#26 - Glenn Carlton

If You Denton Know Glenn Carlton, now you do.

Glenn Carlton has been part of the North Texas Fair and Rodeo since 1985, first as a volunteer on the rodeo committee and, since 2005, as executive director. He grew up in Eugene, Oregon with deep family roots in southeastern Oklahoma, rode bulls, and landed in Denton through a beer sales territory that introduced him to the fairgrounds. Nearly four decades later, he leads one of the largest annual events in the county.

In this conversation, Glenn walks through the history of the fair, the 800 volunteers and 40 committees who make it run, and the tough years that shaped it, including seven days of rain in 2016 and a pandemic-era move to October. He shares the story of a $500 bonus that kept a young Cody Johnson from quitting music, explains the fair's roughly $22 million impact on Denton County, and gives a preview of the 98th annual event running August 21 through 30, plus what is ahead for the new Expo Center north of town.

Key Topics Covered

• Growing up in Oregon with family roots in the Kiamichi Mountains of southeastern Oklahoma
• Riding bulls, selling beer, and the path that led Glenn to Denton
• Learning the ropes under longtime rodeo chairman Weldon Burgoon
• How 800 volunteers and 40 committees put on a ten day event
• The Cody Johnson story and the $500 bonus he never forgot
• Surviving a rained out 2016 and pulling off the fair during COVID
• Scholarships, youth agriculture, and roughly $1 million a year back into the community
• The economic impact of the fair and the vision for the new Denton County Expo Center

Timestamps

00:00 Meet Glenn Carlton, executive director of the North Texas Fair and Rodeo
 01:42 Oregon roots, Oklahoma summers, and a fourth generation cattleman
 03:04 Riding bulls, a beer sponsorship, and the sales route that led to Denton
 04:56 Volunteering under Weldon Burgoon and what the early fair looked like
 09:07 From volunteer to executive director in 2005
 09:47 The Cody Johnson story and a $500 bonus
 12:57 Eight hundred volunteers, forty committees, and a generational tradition
 16:27 Hard lessons: seven days of rain in 2016 and running the fair during COVID
 19:15 Giving back through scholarships, youth agriculture, and community programs
 21:35 Economic impact on Denton and the county
 25:46 What is new for the 98th annual fair, August 21 through 30
 29:53 The land north of town and the future Expo Center

Denton Highlights

• North Texas Fairgrounds
• Frilly's Seafood Bayou Kitchen
• Weldon Burgoon's saddle shop on East Hickory
• University of North Texas Business College
• Denton County Youth Fair
• Denton County Livestock Association
• Blue Ribbon Club

Guest Links / Resources

• North Texas Fair and Rodeo: ntfair.com
• Volunteer sign up: ntfair.com, under the Get Involved tab
• 98th Annual North Texas Fair and Rodeo: August 21 through 30, gates at 5:30 p.m. weekdays and 1 p.m. weekends
• Advance tickets available online at ntfair.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

He started as a volunteer on the Denton Rodeo scene in 1985. Now he's the executive director of the North Texas Fair and Rodeo. And the 98th annual kicks off August 21st. Today I'm sitting down with Glenn Carlton. Denton's got it all. The food, the music, the art, and of course the people. And behind every corner, there's a story worth sharing. And that's what this podcast is all about. Denton's Best, one conversation at a time. I'm Brad, and this is If You Didn't Know, Now You Know. Welcome back to another episode of If You Didn't Know, sitting down with Glenn Carlton today, Executive Director of North Texas Fair and Rodeo. Really glad to have you today, Glenn. Thanks for having me. You bet. Thanks for taking the time. I know you're busy, really busy leading up to uh this year's Fair and Rodeo. So appreciate carving out a little time for me and uh just telling us more about what you've been doing. And I know you've been at it for what nearly four decades, but it's almost a hundred-year-old tradition at this time.

SPEAKER_01 1:08

Yeah, yeah, well, this is our 98th, so we'll, yeah, two years we'll be celebrating our hundredth. That'll be big. And uh I run into people around town now and they go, Oh, you you must be getting ready for the fair, you know. Well, I don't ever stop getting ready for the fair. Oh, that's a year round. It's a full-time job for myself and my staff. I mean, it it really is. It's year-round.

SPEAKER_00 1:26

I'm sure it is. I'm sure it is. Well, we're gonna dive into it and excited to hear about some of the things uh that that you've got planned for this year's fair, but uh want to get to know Glenn first a little bit more, and so kind of where you grew up and and kind of even how you got into this path at all. So where are you from?

