The History of the

Bluebonnet Texas Longhorn Association

(formerly ITLA-Houston Chapter)

In early 1997 a documentary of the history of the ITLA-Houston Chapter (1991-1997) was compiled by Evelyn Branyon and President Joe Assad and published in the Second Edition of the Chapter Membership Directory.  As the Houston Chapter approached its seventh year the membership had increased by more than 100 active Longhorn breeders and more than 1000 associate members.  The combined efforts of these individuals would catapult the organization well into the next century for the purpose of preserving the heritage of the Texas Longhorn. 

(1991-1997) In an effort to strengthen the Association's membership without traveling great distances, a planning meeting to establish a Houston Chapter was held on January 10, 1991 in the home of Frank and Lola Rust.  At this meeting it was agreed that the formal name of this organization will be "The Houston Area Chapter of the International Texas Longhorn Association".  With 19 interested individuals a second meeting was held on February9, 1991 at the Lone Star Cafe.  Officers were elected and by-laws were formulated.  Appropriately Mr. Rust was elected as the Chapter's first president and served in that capacity for one year.  Other charter officers were Al Mangine as Vice President, Lola Rust as Secretary, and Bill Lofton as Treasurer.  Of specific interest was the task of keeping the enthusiasm level up for existing members as well as to attract new members to the chapter.  The consensus was that educational seminars were a way of keeping up with friends and neighbors in the Longhorn Industry while sharing the advancement of scientific knowledge for future breeding Texas Longhorn cattle.  In cooperation with the ITLA-National, the Houston Chapter conducted its first Educational Seminar at the Fort Bend County Fairgrounds with sixty-six Longhorn enthusiasts in attendance.

In April of 1992 Joe Assad was elected to become the Houston Chapter's second president.  New Member registration fees being the only source of income for the new organization, Joe was innovative in securing a new income string.  Arrangements were made to give GTE Mobilnet telephone monthly service discounts with new Associate Memberships.   During Assad's presidency the association membership grew rapidly.  To promote greater understanding of the Longhorn cattle of yesterday and tomorrow, Assad effectively organized a series of ranch tours.  In carrying out this endeavor, members were able to make early observations regarding the breeding, handling and habits of Longhorn cattle while previewing well-designed facilities such as the Keathley Ranch, The Texas W Ranch, and the Lamb Ranch.  Subsequent to these, an exclusive sale of Texas Longhorn cattle was conducted at the George Ranch and sponsored by the Houston Chapter.  This gave insight to the value of promoting, advertising and marketing registered Texas Longhorns.  A second educational seminar was successfully presented by Texas A&M University. 

Frank Forest was elected the third president of the Houston Chapter in 1993.  The tradition of ranch tours was continued as they promoted integrity of individual programs and enhanced public relations with other breeders.  This year two Longhorn cattle sales were held:  the Spring sale at Hempstead, Texas and the Fall sale at Sealy, Texas.  A third annual educational seminar featured individual Longhorn breeders who discussed the characteristics that attracted them to the Longhorn business.  On October 30, 1993, the first Halloween Sale of Texas Longhorns was held in Sealy, Texas and was chaired by Joe Keathley.  1994 was the first year that an ITLA Longhorn cattle sale was able to be scheduled as part of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

Later, in April of 1994, Joe Keathley was elected as the fourth president of the ITLA-Houston Chapter.   During Keathley's presidency the first composite chapter membership was published and Certificates of ITLA Chapter Membership were issued.  In the summer of 1994 a Heifer Futurity was successfully held under the direction of Irvin Schoeneman and Randy Massey.  Prizes totaling $2,250.00 were awarded to the winners.   This event was followed by the Harvest Moon Sale of Longhorn cattle at Sealy, Texas and the first Annual Houston Chapter Roper Sale at the Port City Stockyards.  Intense planning and development began this year for a combined sale of ITLA and TLBGCA Longhorn cattle.  Keathley worked closely with Harvey Rasmussen, President of the TLBGCA, to negotiate terms and conditions generic to the combined event which became history at the 1995 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.  To commemorate this historic event signatories of both professional associations rode in the Grand Entry Parade of the Rodeo.  In the spirit of camaraderie   the ITLA and TLBGCA jointly celebrated the event at the 1995 Revelry with the largest attendance on record.  This event was skillfully guided by Ileene Robinson, Dorie Damuth and Thelma Thompson.  Due to scheduling/bookkeeping conflicts the only place that could accommodate this large group was the Astro Arena.  To facilitate the over 400 guests the Astro Arena relocated the Santa Gertrudis Cattle Show, placed flooring on the arena and hosted a seated formal banquet for 400+ Longhorn guests.  

