Banking on KC – Lindsey Patterson Smith of the American Royal
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Lindsey Patterson Smith of the American Royal: Celebrating 125 Years of Tradition and Growth
Kelly Scanlon:
Welcome to Banking on KC. I'm your host, Kelly Scanlon. Thank you for joining us. With us on this episode is Lindsay Patterson Smith, a director for the Patterson Family Foundation. She's also a director for the American Royal Association, and she's here today to talk with us about its 125th anniversary, a planned campus expansion, and the American Royal's rich cultural heritage. Welcome, Lindsay.
Lindsey Patterson Smith:
Hi, Kelly. Thank you so much for having me here.
Kelly Scanlon:
What an icon, the American Royal. I don't think there's anybody in Kansas City who hasn't heard of it. And before I go any further, I've got to say congratulations. 125th anniversary, that's just incredible.
Lindsey Patterson Smith:
I know. It really is. It's really amazing to be a part of an organization with 125 years of history, of connections into this city. When you really study where the American Royal came from, it grew right alongside Kansas City.
Kelly Scanlon:
It absolutely did.
Lindsey Patterson Smith:
So it's truly an honor to be a part of it in this little bit of time that I'm able to be a part of it.
Kelly Scanlon:
So what kind of special events have you been hosting as a part of this, or do you still have planned, even?
Lindsey Patterson Smith:
In our regular seasonal events and the regular events that we host all year round, we will do some special recognition at each one of those events. The awards that will be given out will have special emblems on them. If you're crowned a champion this year, then you get a special 125-year anniversary award, which is pretty unique.
In addition to that, we have a lot of other collaborations and events planned with some new partners here in Kansas City. We've commissioned with the Coterie Theater a play to highlight the Tom Bass story, and Tom Bass was a champion of the American Royal. He was an equestrian in the early 1900s. He was a freed Black slave. He was born into slavery and was an icon in the equestrian world. He was the first African American to compete in an equestrian show and was a lifelong supporter of the American Royal. So we're working with the Coterie to commission this unique one of a kind production with a target of grade school children to go help tell that Tom Bass story.
Kelly Scanlon:
Yeah, a story that's not told.
Lindsey Patterson Smith:
A story that's not told often.
Kelly Scanlon:
You said you've commissioned this, so it's brand new-
Lindsey Patterson Smith:
It's brand new.
Kelly Scanlon:
There's a new script. You have to have all kinds of people to bring this to life. Are they mostly local people from Kansas City?
Lindsey Patterson Smith:
Yeah, so working closely with the Coterie as a producer, we've commissioned a playwright that is from Kansas City, I think she's currently based out of Atlanta, but she has roots here in Kansas City, and she's creating this story from scratch. She's done a lot of research on the Tom Bass story and his impact into the equine world and the leadership that he had as a Black man in a time when Black men didn't have those levels of leadership.
Kelly Scanlon:
A lot of groundbreaking things going on in that story.
Lindsey Patterson Smith:
Another surprise event that we are planning is we're going to bring back a cattle drive parade for the 125th anniversary.
Kelly Scanlon:
Oh my gosh. Do you know the route yet?
Lindsey Patterson Smith:
We'll be in the West Bottoms. We'll be up and down and we'll finish down at the American Royal Center at Hale Arena. So we're pretty thrilled about that and we have a lot of work to make that happen, but we're aiming for fall as a part of our livestock show.
Kelly Scanlon:
So you have a lot of events planned, especially for the anniversary. But then throughout the year and the events that you hold routinely, you're also going to add something, a little bit of flourish to recognize the 125th anniversary.
