By Marie Hughes, director of the Chambers County Museum at Wallisville
The future of any community rests in the hands of its youth, but it is shaped by those willing to invest in them. A rare group of men and women possess the ability to recognize raw potential where others only see inexperience. They recognize untapped qualities and have the patience, wisdom and dedication to help them flourish. Through selfless mentorship, they instill confidence, character and a sense of purpose, allowing youth to learn by doing and to grow through both success and failure. Such are the 4-H leaders and extension agents who have devoted themselves to shaping not only farmers and ranchers, but better citizens and stronger communities. Dick Carroll was the epitome of this rare breed.
Where the vision began
The Chambers County Youth Project Show program was conceived by a small group of people who had not only the interests of Chambers County, but those of its young people at heart. J.R. “Dick” Carroll said that three men — Carroll, Grover Chambliss of Anahuac and Floyd Dugat of Winnie — had attended a West Chambers County Farm Bureau meeting. During the trip home, they discussed forming an organization for the youth of Chambers County. The bridge over the Trinity River had not been completed at the time, nor had the road to the bridge, and a temporary ramp was in use at the bridge approaches. The bridge was dedicated July 4, 1955.
Up until 1955, it was very difficult for East and West Chambers County to cultivate a close relationship. Without a bridge to close the gap between them, travelers had to go from Barbers Hill through Dayton and Liberty and then south to Mid and East Chambers County, a long and sometimes arduous trip. After the completion of the Trinity River bridge, what appears to have been the first move toward establishing a youth organization occurred on July 30, 1955. According to a 1955 Progress article, families from East and West Chambers County gathered at Fort Anahuac Park for an old-fashioned picnic lunch and games.
At noon, a huge picnic table was spread with fried chicken, chicken and dumplings, and baked chicken for the main course. Ice-cold red soda pop, served out of bottles in true country style, proved to be a favorite with the youngsters. Bill Wedemeyer of the Texas Farm Bureau spoke on the national and state rice program, and the group was entertained with recorded music and selections by a girls quartet from Mont Belvieu.
After the noon meal, the group played games, with both adults and youngsters participating. A highlight of the game period was the attempts by some of the youngsters to climb a greased pole, on top of which were several $1 bills. Carroll said they never tried that again, nor did they repeat the greased-pig-catching contest. The young man who caught the pig was hardly distinguishable from the pig by the time the catch was secured, he said.
The event proved very successful in acquainting people from both sides of the Trinity who had previously been geographically separated. It also marked the beginning of an organization to promote goodwill and interest in the activities of the county’s young people. By January 1956, the Chambers County 4-H Council had appointed a committee to formulate definite plans to participate in the Chambers County Youth Project Show, to be held May 12 of that year.
Prior to the formation of the Youth Project Show, Chambers County youth, along with other civic groups, had participated in the Trinity Valley Exposition at Liberty. Chambers County was heavily involved in TVE, channeling resources from the County Road and Bridge Department to prepare for the exposition. The county gradually withdrew its participation in the Liberty fair and began channeling those efforts into its own county, with the Youth Project Show showcased in 1956.
The first steering committee members were Susie Braham, county home demonstration agent and the motivating force; Warren Griffith, Anahuac vocational agriculture teacher; J.R. “Dick” Carroll, longtime Chambers County agent; Bonnie Hutchinson, art; Carolyn Larrison, homemaking; A.L. Freeman, industrial art teacher from Winnie; Bob Schultz, Boy Scout leader; and Maybell Purcell, handcraft and Anahuac teacher.
The Chambers County Commissioners Court cooperated wholeheartedly in the creation of the new project, providing the park area and funds for the exhibits, as well as tents to house the exhibits, which quickly outgrew the American Legion Hall where they were being displayed. During the formation of the Youth Project Show, the Commissioners Court was comprised of Floyd E. Williams, county judge; G.V. Mayes Sr., Precinct 1; Sherwood Blair, Precinct 2; Joe Lagow, Precinct 3; H.H. McCollum, Precinct 4; and J.B. Wooldridge, county and district clerk.
