Red, White and Rodeo: Kimberly Lewis and Sean Lehane

Danielle Grossman 0:01
All right, welcome back to Mission Rodeo Podcast. We are so excited for today’s episode. I have two wonderful guests with me. Welcome, guys!

Sean Lehane 0:11
Thank you.

Kimberly Lewis 0:12
Thank you for having us.

Danielle Grossman 0:13
Of course, Kimberly Lewis, Chairman of Armed Forces Appreciation Committee, Red, White, and Rodeo.

Kimberly Lewis 0:18
I love it.

Danielle Grossman 0:19
I like it too. It’s very patriotic. Sean Lehane, VP and Officer in Charge, welcome.

Sean Lehane 0:24
Thanks.

Danielle Grossman 0:25
So we’re here to talk about all things patriotism, America 250, but we want to have some fun first. Does that work for you?

Sean Lehane 0:33
It makes me nervous, but let’s go for it.

Danielle Grossman 0:35
I think I think this would be super fun. Okay, ready? Who wants to go first?

Kimberly Lewis 0:38
We’ll let Sean go first.

Danielle Grossman 0:40
Sean. Okay. What is one item you never travel without?

Sean Lehane 0:43
Oh, my wife.

Danielle Grossman 0:45
That is good!

Kimberly Lewis 0:47
Good answer.

Danielle Grossman 0:48
Love you for that answer.

Sean Lehane 0:49
Thanks.

Danielle Grossman 0:49
Yes. How about you? What What’s one item you never travel without?

Kimberly Lewis 0:53
Probably a flat iron.

Danielle Grossman 0:55
Really?

Kimberly Lewis 0:56
Yes.

Danielle Grossman 0:56
That’s impressive. Do you have like a mini one and a large one?

Kimberly Lewis 0:59
Every size, every description,

Danielle Grossman 1:01
even internationally, Kim.

Kimberly Lewis 1:03
Whatever it takes.

Danielle Grossman 1:03
Okay, you got to do what you got to do.

Sean Lehane 1:06
for your hair or for your clothes.

Kimberly Lewis 1:07
Who cares what the clothes look like?

Sean Lehane 1:11
The hair.

Kimberly Lewis 1:11
The hair.

Danielle Grossman 1:11
The hair is a priority, especially in this humid weather in Houston. You never know.

Kimberly Lewis 1:16
Yes.

Danielle Grossman 1:17
Yes. Anti-humidity spray. Okay. What song instantly gets you in a good mood, Sean.

Sean Lehane 1:21
I have to simmer on that. There’s a lot of them that put me in a good mood.

Danielle Grossman 1:26
What about you?

Kimberly Lewis 1:26
Hawaii Old Dominion.

Danielle Grossman 1:27
Okay.

Kimberly Lewis 1:28
Is there a buzzer?

Danielle Grossman 1:30
We need to tell them to edit some of the song in there for us.

Kimberly Lewis 1:34
Oh yes

Danielle Grossman 1:34
You have one?

Sean Lehane 1:35
I have Keeper of the Stars.

Kimberly Lewis 1:37
Oh, that’s a good one.

Danielle Grossman 1:38
We need like a soundtrack for this podcast.

Kimberly Lewis 1:43
Absolutely, we should travel with a soundtrack.

Danielle Grossman 1:46
Do you want to sing it? Do you?

Kimberly Lewis 1:48
No, no. No, that will not be good. My husband once told me I could never sing in public. Besides doing karaoke.

Danielle Grossman 1:55
Do you love karaoke? Are you karaoke person?

Kimberly Lewis 1:57
No, no. I karaoke in my car where I can’t hear myself. Like it’s that bad.

Danielle Grossman 2:02
I bet your voice is fantastic, though. Do you want to give us a little?

Kimberly Lewis 2:04
No!

Sean Lehane 2:05
just a touch?

Kimberly Lewis 2:06
No, nobody deserves that. Nobody, nobody’s ears will bleed.

Danielle Grossman 2:09
I’m sure it’s wonderful. Do you karaoke?

Sean Lehane 2:11
No.

Danielle Grossman 2:12
Really? Even when you were younger, like you did.

Sean Lehane 2:15
When I was younger, yeah. When I was trying to, you know, woo my wife into saying yes!