Lindsey Patterson Smith:
Exactly. Yeah. We've got little things depending on what the event is. Our next big event that's coming up is the livestock show, and so it's two weeks where people are bringing in their species, their animals. We have cattle, sheep, goats, hogs that all come into the West Bottoms. Hereford breed is especially important to us because we have roots in with the Hereford breed. The American Royal wasn't the American Royal, it was the National Hereford Show, and it was the first of its kind. It was the largest of its kind at that time, and all of that was an evolution of the activity, the economic activity that was already happening in Kansas City, that was already happening down there in the West Bottoms. So it was kind of a natural progression. And what happened was those business leaders started showing off, basically. So they started competing, saying who's the champion, and things are more valuable-
Kelly Scanlon:
Absolutely.
Lindsey Patterson Smith:
... if they have a blue ribbon on it. They were able to name those champions, and then they added in breeds. And so for the next several years we started adding in additional breeds, different species of the same types of animals.
Kelly Scanlon:
So you really outgrew the name.
Lindsey Patterson Smith:
We really outgrew the name. And so by 1905, so just a few years later, right there at the turn of the century, that's when the American Royal was no longer the National Hereford Show. It incorporated as the American Royal Association. We added in our equine show at that point because what happened there was the business leaders would come and trade during the day down in the stockyards, their wives would come in, and it was part of society. So the entry of those equine shows, those horse shows, that put the American Royal front and center of Kansas City society at that time. It's a deep part of our culture. This is Gilded Age.
We had our own Gilded Age heiresses here in Kansas City, Loula Long Comb. Long is her maiden name, Comb's her married name. She's of the Long family for Longview Farms. She's a avid equestrian, known nationally. I mean not just here in Kansas City, but known nationally. And there are stories of when she would come into the arena and get standing ovations with her horses, and she was a little bit of a spitfire. So she's known nationally as an equestrian. She showed nationally, but she continued to show here in Kansas City for 50 years. She started in 1905, the beginning of the equestrian world in the American Royal, and continued on for another 50 years, which is really amazing.
Kelly Scanlon:
It really is. At the beginning of the show, you talked about how the American Royals intertwined with Kansas City growing up. They grew up together and you just mentioned how there, at the turn of the century, it was really a place for the well-to-do to be associated with it and Gilden Age heiresses and so forth. But take us further than that. How did the city continue? How did their history continue to intertwine and that their histories are really married?
Lindsey Patterson Smith:
To understand the American Royal history, you really have to understand Kansas City's history and where it started. Kansas City is unique in its geography. It's right on the edge of that western frontier. It had important role in the Oregon Trail and out west, and so you started getting a lot of people coming through. So the town of Westport, the town of Kansas, early days, people are coming, packing up their wagons before they're heading on west. But it was the start of the railroad industry and the livestock trade that really helped Kansas City boom.
By the end of the Civil War, Kansas City population was town of 2000, 3000. 30 years later, it was 32,000. It was well into its 30s. So I mean, that's pretty amazing, right? That's a big jump of population and all that population and that economic growth spurred because of that cattle trade, which was aided by the railroad. So we've got two important rivers right there in the confluence that meet there in the West Bottoms, and then you've got railroad bridges that allowed us to start going farther west. So you could take cattle from the south, from Texas, and bring it all the way up, and you couldn't do that without Kansas City.
So all this growth happened in Kansas City. It was mostly around the railroads and in the livestock trade. And so the American Royal was really born out of that. The American Royal was born as a side hustle kind of for these business leaders, and then it continued to grow and it kind of ingrained itself into the Kansas City society. The equine show and the popularity of horse shows in that time, I mean, that was entertainment. That was where you go. You wear your evening formal wear to go to a horse show. So that was the place to be seen, but it was also accessible for everyone. It wasn't just something for the well-to-do of Kansas City. There's stories of people from all walks of life coming down to the West Bottoms to see the cattle, to see the livestock shows, and then to go see the horse shows as well.
The prominence of the American Royal as a livestock show, as a place where champions are crowned, was attracting competitors from as far away as Washington state. And you think about what that looks like in the early 1900s, coming in from Washington state. So from early on, it was a regional draw and a national draw to bring people in. So that in of itself was kind of an economic driver in Kansas City.
