The Tucson Rodeo Parade is celebrating 100 years in 2025, and Terry Betts has been a part of more than half of them as a member of the Tucson Rodeo Parade Committee. In fact, the 2025 parade will be Terry’s 56th. He has outlasted all other members in active service to the committee. When he was just a preschooler in 1948 at the Boots and Saddles Nursery School he rode on a wagon in the parade with his schoolmates, dressed in western wear, big hat, and a fake red beard. Now over all these years later, Terry is still part of the Tucson Rodeo Parade.

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During these years, Terry has served on and chaired many subcommittees including Music, Entries and Lineup, and Tickets. He been on the executive Board numerous times and was Committee Chairman for the 1997 and 1998 parades. During his chairmanship, Terry raised revenue by charging entries for commercial signage and had the committee create operating profiles so all aspects of the subcommittees would be documented and followed. These profiles remain today with obvious updates and changes over the years, but new members benefit from the knowledge contained within.

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Terry was brought on to the committee by his father-in-law Paul Grimes, himself a long-term member. But the family connection does not end there. Terry’s wife Lynnell and oldest daughter Angie have been honored by the committee for their many years volunteering for the parade, and his younger daughter Tracy is now a 5-year member of the Committee. Terry’s roots run deep in the Committee and for the Betts clan it has been, and still is, a family affair.

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Terry expressed his thoughts on the Parade Committee in his father-in-law’s book The Tucson Rodeo Parade, Parade Museum and Committee, A History From 1925: “The most interesting part of having been Chairman of the Parade Committee is its 36 members, The camaraderie, caring and concern of this committee cannot be outdone by any other organization. Our main goal is to put on the safest, most authentic, longest non-motorized parade for the community of Tucson. The members do just that through their dedication, time and unselfishness.” 

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