Kimberly Lewis 2:19
she finally just gave up and said yes. Just to stop singing.

Sean Lehane 2:22
I think her ears were bleeding.

Danielle Grossman 2:24
Wait. Speaking of karaoke, what’s your karaoke go-to? What was your karaoke go-to?

Sean Lehane 2:28
Keeper of the stars. Oh, did I already use that one?

Danielle Grossman 2:30
Yes, you did.

Sean Lehane 2:31
How about Baby Blue?

Danielle Grossman 2:33
Okay. All right. What about you?

Kimberly Lewis 2:34
So the one that actually got me banned from all public singing ever was Guitars and Tiki Bars by Kenny Chesney.

Danielle Grossman 2:41
Were you really banned? Why were you banned?

Kimberly Lewis 2:42
My husband, like he, he, yes, he. Please, please don’t ever do that again. It’s bad.

Danielle Grossman 2:48
He essentially told you no more.

Kimberly Lewis 2:49
Yes, he did. He-

Danielle Grossman 2:51
I would support you, Kim.

Kimberly Lewis 2:52
Well, thank you, thank you. I think you would be the only one. It was bad enough that actually somebody else saw me a couple of weeks later, and they had like a PA speaker, and I said, “Oh, can I use your speaker?” And he said, “No, not you.” It’s bad.

Danielle Grossman 3:09
That is not nice.

Kimberly Lewis 3:10
I mean, it’s honest. It’s honest. Sometimes, sometimes people just need to be honest.

Danielle Grossman 3:14
But no, but that’s for fun, though. You don’t need to be honest. Even if you sound good, you make them feel good about it.

Sean Lehane 3:19
And Danielle Trey’s a good man, so you know he’s probably got some reason.

Danielle Grossman 3:22
Okay, all right. Well-

Sean Lehane 3:24
I mean Kim is amazing, but it’s.

Kimberly Lewis 3:26
I know my limitations.

Sean Lehane 3:27
Yeah, as long as she knows and they’re comfortable with it, then you know.

Kimberly Lewis 3:30
Yeah-

Sean Lehane 3:31
we’ll just leave it there.

Danielle Grossman 3:32
Okay, we’ll just leave it there. Well, do you want to pivot to fashion? What’s a fashion trend you would want to bring back?

Kimberly Lewis 3:37
Um, you know, I’m not like probably the biggest fashionista, and I don’t know that any of my trends left. I like I think I’m still wearing the same thing now that I wore in the 90s.

Danielle Grossman 3:47
It’s all coming back though. Like I really do think. Have you been? I mean, the stores for the young people these days. It really is. The low rise is back. The bell bottoms are coming back. I mean, everything has like a resurgence every what 10 years or something.

Kimberly Lewis 4:01
So the one thing that I would like to invent is low-rise Rocky Mountains. Like if we could bring back the Rocky Mountains, but I don’t need them to come to my neck. I mean, just a nice little mid-rise, low-rise Rocky Mountain. I would be in heaven.

Danielle Grossman 4:16
You could probably design that. Your business idea. Okay.

Kimberly Lewis 4:20
I think we’re onto something.

Danielle Grossman 4:20
You should get with Jessica Mooney. Maybe she can start one for HLSR merch.

Kimberly Lewis 4:25
I like it. You know, maybe what we actually do is-

Sean Lehane 4:27
dress code thing though

Kimberly Lewis 4:28
oh, there is a dress code though. Oh yeah, yeah.

Danielle Grossman 4:31
Mid rise.

Kimberly Lewis 4:31
Well, maybe what we do is we get the vintage Rockies and we could modify them ourselves.

Sean Lehane 4:36
There you go.

Danielle Grossman 4:36
That’s a good idea.

Kimberly Lewis 4:38
Vintage is a good thing.

Danielle Grossman 4:38
Do you have any fashion trends?

Sean Lehane 4:40
No. No. Yeah. Yeah. Wranglers, cowboy cut, jeans, maybe a white shirt.

Danielle Grossman 4:46
Classic though.

Sean Lehane 4:47
and a cowboy hat.

Danielle Grossman 4:48
Classic, never goes out of style.

Kimberly Lewis 4:50
What is the MWZ? Isn’t that the Wrangler? The the cowboy cut.