SPEAKER_01 1:42

Well, I was I was born and and uh raised in Eugene, Oregon. Okay. My my parents were both southeastern Oklahoma. Okay, the Kayamishi Mountains, uh Tuscahoma is actually where they went to school and and and grew up. Uh they moved to Oregon as as a young couple and uh and raised their family there. Um it's a beautiful area. I spent a lot of summers back in southeastern Oklahoma, you know, with grandpa and uncles on the on the ranch. And uh I I remember as a teenager telling my family that that I I'm going back. That's that's where I belong, yeah. That's where I belong, that's home. And so I didn't quite make it back to the Chiamishis, but I got 30 miles away from the uh Oklahoma border.

SPEAKER_00 2:22

Yeah, yeah. Well, so in Eugene, did you did you do farming ranching or anything? I did.

SPEAKER_01 2:27

Uh uh we lived in town most of that time, but I always worked on area ranches and uh and farming, so I was always around hay harvest, silage harvest, working cattle, uh worked at the local sale barn, you know. So yeah, it's it's been you know, and I'm I'm a fourth generation cattleman. As far as I know, it goes back to my great-great-grandpa.

SPEAKER_00 2:48

Okay. Yeah. Well, we need to have my brother Brian in here to sit down. He he he would speak your language a little better than I do, probably. But uh I kind of grew up a little bit around it, but not like that. Uh so so you what drew you actually to Denton then originally?

SPEAKER_01 3:04

Well, and when I was uh I used to rodeo, I used to ride bulls. Okay, and I and I had a sponsor when I was riding bulls, uh a beer company. Uh and uh and I was kind of wanting to get back here, and so they they got me a job with a beer distributor in Dallas.

SPEAKER_02 3:17

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 3:17

And uh I actually thought I was gonna be a promoter for them, you know, and yeah, and go work these events and stuff like that. Well, uh with a surprise, they handed me a two-wheeler or a dolly and put me on beer trucks. So uh but I didn't quit them. I worked my way up, got into sales, which led me to Denton. I was actually awarded Denton as a sales territory, and that's that's where I where I found the fair.

SPEAKER_00 3:38

Oh, I see. Okay, but you kind of you kind of had that itch of doing kind of some promotion type work from the beginning almost, huh?

SPEAKER_01 3:45

Yeah, I was just I've kind of been a natural-born salesman. Yeah, you know, I was always able to sell um as a young guy. I used to have a Christmas tree lot and yeah, you know, kind of entrepreneurial uh spirit. And yeah, I think that mixed with agriculture makes it a perfect fit. Sure, of course.

SPEAKER_00 4:00

So so you were slinging beer around or distributing at least, and then uh is that when you got connected with with the North Texas Fair? I did.

SPEAKER_01 4:09

I actually started out as uh uh talked the beer company into being a sponsor with uh uh Pearl Lite was one of the brands that that I sold, Pearl and Pearl Lite, and we sponsored the old time fiddlers contest. Okay, that was on the center stage, which is a much bigger stage now. Yeah, um, but that was that was the first taste. It wasn't long after that that uh Dickie Fisher at Miller Denton uh recruited me to to come work for them. Okay, and so I took that same relationship and then the very next year it was uh the the the Miller Light Old Time Fiddlers Contest there. So and uh Miller Denton and Fisher 59 have been a sponsor ever since then. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:46

And so big big sponsor, yeah, a long time sponsor. So uh did did you begin kind of volunteering for for the association at that point?

SPEAKER_01 4:56

I did. I I I I latched on with uh with Weldon Burgoon and the rodeo committee. Uh Weldon was running the rodeo at that time. Um it was just uh I probably took about a year off uh uh, you know, uh with the in the beer business from from my my lifestyle of of ranching and rodeo. I was away from it, and it was an opportunity for me to to reattach myself to my roots and be around rodeo again. And so yeah, one thing led to another and I was fortunate enough to get on welding's committee. Okay. Well, back to the rodeo that what was your event?

SPEAKER_00 5:27

What did you like to do? I rode bulls. Oh, you rode bulls, right?

SPEAKER_01 5:30

I rode bulls the longest. I I did about everything in high school, but I I later on I just stuck to the bulls.

SPEAKER_00 5:35

Well, we'll tease ahead a little bit. I think I know we're gonna talk about Cody Johnson, and he was a bull rider, so y'all had a lot in common probably from the beginning, but we'll come back to that story. I'm anxious to hear it. But what were those early days like uh kind of working with Weldon and at the at the North Texas Fort Fair and Rodeo?

SPEAKER_01 5:52

Uh it was, you know, we all worked full-time jobs, and then we'd go out there and you know and work the rodeo performance that night, you know, and you get home at midnight and you know, and then you're back up the next day. So it we it was it was strenuous, you know, especially on I had a young family and and you know, and a a new wife, and and uh it wasn't easy, but the fair was like five days then. I think we went Thursday through Sunday. Um and uh but I I remember the you know the grounds, there the the the area where the main stage is now and the concession stands was gravel. The exhibit building it wasn't it wasn't air conditioned. Uh we had about half the livestock barns that are there now. Um but uh it was yeah, it was a we've we've come a long way.

