On Thursday, November 13, Marietta’s FFA chapter hosted the fourth annual Red River
Rumble Welder’s Rodeo. Thirty teams representing schools from across Oklahoma and
Texas were present from as far north as Dover and as far south as Springtown, Texas.
The top welding team was from Comanche and Marietta’s own Brody Bazor won the
cutting torch races.
Following tool identification and safety tests, the teams began working to build a picnic
table frame from their own designed blueprints, competing for more than $6,000 in
prizes.
As has become tradition, Derrie Minyard and crew provided a meal fit for kings and
queens free of charge for contestants, their advisors, and the almost-200 people in
attendance.
“We always have kids tell us that they come for the food,” remarked FFA Advisor Josh
Bazor with a smile.
One difference in this year’s contest from past years is that all judges were former
students of Bazor’s.
“These are people who have gone out into the world and are using skills they learned in
this program,” Bazor explained, “and they enjoy getting to come back and spend the
day with us in the shop. It’s a lot of fun for them, and our kids can see them and talk to
them about how they’re using what they learned in our shop to make a living.”
Also present at the contest were representatives from the Tulsa Welding School and
CM Trailers in Madill, who come each year to recruit.
Since last year’s Red River Rumble, Oklahoma has opened a welding series, creating
more competitions of this type, something that Bazor believes is a good step in the right
direction.
“Every time I go to J & I or places like that to pick up supplies, I’ll see somebody who
will ask me if I have any kids who could go to work,” Bazor said. “There is an extreme
shortage of good welders and fabricators in Oklahoma and Texas, so we’re trying to do
all we can to encourage those kids to develop the skill set.
“There are very few jobs that you can go right out of high school and make a living, but
welding and fabricating is one, and we try to graduate kids who are ready to go out and
get those jobs.”