Danielle Grossman 4:54
Okay, guys. Speaking of fashion, let’s talk about our fashion. We had some awesome merch this year to celebrate America 250. Happy birthday, America! Happy birthday, America! Kimberly, would you like to show this off? Yes. That was our hat, and this is our comfort colors T-shirt. So cozy. What does it say? Land of the free, home of the brave, and the cowboy in the middle.

Kimberly Lewis 5:14
Yes, and I think it’s important to note that they both have the official America 250 logo on them because we were registered, which I think is just amazing, and I think they’re both still available through the

Danielle Grossman 5:24
rodeohouson.com.

Kimberly Lewis 5:25
Rodeohouson.com.

Danielle Grossman 5:26
Yeah,

Kimberly Lewis 5:26
Go to the shop!

Danielle Grossman 5:27
You can purchase. I cropped. I actually cut mine in half during July 4 for the Lake Day. It was perfect. It was super cute and trendy.

Kimberly Lewis 5:35
All about these modified fashions.

Sean Lehane 5:38
Yes, modified fashions.

Danielle Grossman 5:38
I know! Do wear crop top, Sean?

Sean Lehane 5:40
No, I don’t think that you want to see that. I did wear that T-shirt. It wasn’t crop top, but we went to Idaho for Fourth of July parade.

Danielle Grossman 5:47
Amazing!

Sean Lehane 5:48
Yep, that’s what I was wearing.

Danielle Grossman 5:49
They’re super cute.

Sean Lehane 5:50
Loads of compliments too.

Danielle Grossman 5:51
I’m sure.

Sean Lehane 5:52
It wasn’t cropped.

Kimberly Lewis 5:53
How many people did you run into that were from here or familiar?

Sean Lehane 5:56
Not very many. We were in Victor, Idaho. So the people that I knew from here were the people that they were the people we went with.

Kimberly Lewis 6:04
Yeah, they knew you beforehand.

Sean Lehane 6:06
Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was a pretty cool trip.

Danielle Grossman 6:08
That is fun.

Sean Lehane 6:09
Nothing like a small town parade.

Danielle Grossman 6:11
Oh yeah.

Sean Lehane 6:11
And we were super excited because of the the 250th anniversary. What a special moment.

Kimberly Lewis 6:16
Yeah, that is. That’s fantastic.

Danielle Grossman 6:18
Let’s talk about 250 while we’re on it, guys. Yeah. So it was a very special year to celebrate our country’s birthday, and the fact that we’re here to live that very cool, right? Yes. And both of you have such a special connection to that, being a part of the committee you’re on. So let’s go back to how you got started. How did you get started at rodeo, and how did you get involved with this committee, Kim?

Kimberly Lewis 6:40
So I actually got started with the Houston Metro Go Texan Committee, loved it, loved everything about it. It’s kind of out in the community that I’m in, and it was wonderful. And then one day I was at Rodeo Roundup at City Hall where they do the declaration, and this was many years ago, and that’s where I found out about the Armed Forces Appreciation Committee. I immediately started inquiring, how do you become a member of this committee? One thing led to another. I knew Alan Folger, and he was part of this committee. And the next thing I knew, I got a letter from the chairman asking if I would like to be a part of the committee. And it has just been absolutely amazing to be a part of.

Danielle Grossman 7:17
It’s such a great committee. Does such great things, and it’s such a special day on the grounds. Armed Forces Appreciation Day, presented by Crown Royal, is one of my favorite days. I mean, you feel so patriotic. Tell us a little bit about what the feeling is like out there on the grounds during that day when you first wake up, and maybe if folks have never been, what they can experience.

Sean Lehane 7:38
I think it’s really cool, especially if you come out here like we do every day. You know, for whatever the reason may be, we love the rodeo, and to watch the transition as you pull into the parking lot or walk onto the grounds and see that these massive static displays with the tanks and jeeps and it’s it’s just full conversion, right, and just overnight, like they just miraculously appear, and then as the day unfolds and you see all of these services, all of our troops coming in in uniform, is is really special.