Building something for the kids
“Alma Lois Turner and the county commissioners, Joe Lagow, Mr. Sullivan, Mr. McCall, another from Winnie, and especially Dick Carroll, decided they needed to have somewhere for the kids to show their projects and compete with others, so they started the Youth Project Show,” Janet Lagow said.
“The first arena was just a roped-off area on the south side of the American Legion Hall at Fort Anahuac Park,” Janet said. “The rope followed the road around to mark off the area. The rope was the gate to get in and out; you just untied it. Eventually they got the arena set up and started building the barns. I’m telling you, if you got a ribbon, it was really something. Nowadays they get a buckle right away. You get it too soon, and then there’s nothing to look forward to.”
The May 1956 annual Farm Bureau Youth Project Show and Picnic kicked off with a parade. Four bands participated in the parade, which started in front of Anahuac High School at 9 a.m.: Anahuac, Barbers Hill, Fannett and Hamshire. The bands were joined by horseback riders, commercial entries, Scouts, FFA and FHA groups. The parade passed Reid’s Drive Inn, Sherman’s Grocery, the courthouse, Nelson’s Chevrolet and Naylor Motors before continuing to Fort Anahuac Park.
Janet was among the horseback riders in that first parade.
“I rode Amigo in the first Youth Project Show parade,” she said. “Amigo belonged to Rory Calhoun. Uncle Jim was at the Houston Livestock Show; he was the director. Uncle Jim told Rory Calhoun, the movie actor, ‘My little niece is looking for a horse.’ Rory said, ‘I’ve got the perfect horse. It’s a Tennessee Walking Horse. It’s up in age, it’s 17, but I’ll just give it to you.’ Amigo’s head was long, and he was really tall. That’s the one I won the barrel race on.”
The Chambers County Farm Bureau announced there were 679 projects entered in the first Youth Project Show. They handed out 281 blue ribbons, 255 red ribbons and 143 white ribbons. There were an estimated 1,000 attendees, exceeding expectations. Within the first two years, they had outgrown the American Legion Hall, and a 60-by-90-foot tent was added in 1958 to accommodate the exhibits. There were more than 1,200 youth exhibits of livestock, industrial arts, handcrafts and homemaking activities from every county school and youth organization. A second tent was added in 1959.
One of the highlights of the third annual Youth Project Show in 1958 was the Chambers County Centennial Celebration, which was held in conjunction with the show. The week culminated with a grand fireworks display, bringing a dramatic finish to the centennial celebration and Youth Project Show.
Growing a county tradition
The Youth Project Show grew exponentially within its first 12 years, due in part to the phenomenal group of leaders, including Dick Carroll, who spearheaded the event. Fort Anahuac Park could no longer accommodate the exhibits, and in 1968 the event was held in a new building at Whites Park, originally known as White Memorial Park, a beautiful wooded area formerly called Magnolia Grove.
The expansion of the county Youth Project Show program included a calf scramble for the first time. All previous calf scrambles had been held at TVE or the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. W.M. Edmonds, an area cattle breeder, served as chairman of the scramble committee.
A 1968 Progress article stated that the Chambers County Youth Project Show, sponsored jointly by Chambers County and the Chambers County Farm Bureau, had grown into a major educational and entertainment event for area young people, furnishing a showcase for individual achievements in arts and crafts and a competitive arena for young livestock growers. The article predicted other facilities would be erected in the near future and that the site would eventually be developed into an exposition complex. That prediction culminated with the opening of a new covered arena on May 3, 2014.
More than ribbons and trophies
For Steve Kole, however, Carroll’s influence reached far beyond the Youth Project Show itself.
“I had a close working relationship with Dick Carroll, but it was as a 4-H kid,” Steve said. “When I was 13, I had caught a calf in the Liberty Exposition calf scramble. You catch the calf in October, but that’s not the one you get; they give you a calf the next spring. Purina Feed Company had a program that year, and Dick Carroll was involved in it. If you would feed your calf with Purina Feed, keep records and turn them in to the county agent every month, and your calf won first place at the next TVE, you would win a trip to St. Louis to the Purina headquarters research farm.
