Go Texan Day Ya'll!