And then the agriculture shifted. Wars happened, floods happened, fires happened. The American Royal has suffered all of those things over its years. It's lost buildings to fire. The community came back in after its first fire in the 1908, I want to say. The entire facility was burned down to the ground. The community came in and funded, crowdfunded, the rebuilding of that facility so that it could open later that year. That shows the commitment of Kansas City. I think that's a through line to today where Kansas City is a community. We come together, we bind together, we find common purpose. We find a place of self and identity, and we're a very charitable community. Kansas City I know is known for having one of the highest charitable giving rates in the country and that goes back to the early days of Kansas City, right? So you can see that all along. And then when there is an organization that is a trusted, loved asset of the community and it's in need, this community comes together to rally behind it. And that's been proven several times in the American Royal's history.
So with livestock well under its way, the livestock competition and show, and that was a national presence, equine was highly important for those early days. The next big shift of the American Royal was the introduction of the rodeo. So that happened in 1949. We're celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, and in that same year was the introduction of the BOTAR Organization. So the Bells of the American Royal, which is a debutante ball and a charitable organization that's purpose is to support the American Royal and to help bring some youth attention into the American Royal. So both of those beloved assets are celebrating their 75th anniversary this year.
So the rodeo came in in the '50s, booming. There's a long list of competitors. If you know anything about the rodeo world, the best of the best have all come through the American Royal at some point in time, but there's some pretty amazing acts. So like Garth Brooks. We know Alabama played before they got big here. So it's just kind of fun to go see. That was also a period of time we were getting senators and presidents were all coming to the American Royal. There were celebrated Kansas Days and Missouri Days. And so all of these fun celebrations that just brought all this attention into Kansas City at a national level.
Skipping forward, that kind of ran for a while. And with those three main events, the barbecue was introduced in the '80s. So come the '80s, here comes the American Royal Barbecue. And it started really small, like all these other big pillars of the American Royal, started with a handful of teams, I think like 15, 30 teams, and then quickly grew, and now it's considered the world's largest barbecue competition. The purpose of all these events, whether it's equine or rodeo, livestock or barbecue, is to celebrate food and agriculture.
Kelly Scanlon:
Yes. And I think that it's great that you brought that up because I think people lose sight of that, not intentionally, it's just that they're having so much fun. As you say, it's a big party, or these are just such fun events to watch when you talk about some of the shows featuring the animals, and you lose sight of that. But it really is. It's about animals and agriculture. And you can't forget too, the economic contribution of all of this.
Lindsey Patterson Smith:
Absolutely.
Kelly Scanlon:
Talk to us about the economic contribution of the Royal. Everything started small, but now it wouldn't be Kansas City without these things.
Lindsey Patterson Smith:
Kansas City wouldn't be Kansas City without the American Royal, and the American Royal wouldn't be what it is without Kansas City. It's truly Kansas City and authentically Kansas City. So that's very important, and that's something that we always hold dear to our heart. You mentioned the economic impact, which is massive, and I think very unknown about the American Royal.
So today and for the last however many years, we're operating out of Hale Arena in the West Bottoms. We lease that facility from the city, and so we have a hundred event days that we have available to us to host our events. We do that in about 40 different events throughout the year. The economic impact today is around $85 million annually. So that's today, when we have a hundred event days. And so with an $84 million, $85 million annual economic impact, where does that all come from? How is that coming from a barbecue and a livestock show?
Think about the livestock show alone. We have over 400 competitors coming in. So these are people that are bringing their animals, and they're not just bringing an animal in. They're bringing an animal with a trailer and a truck, and that needs new shocks, and they're going to go to O'Reilly Auto Parts, and they're going to go to Walmart and they're going to buy gas, and they're going to buy groceries, and they're going to buy hotel rooms. And so for each of those animals, there's probably three to four heads that are staying not just for a night, but for a week. You've got all of these people coming in, staying, spending money in Kansas City. And it's not just Kansas City, Missouri that they're doing it right there in the West Bottoms, right? They're going out around the town, that they're hitting everywhere. So in our new facility-
Kelly Scanlon:
Yeah, let's talk about that for just a minute. You have a new campus that's planned. It's going to be massive-
Lindsey Patterson Smith:
Massive.
