| 1968 |
- John Dohogne develops idea for a celebration of the Beef Empire, gathering support from 13 commercial yards to begin the celebration.
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| 1969 |
- Show chairman - John Dohogne
- Show judges: Don Good, retired head of Animal Science & Industry at K-State Dr. Harold Tuma - retired head of Meat Science at K-State
- Show Committee: Al Maddox, Jerry Huggins, Gene Francis
- Original Contributors: Brookover Feed Yards, Inc., Sand Hills Feedlot, Western Cattle Co., Farmland industries, Sublette Feeders, Hi Plains, Inc.,
Fidelity State Bank, Garden City Coop, Farr Better Feeds, Kansas Livestock Association, Morris Feedlot, Heinold Rufenacht, Garden City Auto Association,
Garden National Bank, lngalls Feed Yard, Inc., Production Credit, Seward Co. Feedlot, KIUL-Telegram, Beef Industry Service, Oswalts,
Crossland Brothers, Inc.
- 70 steers entered.
- Champion steer owned by Hugh Andrews and fed at Morris Feedlot in Garden City.
- Show was held in Stevens Park - including the carcass show! A refrigerated truck was brought to the park and the winning carcasses displayed there.
- 1969 Show was also the site of the National Beef Cookout Contest. Lawrence Odgers of Garden City won the first year with his "Finial Beef Kabob."
- Education has always been a focus of the event. 1969 included a Feeders Day at the Experiment Station.
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| 1970 |
- Several events added including: commercial exhibits, cowboy dance, truck driver's rodeo and a jack pot roping.
- The parade is added to the celebration. Charlie Sinclair announced the first parade. Barbara Oringderff joined Sinclair in 1971 to announce
the parade. Today Oringderff and Hap Larson announce the parade.
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| 1974 |
- Western Art Show added. Well-know western Artists including Gerald Farm, New Mexico; Laurence Coffelt, Emporia; Charlie Norton, Leoti and Jay
O'Mealie, Tulsa, exhibited their works at the show. Original show held at the Co-op Center.
- Festival of Hot Air Balloons also added.
Balloons appeared at various events with exhibitions and races.
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| 1975 |
- Grandstand judging contest added.
- Tractor Pull also added to the celebration. One of many events that would come and go during the 30 year history of Beef Empire Days.
- The Cookout Contest grows to include a team competition entitled "chuckwagons."
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| 1976 |
- Golf tournament at Buffalo Dunes, Cutting horse Contest and a Horseshoe Pitching Contest are added.
- The Beef Empire Classic makes its first appearance. Held in a November, the football game pitted a team from Kansas against a team from Oklahoma,
Texas or Iowa.
|
| 1977 |
- Mary Hopkins is the first woman president of Beef Empire Days.
- The Cookout Contest evolves into two simultaneous events. The Chuckwagon Cookout, with the purpose of promoting beef by giving beef bites to
park visitors, and the National Beef King Cookout Contest.
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| 1978 |
- The KLA/BED Social Hour, Stag & Ladies Banquet and a Dance becomes a part of Beef Empire Days. Scheduled for Saturday night at the new
Garden City Hilton Inn. Everyone joined together for a social hour, then separated into two banquets--one for stags, the other for ladies,
before rejoining for a dance featuring Newton Graber and the Swing Band.
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| 1979 |
- A road race is added. Called the "Beef Marathon," the event featured a lap around Garden City, finishing at Stevens Park.
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| 1982 |
- Tennis Classic and Team Penning added.
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| 1983 |
- The first belt buckle is offered. The design in 1983 featured the Beef Empire Days logo, a sunrise and a steer.
This began a ten year series of limited edition, numbered buckles. In 1994, an artistic, unnumbered buckle was offered.
In 2000, a newly designed, numbered buckle will be offered to celebrate the 30th Anniversary.
|
| 1984 |
- The BEST joins Beef Empire Days as an event. Chairman Jim Norwood coordinated the delivery of 54 steers to Brookover Feedyards in Garden
City. Two divisions--rate of gain on cattle and carcass cutability--were established with the contest concluding in early August with a
final weight and carcass evaluation.
- Softball Tournament is added to the program.
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| 1985 |
- In an effort to involve and recognize the hands-on employees of area feedyards, the Cattle Working Contest was added in 1 985. Event took
place on the fairgrounds after the live show and featured three person teams or two people and one dog teams.
|
| 1987 |
- The public had been asking for street dances for years, and in 1987 they were offered twice! On Friday and Saturday evening, Stevens Park and
Pine Street were blocked off for these events.
- 1987 also marked the appearance of the first carnival.
|
| 1993 |
- Beef Empire Days grows to encompass 8 days over two weekends. New and returning events in addition to the Live Show, Parade, Chuckwagons and
Art Show included the PRCA Rodeo, a Buckaroo Wrangler Roundup, the Street Dance, a Pancake Feed, Cowboy Poetry, Ice Cream Social and Beef&
Blues Concert. This was also the 25th Celebration.
|
| 2007 |
- Ranch Rodeos become part of the year long activities.
|
| 2008 |
- Beef Empire Days celebrates its 40th anniversary. Cowboy chuckwagons also return with their special beef recipies featured at Chuckwagons in the Park.
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| Thru the years... |
- Headlining acts have included: The Bellamy Brothers, Lousie Mandrell, Johny Ray Gomez Revue, Gunilla Hutton, Tommy Overstreet,
Danny Davis and His Nashville Brass and Dave Frizzell.
- Although Beef Empire Days has always featured the Live and Carcass Shows, an educational event and a "chuckwagon" style event,
many other events have come and gone based on the current trends, fads and public demand. Some of those events include: square dances, drag
races, tractor pulls, beef trivia, prospect steer show, bike races, talent contests, midget races, movies, treasure hunts, pancake feeds,
skate board contests, ice cream socials, air shows, cowboy poetry and stock dog contests.
- The focus of the Live Show has remained the same throughout the years. In 1969, the rules stated that the goal of the show was to
"correlate type and conformation of live animals with that of carcass characteristics in order to provide carcass information for cattle
feeders to use in progressing toward the best combination of characteristics to satisfy the needs of all phases of the beef industry."
Today, we work to emphasize the economic aspects of commercial cattle feeding and the beef industry to this area by providing an
opportunity to gain valuable information in individual cattle while correlating live characteristics with desirable carcass traits in
the race to provide a desirable product for the consuming public.
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