A Happy Place

Stacy Stidham Anderson calls the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo the great equalizer. 

“Where else can you get that many people who have completely different backgrounds to volunteer together?” the educational consultant says, referring to the 43,000 volunteers who make Houston’s Rodeo – the largest in the world – happen every year. “We’re all there working for the same purpose, which is raising money for the kids,” Stacy says, “but it’s bigger than that. It brings every kind of person together.”

Stacy started volunteering for the rodeo in 2003, when a friend she met volunteering at The Junior League of Houston brought her along. “It was the inaugural year of the Gatekeepers Committee, and my friend Elizabeth Morrell invited me to come out to the rodeo with her,” Stacy says. “I fell in love with it.”

Stacy Anderson has been volunteering for RodeoHouston for more than 20 years. (Photo: lawellphoto.com)

Since then, Stacy has never not been involved. She’s still on the Gatekeepers Committee, as well as the Mutton Bustin’ and Houston Metro Go Texan committees, the Board of Directors, and the Grand Entry Committee. “That’s the group that makes the entry parade happen,” Stacy says. “The energy is electric as you pop out of the breezeway on the firetruck or on horses. It’s that way every night.” Last year she wrapped up four years as chairman of the Special Children’s Committee. 

“Special Children’s is my passion,” Stacy says of the committee that organizes events for children and adults with special needs – the community she has worked with since she earned her master’s degree in educational psychology in 1993. “For me to be able to combine my passion – Rodeo and my real world – is really amazing.”

Sarah Grace and Emma Carr, Stacy's daughters, grew up learning about all things Rodeo from their mom.

And now, she’s not only melded her passion and career, she’s also roped in (so to speak) her two daughters, making the whole thing a family affair.

“Rodeo was something my mom looked forward to every year, so she always made it fun for us too,” daughter Emma Carr, who graduated from The University of Texas in 2021 and now works in HR, says. “She’d put us in the cute outfits and take us to the concerts.” Emma remembers seeing Hilary Duff, Miley Cyrus (a.k.a. Hannah Montana), and Selena Gomez. “All the Disney people,” Emma laughs.

As much time as Stacy spent volunteering at the rodeo, away from her family, Emma says she never thought of Rodeo as something that took her mom away. “It was just so much fun for her so we would look forward to it, too,” she says. Emma’s sister Sarah Grace Carr, a 2023 UT graduate, agrees. “We love it for her,” she says. “It’s her happy place.”

Emma (right) is a Rodeo volunteer, and Sarah Grace plans to be as soon as she graduates from law school. (Photo: lawellphoto.com)

Having her girls around has been important to Stacy from the beginning. Emma recalls one year when her mom was set to ride a horse in the Grand Entry Parade. “She was super nervous,” Emma says. “We got to come down and surprise her, so she saw us as she was riding by. She looked a lot calmer after she saw us.”

Stacy’s husband Ron Anderson, who works in steel sales with IKG Industries, picked up the slack at home when the girls were little. “Luckily, he wasn’t involved,” Stacy says, noting that he’s recently joined the Calf Scramble Committee. “He knew how important it was to me, so he helped a lot.”

This is Emma’s third year as an official Rodeo volunteer, and her first serving on the Special Children’s Committee with her mom. “It’s something fun for my mom and I to do together,” she says. “And I’ve watched her. Some of her closest friends are people she’s met through the rodeo.” Emma is thankful that her company, Insperity, gives employees time to volunteer. 

Sarah Grace, a second-year student at South Texas College of Law, says she’s always loved the rodeo. “It’s so different from everything we do every other day of the year,” she says. While she’s still in school, Sarah Grace has postponed committee work, but she’s looking forward to joining her mom and sister in the future. For now, she’s happy to go for the rodeo itself, the fried Oreos, and the shows. She, Emma, and Stacy are planning to see Journey together this year.

LET’S RODEO Stacy Anderson (middle) has instilled a love of RodeoHouston in her daughters Emma (left) and Sarah Grace Carr (right). (Photo: lawellphoto.com)

“I always felt like a celebrity with my mom when I was younger,” she says. “She has a way of doing that, because everyone knows her,” Sarah Grace says. “She really makes friends wherever she goes.”

Last year, for the first time in a long time, Stacy says she wasn’t in charge of anything or anybody. But just because she wasn’t in charge didn’t mean she wasn’t working day and night for the event she holds dear. “I pretty much collapse every year after Rodeo, so last year I told my husband I was going to live my best Rodeo life,” she laughs. Still, she couldn’t stay away: “I have such serious FOMO!”

Editor's note: For tips on attending the rodeo, read Saddle Up, Houston: A guide to 2025 RodeoHouston.