LEAGUE CITY
Curator sets sights on 'Super' start
By CAROLINA AMENGUAL The Daily News
The curator of the Butler Longhorn Museum,
Jennifer Wycoff-van der Wal, displays a longhorn skull
on Friday. The Butler Longhorn Museum hopes to open
by February to take advantage of the Super Bowl crowds.
Houston will host Super Bowl XXXVIII Feb. 1.
Jennifer Wycoff-van der Wal, curator of the Butler Longhorn Museum and Heritage Park, is working against the clock to cash on the biggest sports event in the country. "We want to open on Super Bowl weekend," she said, adding the museum's grand opening will take place a few months later, probably in April. "Super Bowl will bring in an incredible amount of tourism and will create a lot of publicity for League City and the museum."
Wycoff-van der Wal said it was too early to tell how much money the big game might generate for the museum. Her immediate concern is meeting safety codes and working with contractors. For months, she's been gathering information and objects linked to the Butler Longhorns all over the country.
"We're collecting information from everybody,' Wycoff-van der Wal said. "They're very unique animals. They're smart, very loving, sweet, kind, easy to train and easy to ride. They give birth easily and have incredible survival capabilities."
League City is the birthplace of the prestigious bloodline. Milby Butler began raising Texas Longhorns in the early 1900s. Together with six other families, he is credited with saving the breed from extinction. A shipment from New Orleans with 20 skulls of Butler Longhorns is scheduled to arrive in League City in November. Ranchers in Colorado, Louisiana and Minnesota have also agreed to donate original photographs depicting the cattle to add to the local collection.
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
The Parks and Recreation Department is seeking volunteers to help at the Butler Longhorn Museum and Heritage Park. Opportunities include a variety of tasks, from tending to animals serving as tour guides to assisting curators.
For more information, call (281) 332-1393.
CHAD DREENE/The Daily News