Kimberly Lewis 8:13
It is, and I will say that my pledge for the 250, I wanted everybody that crossed the threshold to feel absolute patriotism and gratitude, and I think that as a whole, the organization made that unbelievably popular through the entire thing. I think the static display with the howdy and all of the flags. It was probably one of the most tagged photographs on social media, and I just think that that is amazing, and it’s still out there. We have service organizations that had pictures of their service members in front of it, and it’s it is still out there. It’s still getting a lot of traction, and I just think that that is amazing.

Danielle Grossman 8:51
It says a lot, right, for the folks that are okay. This is resonating with me, and this means a lot. And thank you for acknowledging. And we want to acknowledge our veterans today, and say thank you for that. Thank you to them.

Sean Lehane 9:02
Yeah, for sure.

Kimberly Lewis 9:03
Thank you for your service. Thank you for, and thanks to their families.

Danielle Grossman 9:06
Absolutely.

Kimberly Lewis 9:07
For the sacrifice.

Danielle Grossman 9:08
What does it mean to you, Sean, to be a part of this committee and have such a role in making this happen and reminding folks that we are in this country that is so amazing and we are celebrating such a milestone this year?

Sean Lehane 9:19
Yeah. So I’d like to go back to how I joined the committee. is much different than Kim, and after serving for one year with the Armed Forces Appreciation Committee, 150 members ish, right? Yeah. There’s a waiting list to get onto this committee. It’s very special. But after the board meeting in June, I was invited back with the other officers and the CEO and chairman of the board, and I was handed a binder. And I opened the binder, and it said, “You’ve got the Armed Forces Appreciation Committee.” And then, oh by the way, have you met not Kim Lewis, but Kim Possible?

Danielle Grossman 9:57
Absolutely her nickname.

Sean Lehane 9:57
It was after the very first leadership. Meeting that I just I really got hooked because putting that day on is massive. I mean, there’s just so much that goes into it, and these guys work so hard. It’s it’s impressive. It’s you know unlike anything that I’d seen. So it was really an honor to be associated with them, and and looking forward to doing it again this year.

Kimberly Lewis 10:19
It’s going to be amazing.

Danielle Grossman 10:20
It is-

Speaker 1 10:21
It is just such. I think that the one word for me that describes the day is gratitude, because you realize when you look out whether you are witnessing the swearing in of the more than 500 recruits, or you are watching the families that walk around with the gold lanyards that day, that that’s the indicative that they are gold star families, which means that they lost a loved one during service, or you see the families with one or potentially both parents in their uniforms with their small children, and you just realize how much we have to be grateful for because every single day these families, not just the service members, but families.

Sean Lehane 11:02
You’re bringing in the whole family to enjoy this family-friendly. It’s the folks that are at home that are supporting those folks that are out.

Kimberly Lewis 11:09
That’s right, and it’s-

Danielle Grossman 11:11
That’s that’s so incredibly important to recognize that, and also what it means for them. You know, for us to do this and give this day for them and their families, and acknowledging the fact that it’s not just about those they’re serving, but those that are affected by those serving.

Kimberly Lewis 11:25
Absolutely.

Sean Lehane 11:26
But we have a pretty good trap. Yeah. You know, the folks that come have a great time. There’s a if you don’t have a good time out here, there’s you know something. There’s something wrong.

Danielle Grossman 11:34
We see them all out there at the carnival.

Kimberly Lewis 11:37
We we want them to have a good time.

Sean Lehane 11:39
That’s the objective. Yeah.

Kimberly Lewis 11:40
That that is 100%. And I. will also you know talking about the families. That is specifically part of our mission. And so this past year, one of the groups that we were you know working with, coordinating, bringing out from Fort Polk, most of their units were deployed, and we were having a hard time getting people to confirm that they were coming, and it was because they didn’t realize that it was open to the spouses even when their partners were deployed. So we brought the families, the you know spouses of the children, and there is nothing that can describe that feeling.

Sean Lehane 12:17
Do you, Danielle? Do you know how they all get here?

Danielle Grossman 12:19
Well, I know a lot of them are bussed in.

Sean Lehane 12:22
Who sends the busses?

Kimberly Lewis 12:23
Our committee does. That’s probably one of the things that it’s important to talk about with our committee. Is our two days are self-funded. All the tickets that we provide for the show, all of the carnival tickets, everything that we do, our committee fundraises to be able to purchase and provide to our service members.

