H.R. No. 109 R E S O L U T I O N 1-1 WHEREAS, Since 1958 the World's Largest Rattlesnake Round-Up 1-2 has taken place in Sweetwater, Texas, on the second weekend in 1-3 March; and 1-4 WHEREAS, Sponsored by the Sweetwater Jaycees, the event is 1-5 held annually at the Nolan County Coliseum and attracts some 35,000 1-6 visitors to Sweetwater each year; this year's round-up will be held 1-7 on the weekend of March 10-12; and 1-8 WHEREAS, Conceived by a group of area farmers and ranchers 1-9 plagued by an abundance of rattlers, the event has grown over the 1-10 past 30 years to be the world's largest round-up, with over 100 1-11 tons of western diamondback rattlesnakes turned in to date; and 1-12 WHEREAS, Highlights of the round-up include the rattlesnake 1-13 review parade, snake handling demonstrations, snake hunting trips, 1-14 the Rattlesnake Run, the Men's Beard Growing Contest, and a beauty 1-15 contest where contestants compete for college scholarships donated 1-16 by the Jaycees as well as for the title of Miss Snake Charmer; and 1-17 WHEREAS, Snake milking techniques are also demonstrated 1-18 continuously throughout the round-up, and the venom collected is 1-19 used for medical cancer research and as an antidote to snakebite; 1-20 and 1-21 WHEREAS, In addition, the Sweetwater Jaycees sponsor dances 1-22 held on Friday and Saturday nights and a cook shack that 1-23 specializes in deep-fried western diamondback rattlesnake meat; 1-24 over 4,000 pounds of rattlesnake meat are served annually; and 2-1 WHEREAS, The uniqueness of the rattlesnake round-up regularly 2-2 draws attention from media nationwide; the Sweetwater Jaycees are 2-3 truly deserving of special legislative recognition for their 2-4 sponsorship of this popular event; now, therefore, be it 2-5 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 74th 2-6 Legislature of the State of Texas hereby commend the Sweetwater 2-7 Jaycees on their sponsorship of the World's Largest Rattlesnake 2-8 Round-Up and extend to the Jaycees best wishes for a successful 2-9 round-up this year; and, be it further 2-10 RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be 2-11 prepared for the Sweetwater Jaycees as an expression of esteem by 2-12 the Texas House of Representatives.