The 120th Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo kicks off Friday but there's already lots of action before it begins.
Business owners started arriving for last minute preparations on Thursday.
"This is good bread and butter for us for a good part of the year," Texas Skillet's Laura Houchin said.
Crews were also hard at work in Cattle Barn No. 2. They put finishing touches on the recently renovated building. Besides the heavy duty work, there were also plenty of hugs going around.
"This is the only time of the year we see each other, so it's like a big reunion," said Starla Trammel who works with the horse crews.
But no one is more excited for the show to get underway than arena director Monty Kem. He spent most of his existence dreaming of the cowboy life.
"I showed when I was a young man," said Kem.
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For the past 28 years, Kem has been in charge of making shows all the shows go as planned in every building.
"We are the heartbeat of the stock show," said Kem.
Trammel said coming to the stock show is a tradition.
"We always do the grand entry with the American flag and the Texas flag," she said. "I got to carry those flags before and it's an honor."
And that's partly what the stock show is all about.
"Everybody works together hand-in-hand to make this happen, it's a family," said Kem.
Livestock will arrive on Friday, followed by the first rodeo taking center stage. The big parade is set for Saturday morning.
Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo
Jan. 15-Feb. 6
Will Rogers Memorial Center
3401 W. Lancaster Ave.
Fort Worth, TX 76107
www.fwssr.com
