My husband, James, and I are in the horse industry. We have horses and we love horses. It is our livelihood. He trains, we show, and we both work in web development and promotions in the horse industry through our business, RanchForeman. He also is a roper, a tiedown roper to be specific. We have a very unique network of friends and professional contacts that share our interests and that also want to help out a good cause. My husband and I put our heads together and thought that we could make a difference in the MS community, and we would do it though putting on an event with which we were familiar.
We had the perfect venue in mind. Through a work project, we met a generous man that recently put in a new private facility in the San Antonio area to raise his own bloodline of horses to train and market as roping horses and barrel horses. Another tiedown roping fan. What a perfect fit!
Stan Sigman of Namgis Quarter Horses was instantly interested in using his facility to raise money for MS. James and I were willing to do whatever it took to put on the event and bring the money in.
“My good friends, James and Tonni O'Brien, have personal experience with Multiple Sclerosis. When they approached me regarding a charitable event to benefit the MS Center of South Texas, I thought it would be a great opportunity to raise awareness for the MS Center as well as support the great sport of Tiedown,” Sigman said.
While we went into this with a “If you build it, they will come” attitude and the realization that this would be A LOT of work, we knew a few things needed to happen to make this great. First, we imagined this event as if we were simply an attendee and asked ourselves what it would take to be an event to write home about. We needed a great facility, good food, a mid-sized crowd, an entertaining announcer, good weather, some good door prizes, and most importantly, head-liner performers.
We already had a great venue. Lord willing, we would have the weather. Local restaurants could supply the good food. We set our ticket price so that our crowd size would remain under 500. We brought a fabulous rodeo announcer out of retirement to announce the event.
Ok, so now we needed the best tiedown ropers in the industry. How do we get that done? Show them the money and get on the phone! James started calling professional cowboys. He was determined that this should be an event that the best in the industry couldn’t turn down. By asking lots of questions and getting feedback from the ropers, he knew what it would take to get them here. Then, it was time to get the money. Enter: sponsors.
Sponsors made this event possible. By bringing in the top cowboys, we knew we could bring in the crowd. It would be a unique crowd – a rodeo fan group of about 400-500 people that had a passion for tiedown roping. And that spoke to the sponsors to which we presented the idea of the event. It was work, and we were told no a few times. But with continued determination, we had a title sponsor and ten $1500 sponsors. They made it a $10,000 added event, while also giving a trophy saddle and buckles to the winners. These types of prizes were a big draw for the competitors. This event was going to happen!
It was time for our promotional expertise. News releases went out to get coverage in the trade publications. Professional posters, fliers and invitations went out to our cowboys, spectators, sponsors and each piece referenced the Web site where people could go to get more information. We got involved with Dr. Gazda’s MS Center of South Texas. The director, Janet Kaufman, jumped in with both feet and helped spread the word. Volunteer, Debbie Linck, arranged local media coverage, capturing a radio spot with radio personality Katrina Curtis for Janet, James and myself. Buzz was flying and we were enjoying ourselves!
Volunteers were lined up. Janet brought volunteers to represent the MS community. We recruited the arena help and sponsor hospitality. These volunteers were key to the success of this event. We were sure to put the right person in the right place, where they could excel at their job.
Several trips were made out to the venue to ensure that all bases were covered. The team at Namgis Quarter Horses was at the top of their game and everything was on schedule to happen as planned.
The evening prior to the event was an anxious time, to say the least. (Just writing that sentence and remembering that time made my stomach flip a little!) We did everything we could do to prepare and went home to try to get some sleep.
The day of the event was amazing. God was smiling on us that day. We woke to find a cool morning that was going to warm up to a beautiful day. The stock was ready for competition. Over 50 volunteers were ready to work hard. The sponsors were there to represent their businesses. The cowboys showed up and were impressed with the beautiful facility. Former NFR Champions Monty Lewis and Fred Whitfield were there to compete. Many NFR qualifiers and top 50 cowboys completed the rest of the lineup. The spectators were in their seats and ready to see some great roping.
The event started right at 1 p.m. with an invocation. The first cowboy rode into the box and the event was off! Spectators sat in the stands and enjoyed unlimited food and drinks. Some strolled around and looked at the Namgis horses on display. Forty-four cowboys roped two calves each. The top ten fastest times went on to a short-round. During the competition, door prizes were given away by drawing, including an autographed Clay Walker guitar. After the ten cowboys roped their third calf, the winner was announced. The First Annual Namgis Premier Champion was Blake Huckabee. The cowboys’ prize checks totaled over $31,000, but the most exciting part for us was presenting the check for the amount we raised for MS! At the time of the check presentation, we had raised $20,000. By the end of the day, we added an additional $7,000 to that total, for grand total of $27,000!!!!
It was almost surreal. We had done it! And when I say “we”, I mean over 25 sponsors, over 50 volunteers, 44 professional cowboys and their horses, 400 spectators and one good Lord. Thank you so very much to everyone who helped. You are no doubt the reason this was great!
We set our sites on accomplishing something we knew we could do. Our interests and gifts are quite different than the average American, and we are proud of that. So many wonderful fundraiser events are available. But I am the first to tell you that I am not a bike rider, or a marathon runner, or a baker. I am in the horse industry and I work with promotions. What is your expertise? You have one. I just know it! Each one of us can make a difference, no matter how large or small. Jump in a get your feet wet! Or in our case – dusty.
Stan Sigman, former CEO of AT&T Mobility and cowner of NAmgis Quarter Horses, presents check to Janet Kaufman, Director of the MS Center of South Texas.
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