Buc Days<\/a> is officially on, and crews were hard at work Tuesday transforming the Hilliard Center ahead of one of Corpus Christi\u2019s biggest annual traditions.<\/p>\nIt was delivery day where truck after truck hauled in dirt to prepare the arena for this Friday night\u2019s Buc Days Tour Finals for PBR, followed by Rodeo Corpus Christi next week.<\/p>\n
Outside, carnival rides were being assembled as the midway slowly came to life. Inside, truckloads of dirt poured in as crews worked to turn the arena floor into rodeo grounds.<\/p>\n
The behind-the-scenes transformation is one many festivalgoers never see, but it takes a major effort to make it happen.<\/p>\n
Chase Curry, chief operating officer with Trout Trucking Company, said his team has been handling the dirt operation for decades.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been doing this for 27 years from the very beginning\u2026 it\u2019s a big part of the community,\u201d Curry said.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s setup calls for 1,500 tons of dirt, with more than 100 truckloads arriving each day.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a lot of moving pieces,\u201d Curry said.<\/p>\n
Once the loads are dumped, heavy equipment spreads and levels the surface, getting it ready for cowboys, livestock and rodeo action later this week.<\/p>\n
Across the way, vendors were filling the 76,000-square-foot exhibit hall, which becomes the Shops at Treasure Island during Buc Days. Booths were being stocked and displays assembled ahead of opening night.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s where Yellow Rose Creations owner Annette Chapman was busy preparing for the crowds.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday is moving day. Tomorrow is moving day. Thursday we open at 4 o\u2019clock when all my goodies will be up and ready,\u201d Chapman said.<\/p>\n
Chapman said she has watched the event grow over the years.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery year my sales have increased and increased and increased,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
And while festival favorites like turkey legs, corn dogs and cotton candy will still be available, Buc Days is also adding a new local option this year.<\/p>\n
For the first time, Water Street Restaurants is opening a pop-up location on site, bringing hometown favorites to Rodeo goers.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone wanted a little bit more local flair, so we\u2019re happy to serve some of all of our signature products,\u201d said Richard Lomax with Water Street Restaurants.<\/p>\n
Buc Days leaders said adding new experiences while keeping longtime traditions is part of what keeps people coming back each year.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re really excited to bring two traditions of Corpus Christi together\u2026 Water Street restaurants and Buc Days,\u201d said Buc Days President and CEO Johnny Philipello.<\/p>\n
Buc Days begins Thursday and includes the carnival, shopping, rodeo events, live entertainment and family attractions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was delivery day where truck after truck hauled in dirt to prepare the arena at the Hilliard…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":270593,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[155,157,156],"class_list":["post-270592","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-corpus-christi","tag-corpus-christi","tag-corpus-christi-headlines","tag-corpus-christi-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270592","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=270592"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270592\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/270593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=270592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=270592"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=270592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}