PRORODEO Sports News - February 21, 2025

least.” Decker also knows the smalltown vibe of Stephenville isn't going to last much longer. “I'm not surprised at the growth. You can't keep a good secret long,” Decker said. “As the cowboy lifestyle has grown over the years, and it continues to grow beyond even my expectations of what I expected the western lifestyle to be like. Then, you take into consideration some of the TV shows that they’ve brought out and ev erybody wants to be a cowboy now. And you know, we have people moving in here from California and Arizona and Utah, and, you know, all parts of the world that want to come in here and be a part of this lifestyle.” And Decker cherishes the fact he calls Stephenville home. “I came back here in 1995 met my wife through Tar leton, and it's been history ever since. We built a busi ness here. We built a family here. Stephenville is my home. It's the best place in the world to live, bar none. I love it here. I love the community, I love the people, I love the lifestyle. It is just home. And, you know, it's the Cowboy Capital of the World for a reason, and it lives and dies by the Cowboy Code. “There are so many people here that when you shake their hand and look them in the eye, they mean it. There's no such thing as a contract that goes along with it. It's word of mouth. It's their word, and that's what they mean. And it means a lot living in a community like that. That’s Stephenville.” The Cowboy Capital of the World.

A photo of the Decker family hangs at the Hard Eight BBQ restaurant

The brand new Priefert Fairgrounds Arena was built and up and running for the 2023 Cowboy Capital of the World Rodeo in September. “In the Cowboy Capital of the World, that's what cow boys do. We make it happen, blood, sweat and tears, daylight to dark, every day, and we made it happen, and everybody had a vision, and it came true. And we've got a lot more growth. We've got a lot more that we have in mind,” Decker said. “It's, it's our home now, and we're lucky and fortunate to have Stephenville behind us to make it happen.” Decker also is known throughout Stephenville as the owner of the massively popular Hard Eight BBQ restau rant. “We started there in 2003 and I wanted to come here and be a rodeo cowboy, but I soon realized that I probably wasn't cutting the mustard enough to make a living,” Decker said. “So, I better figure out another way to do it. And so, me and my father-in-law and mother in-law came together, and we bought this little piece of property (at 1091 Glen Rose Road) and built the building ourselves and started from scratch, and it's afforded us to live here in Stephenville, and has been very success ful and reached out into all parts of North America and across the world. And it's been flattering to say the

A cowboy sings while children dance at the Hard Eight restaurant

PRORODEO SPORTS NEWS 15