6 Moos Brothers Celebrate 20-Year Milestone Young Stock Show fans were eager to wish the Moos Brothers a happy birthday during Kids Gone Wild. Glenn Ellman photo. The Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo’s beloved Moos Brothers are teenagers no more. The 20th anniversary of the FWSSR’s fun-loving mascots was celebrated with a big birthday bash in conjunction with “Kids Gone Wild!” during this year’s Stock Show. Always recognizable by his custom Dickies jeans and button-up shirt, the dashing bovine named Hoss remarked on his newfound moo-turity. “Now that I’m 20, I can do a better job of relating to younger and older Stock Show fans.” Even though he’s Hoss’ twin, Elwood takes exception to sometimes being referred to as the “little” brother, but it doesn’t muffle his pride. “I might not be quite as tall as Hoss,” he said, “but believe me, I stand just as proud to be a representative for the greatest stock show on earth. It’s an honor to be an ambassador for the values embraced by the young men and women who work very hard to exhibit here at the FWSSR.” The Moos were “calved” after Show leaders determined that a mascot would connect not only to kids, but young families as well. Ad consultant Susan Watt, the daughter of past president and general manager Bob Watt who worked for the McCormick agency at the time, describes how the bovine duo came about. “Our art director, Jim Holmes, literally took out a napkin at lunch and hand sketched the first mascot, which we later named Hoss,” she said. “He fleshed the character out and we presented that to dad and Brad (Barnes) and during the conversation they decided they also wanted a younger mascot with more of a youthful look, so we created Elwood.” Noted for their ever-present smiles and antics, the Moos Brothers first appeared as the Show’s official ambassadors at the 2005 Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo and quickly became a crowd favorite. Wilson Martin, one of the original “Moo Daddies,” accompanies the duo and has been a part of the outreach since its beginning. “Mr. Watt asked me if I wanted to be on this new committee and you never told him no,” said Martin. “It sounded like an interesting challenge. When we first got started, kids would either want a hug or they would run away. Then we started sending the Moos to schools so that when they were at the Stock Show, the kids would be familiar with Hoss and Elwood. Now both kids and adults want pictures taken with them.” Donning the costumes are local college students who, once embracing the Hoss or Elwood persona, often discover the freedom to express themselves with personalities very different from their own. “It is fun when we have super shy kids who may have a hard time talking to me but become a totally different person in costume,” said Jordan Simons, who serves as head Moos wrangler. “They love the anonymity of the costume and can be as silly and fun as they want.” 6
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