“I diligently kept records and turned them in to Mr. Carroll every month. Mr. Carroll held my hand the whole time I was feeding that calf. He’d come out to the farm and check on me. We had moved over to my grandma’s place in Bancroft because that was during the time my daddy was building that big house, which took 13 or 14 months.”
Steve’s memories of the fair itself were just as vivid.
“Daddy dropped me off at the fair with some money and maybe a change or two of clothes,” he said. “I had on some new boots. I’d never worn cowboy boots before, and I was on my own at the fair for the next five days. I slept in the stall with my calf, and I remember those boots wore blisters on my feet. I showed my Brahman calf at the fair that October, and he won third place. The contestants who won first and second place did not buy into the Purina program, so because they didn’t, I won the prize to go to St. Louis.”
The trip itself became one of those childhood adventures Steve never forgot.
“There were no interstates to St. Louis when we headed there in 1954,” Steve said with a laugh. “So here we go. County Agent Carroll was in the driver’s seat of a two-door Chevrolet coupe, with Mr. Ward riding shotgun. He was the regional guy for Purina. For some reason, they recruited someone to keep me company, and of all people, they recruited Larry Devillier. Larry was about two or three grades ahead of me, but we got along real well.
“Larry and I were sitting in the back of the coupe. We made the trip in July, and it took us two days to get there and two days to get back, up and down rolling hills with no air conditioner, and I’m the guest of honor. We stopped along the way to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner, and one morning Mr. Ward ordered pork chops for breakfast. I’d never seen anybody order pork chops with their eggs. So, needless to say, I ordered pork chops, because I’m the guest of honor. First time I ever had pork chops for breakfast.”
Music also became part of the memory.
“There were a couple of real highlights during my trip,” Steve said. “One was, every time we stopped to eat, the restaurants had little jukeboxes in the booths you sat in, so you could select music from your table. There was one song that really rang my bell. It had just come on the market. I didn’t know who the guy was singing, whether he was white or black, I just loved the song, and I played it all the way to St. Louis and all the way back.
“That song was called ‘That’s All Right Mama.’ If you know anything about Elvis Presley, that was the first record he made. I mean, I was an Elvis fan from day one, and I didn’t even know what he looked like. So, I have proof. I go all the way back to the beginning with Elvis.”
Another part of the trip fascinated the 14-year-old in a completely different way.
“The other memorable highlight was when we got to St. Louis and went to the research farm,” Steve said. “They had a cow grazing in the pasture with a 6-inch-diameter plate in her side that could be unscrewed. They could unscrew it and reach inside her stomach to see how well her food was being digested. That just amazed me to see that. That was quite a memorable trip for a 14-year-old kid.
“Mr. Carroll had a positive impact on me. He was very dedicated, so I have really positive memories of him.”
Lessons that lasted a lifetime
Kim Turner of Anahuac had similar memories of Carroll, although his story took a somewhat different turn.
“Dick Carroll was a good man,” Kim said. “He was just an all-around good man. He cared about the farmers and the youth. He didn’t just go to the office and sit behind a desk; he was a hands-on guy.
“He called me one time and said, ‘Kim, do you want to be in the Houston Livestock Show scramble?’ I said, ‘Yeah, sure.’ Well, I go to the Astrodome and caught a calf and come to find out, he had entered me in the dairy scramble, not a beef scramble — a dairy calf. So I ended up with a Jersey calf from Brenham, which I raised. I had to milk it every morning before I went to school, and then I had to milk it every night when I came home from school.”
The unexpected dairy project left quite an impression on the Turner household.
“We had butter on every countertop in the kitchen,” Kim said with a laugh. “It was a real experience. I still have all my 4-H pins and a certificate for being a Chambers County 4-H Gold Star Boy. Frances Desormeaux was the Gold Star Girl that year.”
Kim also remembered another occasion when Carroll left him in the hands of a fellow county agent.
