The 12th Annual Big Tex® Clay Shoot Classic event was the most successful shoot yet. A record-breaking $176,380 was raised, with all proceeds going directly to the State Fair’s Big Tex Youth Livestock Auction and Scholarship Program. The 2020 fundraising total passes the previous record-setting year, 2019, by 36.7%.
“This year, more than ever, supporting Texas youth makes a world of difference,” said Daryl Real, senior vice president of livestock and agriculture for the State Fair of Texas. “The Fair is proud to provide the opportunity to maintain our financial support of Texas youth. We surpassed our goals again this year and are very excited about the continued growth of the sporting clay shoot.”
One hundred percent of the money given to and raised at this event goes to support the Big Tex Youth Livestock Auction and Big Tex Scholarship Program. The Scholarship Program supports graduating high school seniors around the state of Texas who have participated in competitive youth livestock events held at the State Fair, graduating seniors from six Dallas Independent School District high schools in the Fair Park area, and seasonal employees of the State Fair of Texas or their dependents.
The event was held on August 19 at the Dallas Gun Club in Lewisville, Texas, with the health and safety of all involved as the top priority. Masks were required, teams observed social distancing, and additional sanitization measures were taken that adhered to the city of Carrollton, Denton County and state government protocols and procedures.
More than 225 shooters, representing 43 teams, competed at the event. First-place teams from three courses were recognized. Earning first-place honors on the blue, green, and orange courses, respectively: the Barry Pickett Fence Company team, the Hicks Lightning Protection team, and the Primera team. Second place honors went to the Quail Coalition team, the United Mechanical B team, and the Watkins Construction team. Each member of the winning teams received a trophy and enjoyed recognition amongst their peers.
Barry Pickett was the first-place individual shooter on the green course shooting a near-perfect score of 89. The first-place individual shooter on the blue course was Tad Riney and Jason Foshea earned first-place individual shooter on the orange course. Each individual winner received a custom State Fair of Texas belt buckle created by Gist.
A special thanks to the following organizations and individuals:
- 2020 Presenting sponsor: United Mechanical
- Shooter Gear sponsor: Heritage Land Bank
- Shooter Hat sponsor: ACT Event Services
- Event Day sponsor: Bobcat Contracting L.L.C.
- Flurry side game sponsor: Watkins Construction Company, LLC
- Course sponsors: Holleman Construction Company Inc. and Lynx Mapping
- 40+ valued volunteers.
Shooting station sponsors included 501 Ops, Ameritas, Bobcat Contracting, Byrd Investments, Eastern Plumbing Supply, EGR Architectural Millwork, Frost Bank, Heritage Land Bank, Holleman Construction, Housley Group, Larrett Energy Services, Lynx Mapping, Matchbox Studios, MIINC Mechanical Contractors, Miller &Brown, Northwest Insurance Agency, NTD Mechanical, Quail Coalition, Reece-Hopper Sales, Sterling Resources, Sunstate Equipment Company, Texas Building Controls, Timberlake & Dickson, United Mechanical, and Watkins Construction.
Teams participating in the shoot included Ameritas, Barry Pickett Fence Company, Chuck Fairbanks Chevrolet, Direct Retail Partners, Housley Communications, Inc., John de la Garza, Marsh McLennan Agency SW, Steven Mancillas, Mechanical Partners, MIINC Mechanical Partners, Morley-Moss, Inc., P&W Quality Machines, Raggio & Raggio, Scheels, Texas Building Controls, Thigpen Energy, United Mechanical, United Rentals-Fluid Solutions, and Winston Water Coolers.
Our generous in-kind event donors included: Eagle Audio/Visual, Inc., Emergency Ice, Fletcher’s Original State Fair Corny Dogs, Moore Waste & Recycling, Newport Concessions, Park Cities Quail, United Mechanical, Upland Bespoke, and Winston Water Coolers.
For more information on the Big Tex Clay Shoot Classic, please visit BigTex.com/clayshoot.