< Previous20 | The Daily News | Fair & Rodeo | 2024 C harles T. “Chuck” Doyle began his banking career when he formed a group of investors to purchase First State Bank of Hitchcock in 1973. From the beginning, he made a commitment to support the Galveston County Fair & Rodeo (GCFR), a major part of the local community. First State Bank is now known as Texas First Bank, a community bank located in every incorpo- rated town in Galveston County. Also, the bank has expanded ton Brazoria, Harris, Chambers, Liberty, Jefferson and Montgom- ery Counties. Texas First Bank has grown to more than $2 billion in assets and celebrated its 50th anniversary in business in 2023. The commitment Doyle made to support the GCFR remains strong as the fair celebrates its 86th anniversary. Educating children is important to Doyle, and he and Texas First Bank have supported many scholarship programs over the years, assisting the youth of the community. GCFR provides opportu- nities for young people to participate in agricultural and farming programs, like raising animals, to earn scholarship money. Texas First Bank has been a provider of more than $1.3 million to the GCFR programs over the past 50 years and plans to contin- ue that support into the future. In addition to other monetary support, each year Doyle and his family are present at the Junior Auction to bid on the ani- mals the students proudly display to the buyers. The auction is the culmination of the students’ hard work, and the Doyle family and Texas First Bank are pleased to be a part of that process, often purchasing the Grand Champion or Reserve Grand Champion animals. Texas First Bank and Texas First Insurance congratulate the Galveston County Fair & Rodeo on the success it has achieved over the past 86 years and wish you continued suc- cess over the next 86 years. THE 2024 GALVESTON COUNTY FAIR & RODEO IS DEDICATED TO MR. CHARLES T. “CHUCK” DOYLE The Galveston County Fair & Rodeo is proud to dedicate the 86th annual Fair & Rodeo to Mr. Charles T. “Chuck” Doyle in recognition of more than 50 years of ded- ication and support of the nonprofit organization. Thank you Mr. Doyle for all that you do for GCFR and the youth of Galveston County. JENNIFER REYNOLDS/ The Daily News file photo2024 | Fair & Rodeo | The Daily News | 21 Story by Albert Ramirez F air Family of the Day has been a part of county fairs for many years. If you Google it, you can find it mentioned as far back as 1969. Now, I was totally unaware of this concept until I read an article in the 2016 edition of the Fairs & Expos mag- azine published by the International Association of Fairs and Expositions. This article described how a county fair near our nation’s capitol wanted to implement this very idea and how they utilized a new sponsor and resources on hand to provide an extraordinary experience for one lucky family each day of their fair. Always on the lookout for new ideas that could enhance the experience at our own county fair, I believed that this would be a great addition. With the approval of our then president, Paul Tibaldo, and our executive board, I enlisted the help of our office staff and a small committee to design a banner and develop ideas for giveaways for each se- lected family to be implemented at the 2017 Galveston County Fair & Rodeo. Being the superintendent over the commercial exhibits, I took a chance and reached out to our carnival and each of our vendors to see what kind of response we would get. The response was overwhelmingly in favor of this idea, and they all were extremely happy to help. When it comes to helping fam- ilies, their generosity knows no bounds and we are extremely appreciative of that. For each family that gets selected, the entire family receives free admission onto the fairgrounds, all-you-can-ride carnival armbands for each child and certificates for free food and gifts from the participating vendors on the fair- grounds. The only thing we ask of each family is to sign a photo release form so that we can take a picture of them with the banner and share it on our website and social media. This year will be our sixth year (2020 and 2021 canceled due to the pan- demic) to have the Family of the Day program, and it gives us a great feeling when we see the huge smiles from each family member when we inform them that they’ve been selected and what they will receive, making their great day at the fair a memorable day. MAKING A GREAT DAY AT THE FAIR A MEMORABLE DAY IT’S TIME TO RODEO!E ach year, the Galveston County Fair & Rodeo strives to bring new and adventurous types of food for the fair patrons to try and this year is no exception. Everyone will have an opportunity to experi- ence the “World’s Best Brownies” that come in 19 different flavors, or 12 different gourmet cara- mel apples along with six different types of butter- cream cookie sandwiches, a roasted nut vendor with chocolate-dipped pretzels, an old-fashioned live-spun cotton candy vendor, freeze-dried candy and a vendor providing Mexi- can street corn, Flavored agua fresca drinks and a Mexican hot dog that con- sists of an all-beef hot dog with pico de gallo, grilled onions and bacon served on a brioche bun with a serrano pepper. These are all new vendor foods that you’ll find at the fair this year. FLAVORED PICKLES For those looking for new and adventurous, then you’ll have to try out the Flavored Pickles booth. Here you’ll find pickles that taste like watermelon, strawberry, peach, mango, fruit punch and green apple. You’ll also find stuffed pickles and pickles covered in cotton candy. And for the really adven- turous types, you have your choice of the Flaming Hot Cheetos pickle, The El Dirty pickle and The Ultimate El Dirty pickle. Craig Leno, his wife and three boys started Fla- vored Pickles in Houston during the summer of 2020. Craig wanted to start a business and to provide an activity for their three boys since everyone was home-bound due to the pandemic. They started off with 11 jars of pickles since then they have participated in many events in Texas and Louisiana. Also, they’ve been successful at having their products stocked in a store in Louisiana. Currently, Flavored Pickles is a part time family affair, but their goal is to make it a full-time job eventually. You’ll find the Flavored Pickles booth at the fair- ground during the annual Galveston County Fair & Rodeo from April 12-20 at the corner of the main road and carnival road. If pickles are not your favorite fair food, don’t fret, you’ll still be able to partake in barbecue, tur- key legs, corndogs, funnel cakes, ice cream and all the other fair foods. LOVE PICKLES? THEN THERE’S A FOOD FOR YOU AT THE GALVESTON COUNTY FAIR & RODEO 22 | The Daily News | Fair & Rodeo | 2024 AIN’T NOTHING BUT MUTTON BUSTIN’ JENNIFER REYNOLDS/The Daily News file photos409-457-7929 gwrwaterwells.com W a t e r W ell S e r v i c e 2830 TEXAS AVENUE TEXAS CITY Store Hours: Mon-Fri: 7am-6pm 24 Hour Call Out Service Available James Funeral Homes WWW.CROWDERFUNERALHOME.COM Locally Owned and Managed by The Crowder Family since 1959 Now Carrying Wagyu Briskets for Competition Doreck’s MEAT MARKET 1st 409-925-6611 409-765-6067 Ifyou’relookingtofundyournext vacationorstaycation,gettingaloanat Coastaliseasyas1,2,3!Comevisitusat oneofourfourlocationsandwe’lltake careofyourvacationandfinancialneeds. LassoinavacationloanwithCoastal! 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