SPEAKER_00 6:36

Now for those that don't know, and I might be one of them, is that is that a is that city property or county property?

SPEAKER_01 6:41

No, it's privately owned by our nonprofit.

SPEAKER_00 6:42

Oh, the I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_01 6:43

Our Texas State Fair Association, so 501c3.

SPEAKER_00 6:46

And have owned it for decades.

SPEAKER_01 6:48

Uh we yeah, actually the land was we purchased the land in in uh 1946 from uh Dr. Kimbrough for five dollars. I see. So it was basically a gift, yeah. But it on the deed, it was a purchase. So we've had it since then.

SPEAKER_00 7:03

He was very generous. I I know he's he he did something in Chrome as well, and he's done several things where he he'd given back to the community in different ways.

SPEAKER_01 7:10

Yeah, okay. We actually inducted him into our hall of fame last year. We started our hall of fame and had our first four inductees, and he was one of those doing those inductees.

SPEAKER_00 7:19

Very cool. I didn't know that, I didn't know that history. That's really neat. So the uh but over the years, obviously we've made a lot of improvements to kind of what you're describing to the to the fairgrounds and kind of what what amenities are there. Haven't improved those bathrooms too much, though.

SPEAKER_01 7:33

Well, we've added, we've added something. We've added a lot because our crowds grew and we had to to to add to them. And you know, we put new paint on them every year, and you know, we do what we can, but it's they get the job done. They get the job done, and you know, and we're gonna talk about it later, you know. When you're thinking, well, we're gonna move to a new facility one of these days. How much do you want to invest in? Yeah, much do you want to invest? Yeah, yeah. But we do want them clean and comfortable as best we can. We have added the number of restrooms to handle our crowds.

SPEAKER_00 7:59

Yeah, well, I I bet working with Weldon was was a uh was a treat. And I mean I know he's just a Denton legend and had his saddle shop there on East Hickory. And what what was it like working with with Weldon?

SPEAKER_01 8:10

Oh, it was great. I mean his whole the whole committee just loved him, you know. And uh you just the the one thing I remember uh about Weldon is you know he always greeted everybody with a handshake and a smile. Uh he didn't you know you just felt like his friend.

SPEAKER_00 8:27

You did, yeah. I didn't really know him, but I I the few times I interacted with him, it was like he he seems like he knows me. I yeah, I know I don't think he did, but he just acted that way.

SPEAKER_01 8:35

Yeah, that was him.

SPEAKER_00 8:36

That was him special. Yeah. Well, so it's changed a lot since then. You've got a little more staff now than probably they did in those early days. But what what does your staffing look like for for the association?

SPEAKER_01 8:50

Well, there's there's three full-time. We've got we've got a part-time in maintenance, and then uh I've got uh myself, my assistant, uh Allison Hobold, and then uh our uh media and marketing manager is is Hannah Figg. Um and both of those, they're both full-time. And uh both did a great job.

SPEAKER_00 9:07

So when did when did you move from volunteering out of beer distribution to into into this?

SPEAKER_01 9:13

Well it kind of evolved like this. I think about 89 was when Weldon stepped away and I became the chairman of the rodeo committee. Um I think I was asked to serve on the board of directors starting in 1990. Uh stayed on the board of directors uh as vice president up until I was hired in 2005. So I went from volunteer to employee in 2005.

SPEAKER_00 9:33

Okay. So nearly 20 years now doing that. Yeah. Okay. Wow. Well, I know you've you've seen seen a lot uh uh you know through your years. Do you have a favorite kind of memory of of what you've experienced over the years out there?

SPEAKER_01 9:47

Well, yeah, you brought up Cody Johnson, yeah, you know, and and that that that's probably one of my favorite memories, and and it's a great story. I first hired Cody uh to play a fundraiser for a friend of mine that was running for constable. Yeah, and he cost a thousand dollars. Okay, and we were thinking, oh well, that's a lot of money for, you know, what if nobody comes and we, you know, we're gonna lose a thousand dollars.

SPEAKER_00 10:08

Where's Cody from?

SPEAKER_01 10:09

Uh Cody's from Huntsville.

SPEAKER_00 10:10

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 10:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:11

All right.

SPEAKER_01 10:12

So anyway, we hired Cody, and first thing he did was stick out his hand and say, Man, I I I ride bulls. He knew I raised bulls, I raised bucking bulls. And uh he says, Hey, I'm a bull rider. He goes, but this is what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna stick to the music.