Danielle Grossman 12:39
Incredible. Do you do you feel like there’s even greater recognition because of that, and especially with 250? Do you feel like there was a different energy in the air this year with our with those who were serving and the families that came and visited?

Kimberly Lewis 12:51
Absolutely, I do feel like you could actually feel the patriotism from the masses. Part of that is with the wave across America that we did with the 70,000 flags, we had it all staged. We were going to collect the flags. We had specific flag collection receptacles set up so that anybody that didn’t want their flag could drop it, and we would be able to reuse it or donate it or properly dispose of it. Very few were turned back. Everybody took theirs. They all kept their flags, and so that that felt great.

Danielle Grossman 13:24
Of course, can you talk a little bit about what else we do that day? Obviously, you know, folks who are coming out and just witnessing all of these amazing vehicles and the people on the ground and the feeling. But we also provide lunch. We do an amazing lunch. Talk about what we do during lunchtime for these folks.

Kimberly Lewis 13:40
Right. And so basically, just to kind of walk everybody through a little bit from a service member’s perspective, we are bussing them in, and we even go so far as to actually shut down the freeway, and they have a police escort, so they get

Sean Lehane 13:52
Welcome to Houston!

Kimberly Lewis 13:53
Welcome to Houston, exactly. And it’s also probably important to realize that so many of the folks that are coming for our two days, or for our day, they are not from Houston. They are not from Texas. They probably have never been to a rodeo, or if they have, they’ve been to their wonderful local county rodeos. Nothing quite like what we do.

Danielle Grossman 14:13
Yeah.

Kimberly Lewis 14:14
and so they show up, and I think they’re a little bit overwhelmed just by the time they make it to the bus drop off.

Sean Lehane 14:21
And some of these bus rides are long.

Kimberly Lewis 14:22
They are.

Sean Lehane 14:23
I mean, how long are they on the bus from

Kimberly Lewis 14:24
Three and a half to four hours? And you know, basically, we are trying to bus in regionally, so Fort Polk, Fort Hood, and Corpus Christi. But you are you’re looking at a very long day by the time you get your family together and get them on this bus. So they get here, we get them into the hideout. Our committee actually has prepared a barbecue lunch for them, and so-

Sean Lehane 14:44
You have some people on your committee that are really gifted and talented at cooking. It’s good quality,

Kimberly Lewis 14:50
Talented, and passionate about it. Yes, yes.

Sean Lehane 14:54
What time do they light those smokers?

Kimberly Lewis 14:56
They light those smokers. They do. They light those smokers. Yes. Between two and 3am.

Danielle Grossman 15:01
Wow!

Sean Lehane 15:01
Wow!

Kimberly Lewis 15:04
That is exactly right.

Danielle Grossman 15:06
You gotta do it!

Sean Lehane 15:06
That’s a lot of food

Kimberly Lewis 15:08
And I think it’s also important to note, you know, aside from walking through the kind of what the day looks like, the day goes until after the concert.

Sean Lehane 15:16
Well, we’ll get to that later.

Kimberly Lewis 15:18
Yeah, but-

Sean Lehane 15:18
Let’s talk about the lunch.

Kimberly Lewis 15:19
But I was just going to say that they’re still here at 2am. So I mean,

Danielle Grossman 15:23
it’s a long day for them.

Kimberly Lewis 15:24
Long day.

Danielle Grossman 15:25
A day they’ll never forget, though.

Kimberly Lewis 15:26
That’s right. Well, it’s a long day for our committee members, and so yeah. But it’s for the the guests, and we have done some very specific things trying to coordinate specific family busses. So if we have some that need to kind of get back on the road earlier, we’re trying to accommodate that.

Sean Lehane 15:41
We had about 4000 people this year, right?

Kimberly Lewis 15:43
We did!

Sean Lehane 15:44
and so serving lunch to that many people is no small feat.

Kimberly Lewis 15:48
No small feat.

Sean Lehane 15:49
But I think it’s more than the 150 to 200 committee members.

Kimberly Lewis 15:53
Absolutely.

Sean Lehane 15:54
The whole we’ve got 37,000 people that want to participate. We had, you know, Patman Phillips and Chris Bowman and all 18 officers, they they had to run the officers out. We we just wanted to sit there and keep serving. We were having so much fun.

