Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo announces new parade grand marshals
HOUSTON - The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo announced the new grand marshals to lead the 2020 Downtown Rodeo Parade.
Former Houston Dash Captain Kealia Ohai was originally announced as the grand marshal, but in January she was traded to the Chicago Red Stars.
“We were excited to have Kealia lead our 2020 Downtown Rodeo Parade and appreciated her willingness to be a part of our annual tradition,” said Joel Cowley, Rodeo president and CEO. “Kealia has made a tremendous contribution to the Houston community, and we hope she can be involved in the Rodeo in the future. We wish her all the best in Chicago with her new team — she will certainly be missed in Houston.”
This year, past and present Rodeo scholars spanning more than 60 years will serve as grand marshals.
“We reached an extraordinary milestone in 2019 when we officially surpassed $500 million in our total commitment to youth and education since 1932, and we believe it’s only fitting to invite our Rodeo scholars to be at the forefront of the 2020 Downtown Rodeo Parade,” said Cowley. “To celebrate our 19,000 scholarship recipients, a Rodeo scholar representing each decade will serve as grand marshal, including our very first scholarship recipient from 1957.”
The grand marshals include:
- Ben Dickerson, 1957 scholar, FFA Scholarship
- Bill Sarpalius, 1969 scholar, FFA Scholarship
- Dr. Gregg Knape, 1972, FFA Scholarship
- Misty Skaggs, 1989, 4-H Scholarship
- Ryan Levy, 1993, Metropolitan Scholarship
- Sarah Brubaker, 2006, Opportunity Scholarship
- Yuselmy Garza, 2010, Metropolitan Scholarship & 2013 Achievement Scholarship
- Jordan Pemberton, 2019, Houston Area Scholarship
The 2020 Downtown Rodeo Parade will be held Saturday, Feb. 29 at 10 a.m. The parade begins at Bagby and Walker Street.
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