“Dick was a good, good guy. The only thing is, he dumped me,” Kim said with a laugh. “He took me to 4-H camp, and there was another county agent there from Bell County named Charlie Murphy. He said to Dick, ‘You only got the one boy here. You probably have stuff to do at the office.’ Dick told him he always had stuff to do, so Charlie said, ‘Leave that boy here with me. I’ll take care of him.’ Charlie and I remained friends for many years.”
Carroll’s connections throughout the agricultural community also opened doors for the young people he mentored.
“Mr. Carroll knew everyone in Southeast Texas connected to agriculture,” Kim said. “He introduced me to so many people, including longtime KTRH radio host Dewey Compton. He was widely known and respected in his profession.”
“My black Angus heifer, ‘Anita,’ was high-spirited and loved to kick,” Frank Garvey Jr. of Anahuac said. “We purchased her from the Clark Angus Ranch in Huntsville, where Mr. Carroll had advised my dad and me to go. The judge at the TVE show that year was Dr. Nance from Sam Houston State University, and I was just praying she wouldn’t kick him. Instead, she jumped forward and ran when Dr. Nance slapped her on the rump.
“Sure glad ‘Anita’ didn’t hurt him, as Dr. Nance later was my professor when I attended SHSU,” Frank said with a laugh.
Frank and his heifer took home the Grand Champion trophy that year at the TVE show.
“Mr. Carroll was very knowledgeable about livestock, which is partly the reason I had great success in showing my cattle,” Frank said. “Mr. Carroll and Mr. Baham had grass plots in one of my pastures. I attended many meetings and workshops while in 4-H, which provided all of us with a wealth of information. We were fortunate to have them both; both were good men and mentors.”
Warren Sullivan, a lifelong best friend of Dick Carroll’s son, Bob, also remembered Carroll’s guidance during his years in 4-H.
“I was just 10 years old when I showed my first registered Polled Hereford, ‘Tom John,’ in 1962 under Mr. Carroll,” Warren said. “My sister, Andrea McClelland, showed a Jersey cow in 4-H about the same time. At that time, the Youth Project Show was held at Fort Anahuac Park. The old Legion Hall, which is being torn down, housed the artwork and woodwork projects. The animals and vegetables were housed under big canvas tents.”
Warren also remembered the friendly competition among the young exhibitors.
“Frank Garvey was pretty strong with his black Angus at that time, winning most years,” Warren said. “Then I entered a Charolais F1 cross of a registered Charolais and a registered Angus and beat him in about 1970 or 1971, taking home the Grand Championship.”
Carroll’s influence extended well beyond the show ring.
“Mr. Carroll helped me attain the Gold Star Award in 4-H,” Warren said. “He made frequent trips to our farm to oversee how I was caring for my calf — and bull, as he grew — and pointed out different techniques. He talked about feed and good beef management. As a 10-year-old kid, I was grasping what I could.”
Years later, Warren’s admiration for Carroll remained just as strong.
“Mr. Carroll was such a wonderful man who touched the lives of many in Chambers County during his tenure as Chambers County Extension Agent,” Warren said. “He was very nice, but he was also down to business, which he had to be. He was gentle, with a great sense of humor, but uncompromising in his expectations that we follow rigorous standards. He made every effort to make sure we excelled.”
And excel they did.
A legacy still growing
Dick Carroll grew more than crops in Chambers County, Texas; he planted seeds of success in the lives of its youth and reaped a harvest that continues to flourish. He led by example with a compassionate, gentle mentoring spirit, and his refusal to accept less than the best instilled in young people a spirit of excellence that followed them throughout their lives.
Dick’s statement, “I’m not a one-man team,” at his retirement party in 1979 exemplified his humility as he gave credit to the “Dream Team” that surrounded him, including Grover Chambliss, Floyd Dugat, Sherwood Blair, Judge Alma Lois Turner, Warren Griffith, Joe Lagow, Judge Floyd Williams and G.V. Mayes, to name a few.
We are indebted to you for your investment in our youth and your bountiful heart of service.