Round Up and Best Bites

The logo for Rodeo Uncorked which Wine
Events falls under.  This was stamped on the
Double Barrel Sampler Cases that were full of
award winning wines from our Wine Competition. 
We helped load and distribute all 576 cases
which sold for $600 a piece.

This year Derek and I joined the Wine Events Committee for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.  The Wine Events Committee puts on a series of events to raise money for education and college scholarships.  The Houston Rodeo is organized and staffed by over 26,000 volunteers on over 100 committees.  Together we raise over $30 million a year through the production of the show, fundraising, auctions, and events.  Events like the Round Up and Best Bites Competition that we worked this past weekend. 

Round Up and Best Bites (RUBB) is a food and wine extravaganza!  We served over 300 wines and had 54 local restaurants serving up signature dishes.  Attendees had three hours to eat and drink as much as they can and vote on their favorites.  At the end of the night, the winning restaurants were awarded belt buckles.  There are no trophies given at the rodeo just big, shiny, ornate belt buckles.  I can't lie, I would love to get my hands on one!

My Committeeman's Badge

As part of the committee we are required to volunteer for 34 hours in order to "badge".  Badging is a big deal because it means you can attend the rodeo whenever you want and bring a guest for free.  The badge gets you into any concert, you just have to sit in an empty seat and move when and if the owner shows up.  Along with the badge we received a parking pass that allows us to park in any lot for free when we attend.  To us it seems like 34 hours is a small price to pay to come and go at the rodeo whenever we want.

We got our final hours to badge at RUBB by volunteering for 16 hours in one weekend.  It was incredibly exhausting!   We did get to try some of the food and wine during our break from emptying the dump buckets and cleaning up the cocktail tables.  This was the job they made all the Rookies do.  We got to know some really great people on the committee and we look forward to working with them again at the upcoming Wine Auction.  I accidentally erased all the pictures from my camera of us during the event so all I have are the pictures from setting up.

I thought these plates were so cool! 
It has a holder for your wine glass!

This is just half of Reliant Center where we had the event. 
In just a week this will be full of shops and livestock.

My job for setup was to drive around a golf cart full of wine
and place the cases on the specified tables.  The Junior Rodeo
Committee (kids 18-21) helped load up my cart.  I loved how
this guy was wore his hat.