The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Western Heritage Community Challenge Committee and Reliant Energy kicked off the inaugural Boot Scoot 2007 on Friday to raise awareness of the Show.
Boot Scoot is a citywide contest that gives local artists and businesses an opportunity to decorate and paint 50-pound, six-foot-high and six-foot-long fiberglass boot sculptures.
To kick off Boot Scoot 2007, children from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Houston, along with Houston Texans guard Chester Pitts, painted the Reliant Energy and Houston Texans boot sculpture, themed "Powerful Partners."
The boots are appropriately themed "Powerful Partners" because of Reliant Energy's 30-year partnership with the Houston Texans and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. All of the fiberglass boots will be mounted on concrete or metal bases weighing approximately 200 pounds for stability and will be placed at locations throughout the city, including parks, buildings and streets.
Local businesses approached by the Western Heritage Community Challenge Committee were given the opportunity to purchase and paint a boot sculpture, with net proceeds benefiting the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Educational Fund. Boot Scoot is comparable to Houston's own 2001 CowParade, where more than 300 life-size cows were decorated and placed throughout the city, and is a Texas-version of similar national efforts, such as Chicago's "Cows on Parade" or Minnesota's "Moose in the City."
More than 85 boots were sold to local businesses. Painted boots will be displayed in groups around the city with 20 boot sculptures being put on display at Reliant Park during the 2007 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, from Feb. 27 to March 18.
"The Western Heritage Community Challenge Committee is excited about our partnership with Reliant Energy, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Houston and the Houston Texans for Boot Scoot," said Skip Wagner, president of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. "We anticipate Boot Scoot will stir excitement about the 75th anniversary of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo."
"Reliant Energy is proud to be a long-time sponsor of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and its youth and education programs," said Matthew Benner, senior vice president, Reliant Energy Retail Marketing and Operations. "At Reliant, we recognize the importance of educational outreach and the positive impact it has on building strong communities in Houston and beyond."
Reliant Energy Inc., (NYSE: RRI) based in Houston, provides electricity and energy services to retail and wholesale customers in the United States. In Texas, the company provides service to approximately 1.9 million retail electricity customers, including residential, small business and commercial, industrial, governmental, and institutional customers. Reliant also serves commercial, industrial, governmental and institutional customers in the PJM (Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland) market.
The company is one of the largest independent power producers in the nation with approximately 16,000 megawatts of power generation capacity across the United States. These strategically located generating assets utilize natural gas, fuel oil and coal. For more information, visit http://www.reliant.com/corporate.
