Howdy-Roo heads to Granite Shoals
This photo of Howdy-Roo leadership in 2015 captures decades of service. The Marble Falls chili cook-off is will take place in Granite Shoals in 2025, the event’s first move in its 53-year history. Pictured are (back row, from left) Larry 'Doc' Kinnison , Mike Lamb, LaDonia Starr, Craig Schlicke, Ruby Ross, Johnny Campbell, and Carrie Kinnison; (sitting, from left) Ken Jarosz, Melba Westerman, and Fred Westerman. File photo
The 53rd annual Howdy-Roo chili cook-off will be held in Granite Shoals rather than Marble Falls for the first time in its history. Organizers hope to revitalize the festival at the new venue after a challenging few years, which included the deaths of longtime chili champions and restrictive accommodations at Lakeside Park in Marble Falls.
Howdy-Roo is May 2-3 at Quarry Park, 2221 N. Phillips Ranch Road in Granite Shoals. The chili cook-off has been a staple event in Marble Falls since 1972. This year, it will be held in memory of one of its longest-serving members, Ruby Ross, who died in 2024.
The cook-off is hosted by the Highland Lakes Chili Pod, which is led by Great Pepper Craig Schlicke, who came out of a short retirement in 2025 to take over the reins after stepping away from the role in 2023.
He explained to DailyTrib.com that Quarry Park solves many of the problems the event faced at Lakeside Park, including a lack of parking and electrical hookups for the dozens of visiting chili cooks who enter the competition every year.
“I think it’s best for Howdy-Roo to move out (to Granite Shoals) right now to draw the cooks and barbecue folks back in,” he said. “The complaints (last year) were about parking large RVs, trucks and trailers, and that it was harder to get around.”
According to Schlicke, Howdy-Roo participation had begun to dwindle in recent years, and the annual barbecue cook-off that accompanied the chili event wasn’t included in the 2024 festivities, leading to even fewer competitors.
The barbecue cook-off is back in 2025, and Schlicke hopes to return Howdy-Roo to its former glory, even if it means taking it away from Marble Falls.
The 131-acre Quarry Park has enough space to accommodate hundreds of vehicles, whether car, RV, or truck and trailer, and it has the electrical and sewer hookups for overnight stays. Also, Granite Shoals Fire Chief Tim Campbell and Police Chief John Ortis have been heavily supportive of Howdy-Roo, Schlicke said, as the event enhances their vision of putting the city on the map as a barbecue cook-off destination.
Howdy-Roo had been held in Marble Falls’ Johnson Park for many years but moved to Lakeside Park in 2022. According to Schlicke, this was due, in part, to increased restrictions imposed by the city regarding damage to grass, landscaping, and utilities.
Despite the switch in cities, Marble Falls leadership is still supportive of Howdy-Roo. The city’s Hotel Motel Tax Advisory Committee agreed during a special meeting Feb. 19 to continue funding the cook-off with a $1,500 allotment.
“I think we would like for you all to grow and get stronger and see you come back to Marble Falls,” said Mike Hodge, Marble Falls city manager and head of the committee, during Wednesday’s meeting after a presentation from Schlicke. “I don’t see a reason why we should change the funding.”
Howdy-Roo was awarded the $1,500 from Marble Falls’ 2024 hotel occupancy tax fund, which collects a small tax from short-term rentals in the city. To receive money, an applicant must prove they will bring visitors who spend dollars to the city.
In this case, Schlicke asserted that many Howdy-Roo visitors would still sleep, eat, and play in Marble Falls.
“Everybody loves Marble Falls, there is no question. Everybody loves going to (Blue Bonnet Cafe) and eating, but we’ve got to get them back (to the Highland Lakes) somehow,” he told the committee.
He said he was open to the idea of bringing Howdy-Roo back to Marble Falls but made no guarantees to the committee.
“It ain’t like the old days in Johnson Park, where everybody went down there and partied,” he said. “We don’t have that anymore, we don’t have the crowd anymore. We’re trying to build the crowd up. That’s why we’re moving.”
HOWDY-ROO LOSSES
The Howdy-Roo community was hit hard by Ross’ death in 2024 as well as the 2023 death of one of the event’s main supporters, Carrie Kinnison. Carrie and husband Larry, better known as “Doc,” put a lot of heart into Howdy-Roo, according to Schlicke. Doc, who moved away to be closer to his and Carrie’s children, asked Schlicke to step back in and keep Howdy-Roo going.
2 thoughts on “Howdy-Roo heads to Granite Shoals”
Comments are closed.
If the event goes well in it’s new location you can sure as bet it will never come back to Marble falls. There would be no reason to and the park system is no longer a good place for many of the older events anyways.
Yep, when you can’t have fun in the city park because of heavy-handed restrictions people stop going and events die. Good move y’all!