In April of 1995 Sam Miller became president and continued the open communications between the ITLA-Houston Chapter and the TLBGCA.  Ranch tours were strategically scheduled throughout the year while planning began for the Houston chapter to host its parent organization's national convention.   The convention was successfully held at the Farm and Ranch Club and it became the single largest Longhorn show to be held in Harris county.  Houston Chapter Hospitality provided nightly commemorative gifts that were organized by Hospitality Chairman Ileene Robinson.  Special transportation was provided to  local social events of Houston ranging from a Texas BBQ to a live performance of Cinderella at the Wortham Center.  President Miller further expanded the cooperative ventures between ITLA-Houston Chapter and the TLBGCA by negotiating a combined Longhorn display booth that met the standards of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo featuring live Longhorn cattle in the booth.  Members of both Longhorn associations staffed the booth and welcomed thousands of visitors. 

In April 1996 Joe Assad was elected Chapter President for a second term.  Administratively, Assad provided new direction to the organization by vowing to delegate more responsibility to the membership to enhance future leadership of the Houston Chapter.  He appointed specific areas of responsibility to each Board Member who in turn was to recruit committee chairs.  New committees were appointed for the following areas:  Communications (Lyle Hannah), Marketing (Marc Goulait and Phyllis Spittler), The Gathering Sale (Don Huber), Show (Irvin Schoeneman), Houston Livestock and Rodeo (Don Sykora and A. J. Lynch), Membership Services (Evelyn Branyon and Linda Chapman).  Specialized ranch tours and lectures were held at the Yegua Cattle Company and at the Double Ought Ranch.  In August of 1996 Richard and Eleanor Scalzitti hosted a home "Ranchette" tour featuring an all Italian menu using Longhorn beef.  The gala was attended by the Italian Consulate General. 

A palate-pleasing Southwest menu using Longhorn beef was tastefully presented in December at the Rio Ranch through the combined efforts of Eleanor Scalzitti, Evelyn Branyon, Lois Dunbar, and Joe Keathley.  This Christmas party truly demonstrated the Christmas spirit combining the efforts of both ITLA-Houston Chapter and the TLBGCA.  Continuing the tradition of Educational Seminars the membership was treated to a unique program entitled "Creating Markets for Texas Longhorns" under the leadership of Phyllis Spittler.  Promoting a theme of Lessons Learned - What the Future Holds, the seminar was held at the Texas A&M Agricultural Extension Service Offices.  Following the seminar interested members met to form an ITLA-Houston Chapter Youth Affiliate.  Don Sykora and A. J. Lynch continued their outstanding work to expand the Rodeo activities to include the first ITLA-Houston Chapter and TLBGCA Longhorn Show in addition to the joint participation in the Gathering Sale and the Rodeo Booth.  This years joint Revelry was followed by a pre-sale Buyers' Breakfast coordinated by Larry and Sheryl Lonero, Ileene Robinson and Dorie Damuth.  Specialized youth activities were included to promote future interest in the Texas Longhorn. 

Following is a summary of ITLA-Houston Chapter activities continuing from the 1997 history to early 2007.

In April of 1997 Don Sykora became President and focused on the Houston Chapter’s activities and on the events surrounding the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, where the ITLA-Houston Chapter and the TLBAA Gulf Coast Chapter jointly hosted a Texas Longhorn information booth, The Gathering Texas Longhorn Sale, and the two Texas Longhorn Shows, one under ITLA rules and one under TLBAA rules.

The next ITLA-Houston Chapter President was Bill Lofton. The Chapter had incurred some unforeseen expenses. Bill skillfully got several chapter members to loan the Chapter the money, or to make donations to settle the outstanding debt. Next he set up a program to repay the individuals who had loaned the Chapter money. As President, Bill Lofton also continued all the activities at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

Bill Henderson became the next ITLA-Houston Chapter President and served two years. Bill presided over educational seminars, ranch tours, and the Legacy Sale in Brenham, TX. As President, Bill Henderson continued Bill Lofton’s loan repayment program to individuals who loaned the chapter money. By the end of Bill’s second term, all the individuals had been repaid.

Larry Lonero was the next ITLA-Houston Chapter President. Larry moved our Spring sale to a Fall sale to avoid conflicts with other sales scheduled on the same day. Larry also continued the program of ranch tours and put together a very well attended educational seminar at the Warwick Hotel in Houston, TX.

Our next ITLA-Houston Chapter President was Bill Andrews. Bill hosted the Brenham Sale in Brenham, TX, and continued the ranch tour program held at John and Chickie Matthias’s Grandpatch Farm, Kenney, TX.

Jason Page was elected ITLA-Houston Chapter President in 2005. Jason’s goals as President included encouraging the membership to become more active in Chapter activities.  He appointed a new Webmaster to make the Chapter Website a better tool to promote the Chapter’s activities and the interests and breeding programs of the Chapter’s members.  Jason has continued the program of ranch tours, scheduling tours in the Spring and in the Fall.  He also started the Bluebonnet Classic Texas Longhorn Show in Brenham, TX, in April 2006. Seeing value in broadening the appeal of membership in the ITLA-Houston Chapter, Jason promoted the idea of renaming the Chapter to be more reflective of the demographics of the membership.  The board of directors and membership agreed, and a new name was chosen from among names suggested by the Chapter’s members in a “Name the Chapter” contest. The ITLA-Houston Chapter officially became the Bluebonnet Texas Longhorn Association in January, 2007.

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