SPEAKER_02 10:23

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_01 10:24

And uh so uh actually uh brought him to the fair and put him on a support stage at the back. And we did that for a couple of years. And the second year, I mean, he had a crowd back there. He held probably a thousand people. Is that right? And we were still selling hot dogs and food and beer, and and I could just the the it was like a slot machine. Cash ready. So I thought, man, this kid needs a bonus. Yeah. So I gathered up three or four executive board members and and they agreed. Let's give him a little bonus. So I went to accounting and I got $500 cash. Okay. Put it in an envelope, put his and Brandy's name on it, his wife, took it down and handed it to Brandy. I said, Hey, this is for you and Cody. This is not for the band, this is not for, you know, to go pay. This is for you guys. What year was this? It was probably 2012, 13. Okay. Somewhere right in there. And so the next morning, Cody's texting me and saying, You didn't have to do that, man. I would I really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_02 11:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:14

So he started to take off after that. Right. And the next year I put him on the main stage, which the which was a promotion. Still not a great night. He got Wednesday night. But he texted me and said, Hey, I'm here. And so I went up there, he was sound checking, he was tuning the guitar, and I went up there and shook his hand, gave him a hug, and he goes, He don't have any idea what that 500 bucks meant. He said, He said, We were getting ready to quit.

SPEAKER_00 11:33

Oh man.

SPEAKER_01 11:34

He goes, Look at me now, I got a bus. You know, and so and anyway, one of the girls was just a baby, and I go, I went in a bus and they were giving the baby a bottle, and and uh, and uh so it after that it we tried to get him back. I mean, he really just took off. Yeah, and then in 2016, we put an offer out there which was we knew was way less than what he was making, but it was all we could afford with the size of the fairgrounds. Right. You know, we are limited.

unknown 11:57

Right.

SPEAKER_01 11:58

So we put an offer out there, and and uh Howie, his manager, uh he didn't want to take it, uh, but Cody talked him into it. They came and played a Thursday night show for us. Yeah, we had 6,000 people in front of that stage. We I mean, beer did great, food did great, rye, everything. It was a phenomenal night. Cody steps off the stage, sticks out his air, points at me, and goes, Hey buddy, we're even. We're even don't call me again. We're good.

SPEAKER_00 12:24

Wow, what that what a story. That's really, really cool.

SPEAKER_01 12:28

And so when I see him today, he still says, I'll never forget what you did. I'll never forget it.

SPEAKER_00 12:33

Well, for for him to tell you that, that he was just right on the verge of saying, I you know, maybe I can't do this full time and that make that kind of difference. Wow, I bet he doesn't forget that. What a neat story. Wow, I want to just talk more of those kind of stories, but yeah, that's that's really cool. Well, and you've got a lot of lot of support, obviously, volunteers and and and community support to help pull this off. What what does that look like?

SPEAKER_01 12:57

Well, we're it's it's volunteer-based. We've got uh over 800 volunteers. Um, you don't have to be a member of the Fair Association to be a volunteer, but we've got 641 paid members. I I think that's a record. Um and so and that's all part of it. There's 40 different committees, and those committees all have a chairman or co-chairman of those committees, and so they run those areas. I don't run them, you know. Um I get involved if I'm asked or if I have to, but but most of the time it's still a community event. And uh that those 800 people and those 40 uh those 40 chairmen, they put the event on.

SPEAKER_00 13:35

And they take that job serious, right? Oh, they do. I I remember Lane Brewer working with him uh back in my banking days, and yeah, you know, he I don't know if he was the chairman or he was just involved in whatever. What's the what's the committee of the finance probably finance?

SPEAKER_01 13:48

Yeah, yeah, he was over gates.

SPEAKER_00 13:50

Yeah, gates. So we would run around, he he'd wrote me in to help him and we'd run around collecting cash and taking it.

SPEAKER_01 13:56

He's still on my board and still helping. Yeah, he he's when he uh he he retired from banking and he actually bought a house in Colorado. And uh so he spent a couple of summers up there. Uh it took like five people to replace him. I'm not kidding. Yeah, I'm like, how'd he do all that?

SPEAKER_00 14:12

You know, so let's get lane back down here. Wow, well that I no doubt to take to put on what you you do out there for that 10 days, it takes a lot of people. And like you say, it's not just those 10 days, a lot of work leading up to it. Oh, yeah, for sure. So that's that's really special that uh you got that many people that bought into it over the years that that are ready to have a lot of.

SPEAKER_01 14:33

Yeah, I mean, they're they're getting ready. We're getting ready right now. Um we got what the workhorse committee, which you know, those are the guys that they they do electrical, they do uh a lot a lot of the high stuff, you know, just just construction type stuff. You know, they've been out there for a month on the weekends already, you know. Um our flag girls, our fairgrounders, they've been coming every Tuesday night for the last month, you know, getting their routine uh down and and uh and getting their new members used to used to it. And and a lot of people, a lot of committees are already meeting and and actually getting when we're getting the grounds ready. Tents are already up, yeah. Uh temporary bleachers come Monday, they start going up, you know.