Kelly Scanlon:
... from what I understand.
Lindsey Patterson Smith:
Yes.
Kelly Scanlon:
I've been very eager to hear you talk about it and bring us up to date. Just saw some more articles in the news yesterday about it. So talk with us about why you're doing what you're doing and what it's going to allow the American Royal to do.
Lindsey Patterson Smith:
So why are we doing this? Why are we building this massive facility out in Kansas City, Kansas? It's because of the future, and it's because of this renewed vision that the American Royal has. From our early days, we've existed to champion food and agriculture, but there's a vision of the American Royal today where we are more than that, where we are a place where people come together to experience agriculture and to learn about it. It's education, it's engagement. It's entertainment; we're never losing that aspect of it. And to do this at a scale that we want to be able to do it, we're really just constrained with geography, with the amount of space that we can have.
Kelly Scanlon:
Yeah. And do you think it would be fair to say that the public in Kansas City is driving this ...
Lindsey Patterson Smith:
Yeah, it really is. We continue to grow as the American Royal. We have continued to grow for 125 years incrementally over time, and that shows us that there's a need and a desire out there. And right now, people are more connected to food and where their food comes from than ever before. And so we feel that there's a huge opportunity to connect people into their food. Food is the ultimate unifier, right? We can all rally around food, it's...
Kelly Scanlon:
And it's the center of community...
Lindsey Patterson Smith:
It's the center of community.
Kelly Scanlon:
Think about your dining room table or your family table, and you just extend that out further. Church gatherings with food and-
Lindsey Patterson Smith:
Absolutely. It's an ultimate unifier in a world where we need some ultimate unifiers, right? And knowing where our food comes from and how we are connected with our food is important, and people are telling us they want to know more. So we started introducing programs well in advance of moving to our new facility. Next week we have a farm-to-table dinner where we are bringing in a chef. This is our third, maybe fourth farm-to-table dinner. And these things are sold out. They are-
Kelly Scanlon:
I can imagine they are. I-
Lindsey Patterson Smith:
They are sold out.
Kelly Scanlon:
I've never heard of them, but I want to know more.
Lindsey Patterson Smith:
It's because they're small. And so we're just starting some of these new programs. We're doing these farm-to-table dinners. The next one, Mitch from Meat Mitch will be our chef. And it's not just a barbecue dinner. It's elevated barbecue. So he's going to do things that you never really know, but then you'll also talk through where he sources his meats, why he does it, how agriculture and where those food products come from, how that influences the way that he works, the way that we eat, the way that he cooks, all in a really fun evening down at the American Royal. The next farm-to-table dinner will be in conjunction with our cutting horse show. So you also get to see some competitive equine event as well, which is something that, if you've never seen a cutting horse show, it's really fun to go see.
So this new facility and the scale of it is going to allow us to do a lot of things. One, it's going to be able to help us grow and meet the market demands for the events that we are already doing, but it's also going to help us solidify Kansas City and the American Royal as that center of agriculture. We have over a million square feet of space that is purpose built for agriculture. We will have a learning and engagement center, but the entire 1 million square feet is a learning and engagement center. Everything in here is being built with education and engagement in mind. We're partnering with Dimensional Innovations to help with some of our-
Kelly Scanlon:
Oh, of course. They would be perfect for that.
Lindsey Patterson Smith:
They are great. They have some amazing ideas, and I'm really excited to see what they come up with for this. It's been really fun working with them on this project. But it's not just those formal museum style exhibits. It's everything.
