Mutt Neuman of Dayton is this year’s honoree of the Trinity Valley Exposition’s Old Timer of the Year award. Neuman was surprised with the award during the Old Timers Dinner on Thursday, Oct. 20.
Speaking on behalf of the TVE Board, Brady Hanson announced the award and presented Neuman with a rocking chair bearing an engraved plaque with Neuman’s name and the award.
Neuman’s friends and peers in rodeos then took turns regaling the guests at the dinner with humorous stories about him. Among his many positive attributes, they most enjoyed mentioning his impressive fighting prowess, which Neuman was quick to point out was something he eventually outgrew.
“All this stuff they were telling you a little while ago, that was back in my younger days,” he said with a laugh. “The Good Lord willing and the creek don’t rise, on Nov. 5, I will be 77 years old.”
Age doesn’t appear to be slowing Neuman down. He still hosts ranch events at his Bar-N-Bar Rodeo Arena on CR 676 in Dayton and participates in other rodeo events in Liberty and across Southeast Texas. Over the years, he has worked as a bull rider, bull dogger, bull fighter, raiser of racehorses and rodeo bulls, and rodeo promoter.
Neuman is a member of the Louisiana Rodeo Cowboys Association Hall of Fame and was once nominated to the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame.
In April 2021, Bluebonnet News ran a feature story on Neuman’s colorful life. To read it, click the link below: