National Western Stock Show Association executives are slated to ring the opening bell on the New York Stock Exchange this morning – no bull.
“We had talked about taking a bull out, but the logistics got to be a mess,” said Kati Christensen, stock-show spokeswoman. Apparently, accommodating animals on Wall Street, even bulls and bears, isn’t as easy as stock-show officials had hoped.
National Western executives will ring the opening bell on the exchange at 9:30 a.m. EST in honor of the show’s 100th anniversary. National Western isn’t a public company, but several of its corporate sponsors are.
Western Gas Resources president and chief executive Peter Dea helped put the bell-ringing together. He will share ringing honors with stock-show chairman Ben Houston, chairman Jerry McMorris, treasurer Ron Williams and president and chief executive Pat Grant.
Western Gas is a longtime sponsor of the stock show’s Coors Western Art Exhibit and Sale. Other show backers include Molson Coors, Qwest, Gannett, Jefferson-Pilot Communications, Entravision Communications Corp., Brown-Forman, Kroger, Marriott and PepsiCo.
The team is expected to fly back this evening, returning in time for the official start Saturday. The stock show, rodeo and horse show is expected to attract more than 600,000 spectators during its run through Jan. 22.
Staff writer Aldo Svaldi can be reached at 303-820-1410 or asvaldi@denverpost.com.
