Chisholm Trail Roundup brings joy to many
By Leesa Teale
LPR Publisher
Above, Saddle Bronc rider Jace Angus rides his horse on Thursday to win the Roughstock Challenge. Photo by Anthony Collins
The 52nd Annual Chisholm Trail Roundup is officially in the books. There are many thank yous that need to be given but the first needs to go to Mother Nature. At the beginning of the week the weather forecast didn’t look like she was going to cooperate, but after a storm blew through Wednesday into early Thursday morning, things got on track to open up as usual Thursday evening.
As a soft opening to the actual festival, the downtown Caldwell County Courthouse square served as host to the annual Kiwanis Cowboy Breakfast. Tables were full as patrons started rolling into the event at 6:30 a.m. Fresh scrambled eggs, hash browns, and thick cut bacon, were on the menu. One staple at an old fashioned chuck wagon breakfast is biscuits and gravy and the “bakers” estimated they would cook between 450-500 biscuits in cast iron skillets topped with hot coals before the breakfast was over.
Fast forward to 5 p.m. Thursday and Lockhart City Park became alive with carnival rides, rodeo riders and fabulous food. Thursday the Grand Marshall, Kenneth Sneed, was introduced and praised for his accomplishments as his proud family watched on. Sneed also rode in the CTR parade on Saturday morning. It was also “Teacher Appreciation Night” at the CTR. The Queen’s Coronation also took place with Lizzie Staton being crowned the 2025 CTR Queen.
On Thursday, the crowd got to see what the rodeo producer, Diamond Cross Rodeo Company, brought for the three day rodeo event. Taking to the arena Thursday was the Rough Stock Challenge featuring bulls and horses. Also Rider Kiesner and Bethany kept the crowed entertained with their tricks including fire lassoing and trick roping.
Also there were brave little future cowboy and cowgirls who tried their hand at Mutton Bustin’. Some were very excited to participate and some were wondering what they had actually been signed up to do.
After the rodeo, Thursday’s entertainment included Saltflat Blvd bringing a lively end to the activities for that evening. Come Friday, visitors piled in the stands to honor First Responders who not only provided service at the event but to all the citizens in the area everyday of the year.
Food was tasty from the vendors as lines were noticed at many booths serving items from hamburgers to tacos and more. But those who were over on the lawn of the Plum Creek Elementary School got the real good tastes of the festival. The Cookoff event was held Friday and finished up on Saturday. Those judges who volunteered on Friday had the pleasure of enjoying three different categories. Cook’s Choice, well it is exactly as it sounds, they cook can choose their specialty to be judged. The other two were salsa and bartender’s choice.
A full rodeo ensued after that in the arena followed by the Tejana group, EZ Band.
Saturday was a fun-filled packed day to end the CTR festival. First Lockhart National Bank once again hosted the Grand Parade. Entries included the traditional siren squealing fire trucks and police cars to many groups and organizations. Huge floats donning area queen’s promoting their respective events could be found as well. Some of the most crowd-pleasing floats were those spraying the parade watchers with water guns. On what was already a hot steamy morning the cool water was refreshing.
At the festival it was Military Appreciation Day. Where all military past and present were honored for their service to the country.
Back out at the cookoff tent the smells were floating in the air as beans, chicken, showmanship, ribs, chili and brisket were on the menu to be judged all afternoon. The parking lot across from the school was filled with chefs, pitmasters and cooks bringing the judges their favorite recipes.
If you have never judged an event like this, I will say that for a first time judge it was quite interesting. As a judge you are given instructions on how to score the item in front of you. Scoring from 1 to 10 you take into consideration appearance, taste, etc. When you see container after container of chicken being brought up to the judges tent, it becomes overwhelming thinking you have to try each one. Not the case, the entries are divided into equal categories amongst the judges present. Then the top selections are presented to final judges to choose the final winners. Gabe Medina, chairman of the Cookoff did a great job keeping people informed and the event organized with so many categories and cooks. Around 5:30 the winners were announced in each category.
The festival goers then were able to enjoy the food and rides at City Park when the gates opened at 5. Kid zone was also open for the youngsters who may not have wanted to enjoy the big kid rides.
Then the big event started again in the arena with the annual Stick Horse parade. Every year Linda Haden makes stick horses to sell and benefit a local charity. This year the horses were sold for only $15 and each purchaser was able to bring their horse to the arena for a ride around their handcrafted horse. This year the Caldwell County Food Bank was the recipient of the horse sales.
After the galloping commenced the rodeo came into full swing as did the Mutton Bustin.
After the rodeo, Nathan Colt Young took to the stage followed by headliner country artist Bart Crow.
Once the park closed, the Lockhart Chamber of Commerce put a pin into the event. Not is it just the long hours put in by so many volunteers, its the precision needed to oversee an event like this can be daunting. But on any given night you could find someone in a blue event staff t-shirt willing to give a huge hand. The Pegasus School also were very present with their hard working individuals.