So in our new facility, you can come in for that farm-to-table dinner, and you can see the cutting horse show. Or maybe you come in for the Parade of Hearts exhibit, where they bring in all the Parade of Hearts, and this is something that's happened down here in Hale Arena that was just kind of a happy accident. The city hosted the Parade of Hearts in Hale Arena. We had a quarter horse show going on at the same time. So we got all these people coming in from the public. They were coming down to see the hearts, but they stopped in to see the equine show. They stopped in to see the horse show, and they're like, "Wow, that's cool." And that's what the American Royal does. And that's how we slowly and intentionally and unintentionally will try to drive engagement and education of agriculture into urban communities, but also bringing in those rural communities as well.
Kelly Scanlon:
I suppose many of these are going to be geared for school children too.
Lindsey Patterson Smith:
All ages. All ages, absolutely. Yeah. We do have a lot of targeted education programs for school children, for middle and grade school. We have curriculum that's taught in the classroom that meets all the criteria. Today what we do is we host field trips. Twice a year, we invite school-age children to come in from all over the city, and they get to touch and feel agriculture in a way that they've never done before. So they can come in and understand aspects of ag science that they may not have seen, that we... DFA brings in their dairy truck where they get to actually milk a cow and things. And so there's things that are very tangible, but then they also get introduced into ways of life that they've never seen before.
In one of the sets of field trips, kids get to go see a youth rodeo. So these are peers of theirs. These are kids the same age as theirs that are going out and running barrels, doing trick riding that a urban child may never have had access to before. And so the opening of those eyes is the first step. And then we'll follow up with our AgSTEM camps and our in-classroom curriculum and say that, "Hey, there's job opportunities out here. And it's not just... You can work in agriculture and not be a dusty farmer."
Kelly Scanlon:
It's so interesting that you brought that up, the AgSTEM, because people don't think about that part. We had on director of KC Animal Health Corridor the other day who was talking about all the jobs in agriculture that are available with the technology and the science aspect of it. So all of this is happening in this region, and one just lifts the other up.
Lindsey Patterson Smith:
Yeah. We are building on the reputation, but also building on our geography and the Animal Health Corridor. We're building on the fact that we have land grant universities all around us. We're building on the fact that economy of our community is based in agriculture. That doesn't mean that we are cow town and that that is our identity. It means that we're a cow town and an arts town, and we can have both. We can be a science-driven, data-driven community. We can have amazing art assets and places to go. We can have amazing restaurants and we can celebrate our heritage.
Kelly Scanlon:
And in many ways, the American Royal brings all that together.
Lindsey Patterson Smith:
It does.
Kelly Scanlon:
You have artists at your events, you have your performing artists, and you have, like you said, the farm-to-table dinners, and you have some collaborations with the AgSTEM. It all comes together right there at the American Royal.
Lindsey Patterson Smith:
It does. That's why we're doing this. And so this new facility will allow us to have the scale, and it's also something that's never been done before. So there's other facilities that are purpose-built for livestock shows and purpose-built for equestrian shows and purpose-built for rodeos. There is nothing like this that brings all of this together in a holistic way and adds in the educational and the community engagement aspects that this new American Royal facility is going to do. And it's an anchor for this new development, for an innovation district that will bring a massive amount of economic impact into the Kansas City community.
Kelly Scanlon:
When are you projecting to open?
Lindsey Patterson Smith:
Well, we had our barn raising last year, at the end of last year, and construction is going very well. If you go drive out on State Avenue on Wyandotte County, you will see we're just now finishing the inside of the first barn that we built, and the fifth gable, the fifth barn is going up. So you see those and you understand the scale. That's seven football fields of barn space, climate-controlled barn space. So that's not just for animals. I think we can fit a couple hundred volleyball courts in there. So the opportunity for what that's going to attract for Kansas City is massive, and we expect to be in there in '26.
Kelly Scanlon:
You mentioned earlier that you collaborate with some of the local businesses, and you mentioned a couple of those. You mentioned the Coterie Theater as part of the 125th anniversary, but you also have partnerships with other well-known Kansas City icons like Boulevard Brewery, J. Rieger and Company, and I believe also in conjunction with the 125th anniversary, HYER Boots.
Lindsey Patterson Smith:
Yes. Yes.
