Published: April 20, 2008 04:01 pm            

Inmate-constructed barbecue grill among rodeo prizes

Cowboys For Kids benefits JC Children’s Advocacy Center

Organizers of Cowboys For Kids, a rodeo event benefiting the Johnson County Children’s Advocacy Center, expressed admiration for Johnson County Corrections Center inmates who went out of their way to help abused children.

“I’ve always said that a lot of the people in our jail aren’t bad people,” Sheriff Bob Alford said. “They’re basically good people who have made bad choices.”

Inmates Richard Ellis and Benjamin Pratt worked [as part of Johnson County’s inmate worker’s program] with Deputy Bret Baker to design and construct a barbecue smoker grill to be raffled at the rodeo.

“It was all their idea,” Alford said. “They were cleaning flower beds and removing an old tree at the CAC. The next thing, they came up with a drawing of plans for a barbecue and asked if they could build it. I said we already have a barbecue at the jail, but they wanted to donate it to CAC.”

Tammy King, executive director of CAC, said she’s similarly impressed by the gesture.

“It’s pretty amazing and a refreshing story to see,” King said. “In the time they spent here as part of their rehabilitation, they learned about what the center does and decided they wanted to do something to help.”

Baker, who has built other smokers and metal work projects, said Ellis and Pratt approached him with the idea.

“I thought it was a great idea,” Baker said. “We made plans and went to the sheriff for approval, then built it. I taught Ellis how to weld while we were building it. He became pretty good at it.”

Ellis and Pratt have since been released from the jail.

“We were doing work out there [at the CAC] and decided we wanted to do something special that would benefit the children’s rodeo,” Pratt said. “Ellis and me drew the plans up. Mr. Baker really liked the idea and helped with it. He has other stuff to do at the jail, of course, so we worked on it off and on for about a month.”

Officials initially considered auctioning the smoker along with several other prizes during a dinner scheduled for the night before the rodeo but decided to raffle the grill instead.

“Several workers at the jail watched the smoker being built and really liked it,” King said. “The auction items can go for pretty big money sometimes. So, we decided to raffle the grill, and everyone can have the chance to win it.”

The drawing for the grill will take place during the rodeo at 7 p.m. Saturday. Raffle tickets cost $10. Rodeo tickets cost $8 for ages 5-10 years and seniors 65 and older and $10 for ages 11-64.

Raffle and rodeo tickets can be purchased at the Burleson and Cleburne chambers of commerce, the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, the CAC office, the First National Bank of Burleson and all Pinnacle Bank locations.

        

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