Danielle Grossman 16:07
It’s great.

Sean Lehane 16:08
It’s a tremendous honor, and they do such a good job.

Kimberly Lewis 16:10
They do, and we’re delighted that they want to come back and do it every year.

Danielle Grossman 16:13
I know.

Kimberly Lewis 16:14
and that’s a. It’s just it’s so rewarding when you actually get to see the service members and their families, and to thank them personally for what they’re doing.

Danielle Grossman 16:21
Yeah, and you know, it just reminds you. Okay, you know, our freedom doesn’t come, you know, free. We have a price to pay for it, and so I think as we head into the end of celebrating our 250, what do you hope Armed Forces Appreciation Day means in the next 510, 15 years? What do you? What kind of meaning do you think it will gain as we head into this next 250?

Kimberly Lewis 16:46
I hope that our sense of patriotism and pride just continues to resonate, and that from one perspective, especially from the rodeo’s perspective, that the young kids are here; they get to see some of the different things that are aligning with what their ideas are, and some of the things that they’re doing in the the agriculture world, and that that does translate into potential military service, and understanding that if you are interested in some of the equine or the the mounted type opportunities, they’re there along with the entertainment. If you want to go and join one of the military bands, some of the best bands in the world, and there’s opportunities there, and to be able to align those and and for people to understand the opportunities that the military does provide, and to just continue to truly recognize and appreciate the sacrifices that the service members and their families make, and how young, how young these families are, and how young the kids are. When you when you watch them take the oath, it’s every year I cry. I mean, it’s just they are so young.

Danielle Grossman 17:55
Have a sacrifice, you know. And one spouse, you know, can’t work or has to travel, and so ultimately you’re giving up so much for them to be able to do this. It’s amazing. What about you? What do you think?

Sean Lehane 18:08
I think that looking into the future, I’m counting on us, the volunteers and this institution, being able to continue to create a family-friendly, safe environment where we have you know 37,000 you know very grateful Americans that can say thank you, and one of our 21 days that I mean we we’re grateful every day right I’m proud to be an American, but to have one day that’s dedicated to you know to share this with them is great, but down the road, you know, we’ve seen this happen already. That the folks that come out as our guests will come back and pay it forward.

Danielle Grossman 18:51
Absolutely, yeah.

Kimberly Lewis 18:53
That is something that is that is kind of unique about our committee. We have several committee members now that they were guests. They were in the military. They came. They experienced it, and they have now found themselves retired or separated from the military. They have chosen Houston as their home, and they have chosen to join the committee.

Danielle Grossman 19:13
It’s amazing. There’s so many people that come experience it and are like, “Oh, I need to be a part of this. It needs to be in my blood now.” It’s pretty cool, right? It’s amazing. I really think that this day is just going to grow and get better every single year. And for those who are coming next year, when is Armed Forces Appreciation Day presented by Crown Royal?

Kimberly Lewis 19:31
It is going to be Wednesday, March the 3rd.

Danielle Grossman 19:34
Yeah. So everyone should come out. It’s going to be great. Okay. So I want to ask you a few more fun questions.

Sean Lehane 19:39
Okay.

Kimberly Lewis 19:40
Sean likes fun questions.

Danielle Grossman 19:42
I know you love it. Okay, so what is talk rodeo? What’s the most Texan thing about you? If you could tell me.

Sean Lehane 19:47
Most Texan? I am a horse guy. So the most Texan thing about me is-

Danielle Grossman 19:51
Don’t you compete? I heard you compete in rodeo.

Sean Lehane 19:55
I mean, not very well. I enjoy competing, but any. Time that I can spend with a horse is is is-

Danielle Grossman 20:04
What events? Steer wrestling?

Sean Lehane 20:06
No.

Danielle Grossman 20:06
Okay.

Sean Lehane 20:07
I do team roping.

Danielle Grossman 20:08
Team roping! That’s awesome. That’s hard. That’s hard stuff.

Kimberly Lewis 20:12
How big of a purse does do we need to have for steer wrestling?

Sean Lehane 20:16
You know what? That’s an excellent question. I guess the money was right. I’d come off that horse and throw that sucker to the ground.