Kelly Scanlon:
So tell us about some of those and how they enhance your events and the community awareness and involvement.
Lindsey Patterson Smith:
Oh, it's great. I am so glad you mentioned HYER Boots. I mean, they're dear friends of ours, and I heard Zach was on the show recently. So I mean, their story is amazing, right? And what a fantastic example of appreciating your heritage and uncovering it too. Uncovering it and celebrating it and rebranding it and revisioning a new future. Yes, they have designed a 125th special edition boot for us that are available for sale, and they'll be on our website soon. We have a new website coming up, hopefully next week, so you-
Kelly Scanlon:
And will the URL be the same? Will the domain be the same?
Lindsey Patterson Smith:
The URL will be the same. Yep. You'll find a lot of collaborations, specifically in honor of our 125th anniversary on that website. Our collaboration with HYER Boots will be on there. Sierra Winter Jewelry did a piece with us to celebrate Loula Long Comb. So it's this beautiful necklace. Speaking of Loula Long Comb, Kansas City Museum has a beautiful exhibit because that house, Corinthian House, was her family home. So another connection of the Long family to Kansas City. So Kansas City Museum got a beautiful exhibit on Loula Long Comb and will be hosting a private event to celebrate the collection. Boulevard Beer is bringing back the 80-Acre.
Kelly Scanlon:
Oh fun.
Lindsey Patterson Smith:
I know. I'm very excited about this one. Yeah, they're bringing back 80-Acre and will be branded for the American Royal 125th. So we're pretty excited about that. J. Rieger has done two different bottles for us. Both of those are available for donation. Let's see. Charlie Hustle has done a shirt for us. Mike Savage, I mentioned the Parade of Hearts earlier, and Mike Savage again has chosen the American Royal to highlight on his heart, which we are just thrilled and honored by. So all of these collaborations, I mean, these are things that make Kansas City, Kansas City, and we are just thrilled and honored to be a part of it.
Kelly Scanlon:
So as Kansas City continues to grow and attract new opportunities, how does the American Royal plan to integrate or expand its role within this evolving landscape?
Lindsey Patterson Smith:
The American Royal's history is synonymous with Kansas City's history. Although, to be honest, we're not as present in the Kansas City community today as we were 20, 30 years ago. This is a time, with our 125th anniversary, with our new facility opening, that we are actively trying to shift that. We want to be synonymous with Kansas City and Kansas City culture again, and we want every Kansas Citian to know that we're not just a barbecue and we're not just some fun parties, but we are here to celebrate agriculture. We're here to celebrate food. We are here to help Kansas City be something that no one else can be.
So we'll do that through collaborations with community partners. We'll do that through just getting out there more, being more present. It's simple things like doing this, and that's one of the reasons why I was thrilled for the opportunity to come on today, because we just want people to know that the American Royal is still here. It's not the American Royal that it was, but we have a big vision for the future, and it's not just a new building. It's a whole new vision for the American Royal.
Kelly Scanlon:
It sounds like it, and it'll be really fun to see it unfold. Thank you Lindsay for coming on and bringing us up to date on the new campus and for giving us a historical perspective and just for all the work that you do too.
Lindsey Patterson Smith:
Absolutely. Thank you for having me on.
Joe Close:
This is Joe Close, president of Country Club Bank. Thank you to Lindsay Smith Patterson for being our guest on this episode of Banking on KC. Congratulations to the American Royal, a cornerstone of Kansas City's heritage, on its 125th anniversary. As Lindsay noted, the history, growth, and resilience of the American Royal and Kansas City are intertwined. As the American Royal looks to the future with plans for expansion and new initiatives focused on promoting agriculture, education, and community enrichment, it continues to exemplify the spirit of innovation and community engagement that Country Club Bank values deeply. Like the American Royal, Country Club Bank is committed to the growth and prosperity of Kansas City. Thanks for tuning in this week. We're banking on you, Kansas City. Country Club Bank, member FDIC.