SPEAKER_00 15:09

So this so this this episode is gonna drop on August uh I think 14th, but we're here we are at the end of July. So just as a point of reference, we're about two weeks talking two weeks before this thing drops. But yeah, you're you're starting way out in advance, right? Yes. You have to. And I know a lot of these, well, I don't know for sure, I would imagine a lot of these volunteers, you know, now you're seeing their kids and their grandkids from the volunteers you've had over the decades kind of get involved, right?

SPEAKER_01 15:36

Yeah, it's very generational. A lot of families, it just stays in it, you know. Um, and I think that's one of the things that's so special about it is that it is, you know, and then uh a lot out of those 800 people, it's it's a reunion for them. Yeah. You know, it's uh one time a year that they see those faces again. That's right, you know, and and uh it's just it's a great community event. It's so it's so much fun for our volunteers.

SPEAKER_00 15:59

Well, so if if if somebody's listening and they want to get involved in either as a volunteer or in and just to be a part of the association, what's the best way to kind of get involved?

SPEAKER_01 16:08

Uh two ways. I mean, if you you know there's 40 board chairs, or not board chairs, but committee chairs out there, right? You know, so if you know any of those people, just let them know and they'll they'll they'll get you in, put you to work. Or you can go on our website, ntfair.com, and there's a button that says get involved that leads you to a a volunteer submission page.

SPEAKER_00 16:26

Yeah. Well, so what's what's been some of maybe the the hardest parts of the job or or the hardest lessons you've learned over these 40 years being involved over there?

SPEAKER_01 16:36

Probably is to you know, don't ever expect that you're gonna be successful every year.

SPEAKER_00 16:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:43

Um we had some great years. We had a really good run from 2010 through 2015. 2016 we had seven out of nine days of rain. Yeah. And I mean that just that killed the event. Sure. Um and it kills you financially. Um and of course, we you know, we we from time to time we'll buy rain insurance. That year I happened to buy rain insurance, but when you buy rain insurance, you buy it for a certain amount of time. The more time you buy it for, if you add an hour on the end or an hour on the beginning, the more it costs. More expensive. Or the less amount of rain. So if you say I'm gonna do a half inch from six to ten, which is probably about what I it gets dialed in that specific. It gets dialed in that specific. The insurance companies are really good at it, they're better than we are. And um, so that particular year, seven out of the nine days it rained, and of course I had board members saying, Well, you had an insured, didn't you? And I said, Yeah, our insurance kicked in at seven o'clock, it stopped raining at six every day. But it was enough to keep people away. Right. So, and then after 16, you know, it it took a while to we were still didn't have our momentum back because when you have a bad year like that, you lose momentum, yeah, you know, and then COVID. Right. COVID came, and that was really tough. We did put the event on. We postponed State Fair of Texas canceled, so we jumped into their dates. We moved from August to October.

SPEAKER_00 17:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:58

And uh we got it done by the hair of our chinny chin chin. Yeah, and the governor's executive orders hit just right on timing. Uh the governor at that point, the executive orders allowed mayors to grant permission for events to happen. You know, we had regul we had rules, we had we had to follow 50% attendance, you know, 50% in the rodeo arena, um, stuff like that. But we had the event. Yeah. And it's a good thing we did. It was financially successful. It wasn't a home run, but it was base hit. Yeah. And so, and then 2021 when things came back, record year. 22 record year. Nice. So anyway. I think, yeah, I bet having going through some tough years, that's what humbles you.

SPEAKER_00 18:37

Yeah, no doubt. So I bet having it in October that year, though, was pretty nice, weather-wise, right? I mean, compared to the city of the city.

SPEAKER_01 18:44

Yeah, there's a lot of people that say, hey, we want to move to October all the time. You know, well, you know, the state fair doesn't cancel every year. It's kind of that. But the second weekend that year, it got really cold. I mean, I called the house and told my wife, I said, Man, you gotta bring my my big coat. You know, I gotta have a I gotta have the ranch coat.

SPEAKER_00 18:59

Yeah, you know, so it's never gonna be perfect, right? Yeah. Well, I want to talk about uh kind of what the fair gives back. And I know uh it is a nonprofit, right? And so what what's kind of what's your purpose, what's your cause, and what do you what do you give to and how do you support the community?

SPEAKER_01 19:15

Well, it uh our our logo has youth, agriculture, and community on it. So uh we're not necessarily just strapped to youth and and agriculture, but is it's still our primary focus. Um we do scholarships, we donate the use of the facility uh to 4-H FFA groups or really any other group that proves a need, and we feel like it's gonna benefit the community. Um and just uh we and then we support uh purchasing a lot of youth fair projects um and uh uh the Grand Champion Steer Syndicate um and even other you know some of our local school districts will reach out from time to time, we'll we'll help with programs there. But uh us combined with the youth fair in in the spring, right? With uh Denton County Livestock Association, Blue Ribbon Club, all three combined is about a million dollars a year back in the community. Wow. So we're pretty we're we're pretty proud of that.

