On Thursday, November 16, Marietta High School’s FFA Chapter hosted the second annual Red River Rumble. After last year’s welding rodeo, advisors Josh Bazor and Kelsi Kamesh, along with chapter members, wanted to make this year’s event bigger and better – and they got it done.
At Thursday’s contest 44 welding teams representing 20 schools from Oklahoma and Texas pitted their welding skills against each other, hoping to create a project good enough to win part of the over $8,000 in prizes awarded during the day.
“Each team of two welders built a corner post with a double-rail brace in the middle and a T-post puller,” Bazor explained. “They also took a safety test and had a short interview with some roving judges asking general knowledge questions as the kids were working.”
In addition to FFA chapter members from all over the state and area, several sponsors and community members were in attendance -- both to help and to visit -- along with Senator Chris Kidd, Representative Josh Cantrell, and a film crew from KXII. Bazor and Kamesch said that the attendance for the event was over 220.
“Mr. Bazor and Ms. Kamesch and their students organized a fantastic event,” said Superintendent Brandi Naylor. “I was encouraged by the number of community members and guests who came and spent the day cheering these students on while they competed.”
Among the additions for this year’s Red River Rumble were live Facebook feeds so that parents who couldn’t attend would still be able to watch their students compete. Another new part of the contest was the flashback races where chapter members could enter their advisor in a cutting torch race.
“The advisors went head to head and it was a lot of fun to watch the kids cheer on their advisors,” Bazor commented. “That’s something everyone seemed to enjoy.”
High school principal Michael Oakley, attending his first ever welder’s rodeo, was more than a little impressed.
“I really didn’t know what to expect, but what I saw were students using skills they’d learned in a good program and creating useful projects from what looked to me like scraps,” Oakley commented. “It made me wish that I’d taken ag in school. The knowledge and skills these students have is something that will serve them the rest of their lives. I was amazed at the welders – and the food.”
The food Oakley mentioned – it’s a pretty popular part of the event. Fundraising Guru and Chef Extraordinaire Derrie Minyard and his family crew put on an unbelievable spread last year. And this year, Minyard was determined to one-up himself, which he did.
“Derrie had been working on the menu ever since last year, and he hit it out of the park, as expected,” Bazor stated. “We fed kids, advisors, sponsors, and guests pork loin, meat balls, bar-be-que chicken and brisket, beans, potatoes, and desserts, and everybody loved it. We had one student who came last year to compete as a junior and came back this year because he said that even if he didn’t win, he knew he’d eat well.”
Bazor gives credit for the success of the event to the many people who helped, Minyard and his family among them.
“We are just overwhelmed by the amount of support we have for this contest,” he said. “Our administration and school board are big advocates for our program. And there’s our parents, and so many community members who give to us, monetarily and with their time and talent. There’s no way that we could do this without them, and we’re blessed to have their help.”
While there are other welder’s rodeos for FFA members, Bazor insists that there’s not another like Marietta’s.
“Plenty of schools have these contests, but not with the food, the prizes, and the support that ours has,” he explained. “At other welding tournaments, winning teams might get a helmet and gloves, but our grand champion team from Comanche won about $1,600 worth of prizes, and that all came from a supportive community. Because of our community, our contest is the best in Oklahoma, hands down.”
Will the 2024 Red River Rumble top this years? For sure. Derrie Minyard and crew are already planning lunch.