Over the past twenty years- the Oklahoma Youth Expo have invited lawmakers to come to the Jim Norick Arena during the OYE and learn from a 4-H and FFA member from their area about how they show their animal- a pig, lamb, goat or Steer or Heifer.
Oklahoma Farm Report’s Ron Hays talked just ahead of the 2025 Showmanship with Bray Haven, Vice President of Operations for the Oklahoma Youth Expo about the why and the value of this long standing part of the spring livestock show. The 2025 Showmanship is set for 6 PM Monday evening in the Norick Arena. He calls it a “can’t miss event” for legislators.
Haven tells Hays that the Legislative/Celebrity Showmanship is an event designed to showcase the 4-H and FFA youth who are the heart of the Oklahoma Youth Expo and remind lawmakers that many of them are Oklahoma’s leaders of tomorrow.
One of the keys is that pairing up of lawmakers with youth from their area- and Haven says its “really important not just for the Oklahoma Youth Expo and that interaction with that youth and their lawmaker on the importance of this program and their continued support of facilities and economic development dollars that they are choosing to invest…and the opportunity for those students to have direct interaction with their legislator- not a lot of activities get that type of interaction with their elected official and whether it’s education or agriculture issues- I think the agriculture community as a whole needs this type of opportunity.”
In 2024- the overall winner was State House Deputy Floor Leader John Pfeiffer, who showed a steer. Other winners from the three remaining animal divisions included State Senators Lonnie Paxton and Chuck Hall as well as U.S. Senator James Lankford.
The Legislative and Celebrity Showmanship is one of several events happening Monday through Friday of this week as the OYE says a final goodbye to the Jim Norick Arena at the OKC Fairgrounds. The Arena is set to be demolished in May and the new OG&E Coliseum will take its place in June, with the 2026 OYE to have many of their events in the new facility.
Click here for the full schedule for the 2025 OYE. The Oklahoma Farm Report team will be snapping pictures from start to finish- and you can see them as we add them to our Flickr album for 2025- available here. If you want to look back to the 2024 OYE- click here for our pictures from last year’s event.
Our coverage of the 2025 Oklahoma Youth Expo is sponsored by Hilliary Communications. More than 60 years ago, the Hilliary Family acquired a small telephone company in rural southwest Oklahoma. Now in its third generation, the company has grown from a single exchange with just 100 access lines covering 22 square miles to now serving more than 19,000 customers in 22 counties throughout Oklahoma & Texas. The company also offers IP television service and internet speeds up to 1 Gig. Click here to learn more about Hilliary Communications.