SPEAKER_00 20:08

Is that county focused or or what kind of geographic?

SPEAKER_01 20:12

The youth fair is county focused. The the North Texas Fair and Rodeo is more of a regional focus.

SPEAKER_00 20:16

Yeah, okay. Yeah, so it extends beyond just the county levels.

SPEAKER_01 20:19

Yeah, I think it's a county first, and then if we need to reach out, like you know, if you don't have a an applicant for a certain scholarship that can't be found in the county, then we'll reach out to the to the bordering counties. Um I know last year we gave a uh the Walt Garrison um scholarship to a to a kid, I think, from Erath County. But you have to be a rodeo athlete to get that one. So there wasn't very many rodeo athletes that applied. Yeah. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:43

Well, that's kind of what I was wondering. Is you know, obviously the demographics of the county are changing and there's a lot more growth out in our rural parts of the county, and so yeah, are you seeing that shift happening um in in real time?

SPEAKER_01 20:55

We are. Um, but I also see a lot of kids, you know, uh even in the Denton district that are that have projects that are keeping them at the school barns. They want to get involved, they want to still want to be involved in that agriculture. And I and I think the fair and the youth fair, you know, can can keep that agricultural message alive just by the the number one, the the shows, the exhibition of the animals, you know, um, and then uh number two the education of of of all of it. Um so I and I think it's important because our our future in agriculture is we gotta feed more people with less land, yeah, is where we're headed. Yeah. And and that's what we gotta, that's what our kids are gonna have. That's the challenge the next generation's got.

SPEAKER_00 21:34

So for sure. Well, and it has a big this the whole event has a big impact, you know, obviously in the community and and I I guess economic development or drivers is what I kind of want to talk about. What what do you do you have some met some numbers, some metrics about kind of the economic development? We did.

SPEAKER_01 21:51

We had a we had a study done in 2008, and then we had another study done in 2021. Uh the last study was done by uh UNT's business college. They did the last one through PDI. And the economic impact on the city of Denton, $12 million. Economic impact on Denton County, $22 million. Wow. Now that's you know, they got different formulas. That that's total spending, that's uh employment of of our employees. That's the that's the money that the jet the fair generates, that the fairground generates through other event rentals.

SPEAKER_00 22:23

Right.

SPEAKER_01 22:24

Uh everybody that buys gas, eats at a restaurant, stays in a hotel, the the total package was the was the $22 million on Denton County. Wow.

SPEAKER_00 22:31

So it it really moves the needle, it's a big deal. Yeah. But I mean the largest kind of single event of the year in in this community, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:39

And like uh we are a qualifier, and our PRCA rodeo is you you've got to come through our rodeo if you want to qualify for Fort Worth. Um so you know, I've got uh one side of me says, well, that's gonna cost me more in in stock. I've got to rent the rope and calves and the steers because I'm gonna get a lot more contestants.

SPEAKER_02 22:56

Right.

SPEAKER_01 22:56

But then the chamber of commerce side of me says, Well, you want those people coming to town, so it's worth it.

SPEAKER_02 23:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:01

So I mean we could have opted out being that qualifying rodeo, but we didn't because we want those people coming through then.

SPEAKER_00 23:07

And you don't say chamber of commerce just cliche. I mean, you you serve actually served as as the uh president there and yeah on the board for many years, right? Yeah, I was the board chair in 2017. Or board chair, not president. Yeah, very cool. Well, so you typically line up what 30, 35 acts. I do. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's just kind of the organizing, how how far in advance you have to start trying to line up.

SPEAKER_01 23:29

On the bigger acts, I'm a year out. Yeah. Uh right now I'm already considering who I'm I'm getting ready to go after for for for 27. And uh probably before the fair opens or during the fair, I will I will probably send some offers out for 2027 on on the main stage. Um, you know, our biggest concerns are the two Saturday nights, two Friday nights, the Thursday night, the Sundays, the big, the big attendance days.

SPEAKER_00 23:52

Right.

SPEAKER_01 23:52

And so we and we'll get that stuff wrapped up by January, and then we'll start filling in the support stage and those other days, you know. Um by April we're we're finished, we're done. It's all booked. And I've got a great chairman over entertainment now, uh, Rodney Cagle. Is uh he he's really in tune to to the music scene and and Texas Red Dirt stuff and uh and a fan of the music, and so he's helping me book uh book the acts now. He and I book the main stage together uh with Gary Ozier out of Dallas. Uh he's our booking agent that we use. Gary books Winstar, he books Billy Bobs.

SPEAKER_00 24:26

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 24:27

So it's kind of a you know, uh sometimes if you need to swap dates or share serious artists or whatever, Gary makes that happen. And then then Rodney's the that he's the one that tips the needle. He'll call me and say, What do you think of this one? You know, and I'll I like that one better than that one. And I do the same thing with him. Right. And so uh I value his opinion greatly. Yeah. And his help.