Kimberly Lewis 20:22
I’m just curious. Like, what does that look like?

Danielle Grossman 20:26
What about you? What’s the most Texan thing about you?

Kimberly Lewis 20:29
Probably my accent.

Danielle Grossman 20:32
Really? I can’t tell.

Kimberly Lewis 20:33
That is so funny because I mean, I can’t tell either.

Danielle Grossman 20:37
People think it?

Kimberly Lewis 20:38
I hear that a lot, and they say, “Well, if it wasn’t the accent, it’s when you say “y’all.”

Danielle Grossman 20:43
Well, we all say y’all, right?

Kimberly Lewis 20:45
I thought everybody said y’all!

Danielle Grossman 20:46
Yeah, we say y’all. Last one. Who’s more competitive?

Sean Lehane 20:51
Out of the two of us?

Danielle Grossman 20:52
Yes.

Sean Lehane 20:53
Oh my lord.

Kimberly Lewis 20:54
Sean, hands down.

Danielle Grossman 20:55
Y’all two were so funny together. I need to have you on again.

Kimberly Lewis 21:00
I am so privileged and honored to work with Sean. I thoroughly love working with him.

Sean Lehane 21:05
Thank you. Yeah, the feeling’s mutual. It’s been a lot of fun.

Danielle Grossman 21:07
Yeah. So you’re more competitive now. I know.

Sean Lehane 21:10
Now you know.

Danielle Grossman 21:10
Okay.

Sean Lehane 21:11
But-

Kimberly Lewis 21:11
I do not jump off of horses, nor do I rope anything from a horse.

Sean Lehane 21:15
I hate losing when it comes to that.

Danielle Grossman 21:16
When it comes to maybe your volunteer work and the committee.

Kimberly Lewis 21:21
Ooh, we probably run an edge tie there.

Sean Lehane 21:23
You’ll be hard pressed to find anybody that’s more dedicated to this mission than the lady that’s sitting right.

Danielle Grossman 21:28
Oh, she’s absolutely incredible.

Sean Lehane 21:28
She works a lot, and and it’s it’s productive. It’s not just logging hours. She’s actually getting things done, and so I get to see the list. and And you know, it’s been a real honor. I say this, you know, most sincerely to be able to witness that because I came up through the auctions, you know, where we fundraise and and to see Kim and the committee, but even more than that is the the community with the staff members, you know, with Holly and Joanna, you know, I always say that the 109 committees that are out here, the chairmen have an opportunity to put their thumbprint on the Houston Livestock Show radio experience, but I think Kim will agree with me that without Holly and Joanna,

Kimberly Lewis 22:09
Nothing happens.

Sean Lehane 22:10
None of our dreams come true, and so I we adore them.

Danielle Grossman 22:14
That’s so great. They are wonderful.

Kimberly Lewis 22:16
We do adore them.

Danielle Grossman 22:17
I adore them too. But yes, we need to work together with the volunteers, that’s how everyone is successful, and I think we’ve gotten really good at it. And it’s really showing up in the show, in the mission, in everything we do. And so I just want to say thank you for what you guys do for the show. And I know it’s your last year in this role, Kim. So-

Sean Lehane 22:36
Hey, mine too. You know we’re going to ride out together.

Kimberly Lewis 22:38
We are.

Sean Lehane 22:39
Don’t you worry about us. We’re going to leave it all on the dirt.

Danielle Grossman 22:41
It’s going to be such a good year, and 95. So you get to go out in the 95th.

Kimberly Lewis 22:46
On the 95th!

Danielle Grossman 22:46
What an awesome year!

Kimberly Lewis 22:47
Yes, it is amazing. It’s gone by so fast.

Danielle Grossman 22:50
I know. Well, thank you all so much for coming to the podcast. It was amazing talking to you about this incredible day. Yes, and we will have you on any time. And if you can believe it, show is right around the corner. Can you believe it?

Kimberly Lewis 23:01
It will be here before we know it.

Sean Lehane 23:02
It’s my favorite time of year.

Kimberly Lewis 23:04
Yes!

Danielle Grossman 23:05
All right. Thanks, guys. We’ll see you later.

Sean Lehane 23:06
You bet, thank you!

Kimberly Lewis 23:07
Thank you.