SPEAKER_00 24:47

Yeah. Well, and you want to balance out those big names with kind of some of those young Cody Johnson types, right? The rising stars or those that that may be.

SPEAKER_01 24:56

We've always said we catch them on the way up and catch them on the way down. And those that don't know, you know, the music industry, you know, the the best you can be is in a if you're an arena act, you know, if you can sell out, you know, Globe Life like Cody did. Right. Good job, Cody. Yeah, you know, sell out Globelife or Jerry World, those, you know, that you're at the peak of your industry if you can do that. But not everybody ever gets there. But we let them get there, and then if they, you know, if they ever come back down, we're ready to grab them again.

SPEAKER_00 25:22

Well, so maybe like a diamond role, for example. It's like a perfect example. Yeah, who's on the uh the docket for this year, right? Yeah, that's pretty cool. So, what what yeah, I mean, you've got lots of big good names this year. What are you most most excited about this year?

SPEAKER_01 25:34

Well, right now our opening act is Braxton Keith, you know, new red dirt uh uh Texas artist, and and he's actually he's outselling everybody. He's he's over half of our advanced sales right now. Is that I think it's gonna be a pretty big show.

SPEAKER_00 25:46

Yeah, yeah, very cool. Well, really excited about it. So tell tell us more about what's in store this year. What can we expect? Uh we got it August 21st through the 30th, is that right?

SPEAKER_01 25:55

August 21st through the 30th. Uh uh during the week we open at open at 5 30 uh weekends. We open at 1. Uh something that's a little bit different is our currency. In the past, uh, you would have to purchase a load money onto a magic money card. It was a current, and then you'd spend that, and your credits would come off of that card at the fair. Uh, that's still available if you want to do that. Um, but if you don't want to do that, we can also we're also accepting uh credit cards. So so both types. No cash on the grounds, but uh magic money or major credit card. So it would make it a lot easier on a little easier to get around there, yeah. Yeah, so that's one of the biggest things. Got some great attractions hired. Uh we've got a uh co-serv sponsored for us, the the the birdman of Las Vegas, who brings in a lot of raptors and rare birds and does a show and some parrots and stuff. It's a great show. Um we've got uh Toyota sponsored Swifty Swine or uh Swifty Swine, it's uh the swimming pig and the pig races. You know, we've got that. And then we've got uh uh a dinosaur takeover, which is a great show and uh ex and uh exhibit for kids that love dinosaurs.

SPEAKER_00 27:01

Yeah, so it I'm sure it comes as some surprise that there there's still some people who've never been to the fair and rodeo, right? Yeah, yeah. I mean, so what do you say that? I mean, give it how do you give us a shot, right?

SPEAKER_01 27:15

Oh yeah, yeah. And I still run to people all the time that I've been in dent my whole life. I didn't know you were there. I'm like, well, how do you know we're spending a lot of money on advertising? How am I not now am I not getting how am I not reaching you?

SPEAKER_00 27:24

Yeah. But you you you've got uh I'm sure a broader reach than just our our local community, but yeah, it it is it's really interesting that there's people that are just right here that are never, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:36

Yeah, we buy a lot of DFW, TV, radio. Um, Dallas Fort Worth uh media is it's not cheap because it it reaches a lot of people. Um so yeah, we do we do expand out and we do some billboards and then of course uh social media and and and internet stuff is just a whole you know a whole new world. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:55

Tell me the name of your longtime radio or your rodeo announcer out there. Terry Starns. Terry Starnes, okay. He does a great job. And his his prayers at the beginning of each rodeo, I mean, they're just fantastic. I mean poetic.

SPEAKER_01 28:08

He does a great job. And and and then your your uh your clown? Uh the clown is is Johnny Dudley. We had Rudy Burns for many, many years. Okay, that's who I'm thinking of.

SPEAKER_00 28:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:17

Rudy uh is from Mississippi and got to the age where he didn't want to travel much. So he just does a few rodeos right around home now. And uh we've got backflip Johnny Dudley now. Okay and uh Johnny's done a great job. Yeah, and uh Johnny will be the first to tell you that Rudy was tough shoes to fill, but he's done a good job and filled them well.

SPEAKER_00 28:34

Yeah, well, that's always fun. The rodeos are fun, and uh all everything you got going on out there. People people need to, if you've never given a shot, give it a shot. It it can be hot. There's times where it can be really hot, but uh you know it's fun nonetheless, right? So and so uh just get tickets on the website, or I mean, lots of probably lots of options here.

SPEAKER_01 28:53

Yeah, you can you can buy your advanced ticket on the website, which is you know, if there's a line at uh uh at our kiosk at the gates, you can just you walk right past those lines, they'll scan you and you're in. Yeah. Um or you can you can use one of the kiosks at the gate. Uh you'll you'll just punch in two adults, whatever whatever your party is, two adults, one kid, and a QR code will print out for you, and then they scan that and you're in. Cool. And then you can actually reload that QR code if you wish with magic money, or you can use your credit card.

SPEAKER_00 29:18

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 29:19

Well, there we go. We got all that out of the way. Uh I think buying advance online is probably the the slickest way. That way, if you get there at seven o'clock on a Saturday, you're not gonna have to wait in line. You'll walk right in. Yeah, there you go.

SPEAKER_00 29:30

There's a pro tip for you. Well, want to talk uh kind of closing up really towards the future. Um obviously, like you say, a couple couple years away from big hundred-year anniversary, which will be, I'm sure, a big event. But uh really want to talk about the the land that you now own north of town and and kind of what's planned, not just with with the association, but with what the county's planning out there. What can you tell us about that?

SPEAKER_01 29:53

Well thanks to your family, we we were able to purchase that land in in 2014. I believe we bought that from from your family, the original 109 acres. Um and then since then, Denton County has purchased about 600 acres all around it. Wow for the new Expo Center. Okay. Didn't realize they had acquired that much around it. Yeah, yeah, about six hundred totally we're we're pushing in 800 acres right now. So we're in the final final modes of land acquisition um and uh getting ready to start uh some land use planning studies uh uh uh pretty soon on that. Um in 23 uh we did get legislation passed at state legislature that allows Denton County to collect a two percent hotel motel tax countywide to fund the new Expo Center.

SPEAKER_02 30:36

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 30:36

So that tax has been collected since then. So throughout the county. Throughout the county. So that nest egg's building up.

unknown 30:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:42

And so those things have happened, and so we're it's exciting. Uh I know people say I've been hearing it for, you know, I've been hearing that for 10 years. I've been hearing that for well, uh it takes trust me, I've been working on it for 30 years. So so yeah, your your 10 years is not anything. I think it's nothing, but it's happening.

SPEAKER_00 30:59

Yeah. What uh what's the I mean expos when you say expo center, it's so it's a lot of what you've got now just on a grander scale, and then kind of the expo center, like what's the big vision?

SPEAKER_01 31:09

Uh the first concept design that we that we drew was uh actually Denton County provided a grant to the fair association to go get to design what we what we wanted for the fair. Um and so what we had was three buildings uh all climate controlled in excess of a hundred thousand square feet. Wow. One of them was an 8,000 seat arena that would house our rodeo as well as other events. Um and that'd be a game changer. Yeah, basically the other two buildings were just multi-purpose. You know, you could you could do um uh home and garden shows, RV shows, trade shows, or even use sports in there. Basketball, put courts in and out, just a multi-purpose. Um, and so that was what the fair wanted. And now eventually when we get down to it, I think it'll be a hybrid of that and what the county needs and what studies have been done to show what's needed to best serve our community. Wow. And so I think that that hybrid will I can't wait to see it. I'm excited to see it.

SPEAKER_00 32:00

Love to fast forward and just be in there, right? Yeah, sure would. But it takes a lot of a lot of time, a lot of planning, and to get that done right and and saving up some dollars, it sounds like, as well. So well, excited to hear about that. And and I I I believe it's gonna happen, right? It's just a matter of time. That's right. Keep the faith. Know that there's a lot of good people behind the scenes pushing and working to make it happen. So we'll encourage you to keep doing it. Well, uh, we talked about how people get involved, would just beyond that. Let's just get a big turnout for you, right? That's right. Yeah, all the all those shows and rodeos and so much good stuff. And um, well, want to kind of wrap it up. What what do you got a favorite restaurant, place you like to go here in town? You know, that you like want to give a shout out to?

SPEAKER_01 32:43

Yeah, I'll give a shout-out to frillies, it's right around the corner from the fairgrounds. It's a great little restaurant. That cage and combo is where you go back there.

SPEAKER_00 32:50

That blackened catfish, that T Fe, it's really good. Uh frilly's is great. Yeah. Okay. Well, you also uh for for jumping on, I'm sure you got lots of you don't probably wear ball caps as much as you do cowboy hats, but you get to pick a hat from where I go.

SPEAKER_01 33:05

I'll take the uh the home of happiness perfect right there.

SPEAKER_00 33:09

There you go. Well, Glenn, thank you again so much for for joining us and for just the great work you do out there. It's it's a it is really an event and uh just just something the whole community can be proud of, you know, that we that you put on out there. And you know, again, for local folks, we probably are just a little spoiled that it's just right there, you know, down the street in our backyard, no big deal, but it it is a big deal.

SPEAKER_01 33:32

So, well, thanks for having me. Yeah, I really appreciate it. And y'all come out.

SPEAKER_00 33:37

There you go. Well, if somehow you didn't know Glenn Carlton before today, now you do. Thanks for joining us.