City of Fort Worth Public Events Department
Mayor Mattie Parker, left, was present when Claude Humphrey was recognized for his service at Will Rogers Memorial Center.
Claude Humphrey, a senior field operations supervisor at Will Rogers Memorial Center, was honored with Visit Fort Worth’s Beyond Award at its annual meeting in February.
Humphrey has been with the city of Fort Worth since 1998. Before that, he worked for Tarrant County at what was then the Tarrant County Convention Center for 11 years. He joined the Public Events Department with the city’s purchase of the convention center from the county.
“Claude’s value is not only in the quality work he produces, but also in the high expectations for his staff and others around him, as well as the grace he exhibits when a team member may be struggling,” said Chris Roden, program coordinator at Will Rogers Memorial Center, in his nomination of Humphrey for the award.
“He pushes people to be the best they can. When people are stressed, down, or in trouble they ask Claude for guidance. He is always there to listen and give advice, whatever the situation may be.”
The Beyond Award, presented by Bank of Texas, was created to recognize excellence in hospitality service, and is awarded to workers on the front lines of hotels, restaurants, and attractions.
Humphrey, 60, a 1980 graduate of Paschal High School, is a Baptist minister as well. He has done that for 15 years, though he has taught Sunday school his entire adult life.
“My mother drove me to church every Sunday, every Monday, every Wednesday, and every Friday. That’s a little joke we say in the business,” Humphrey said. “God is my source, my resource, and that’s what I live for. That’s first in my life.”
Humphrey’s tenure at two of Fort Worth’s premier event facilities extends to almost 36 years now.
“I’ve seen a little of everything,” he said in a recent phone call. “Witnessed a lot of crazy things at both facilities.”
Concerts, car shows, and wrestling to more refined pursuits like Les Misérables and the acclaimed Miss Texas pageant in the now-demolished JFK Theater.
The move from the convention center to Will Rogers was a bit of “culture shock for me.”
“I’m a city boy,” said Humphrey. “I hadn’t been around livestock that much in my life. My grandfather had a farm. I’d been around some horses, but nothing like Will Rogers. I didn’t know there was that many breed of cattle in my life. I know now; I didn’t know then.”
He was joking. Kind of. And if you're not a ranch guy or product of Future Farmers of America curriculum, the odor — not exactly something tested at the Ralph Lauren laboratories — takes some getting used to.
But along the way Humphrey has met some of the greats in pop and cowboy culture through his work at the convention center and Will Rogers. Luke Perry and Stephen Baldwin as Lane Frost and Tuff Hedeman in the filming of “8 Seconds” at Will Rogers Coliseum is but one example. And who doesn’t love George Strait?
“At one time, the convention center was one of the main concert venues in the state of Texas,” Humphrey reminded.
At the top of his memory was the U2 show in November 1987 at the convention center. Concert-goers camped out for days to save a place in line for tickets to one or both of two shows. As a special treat, the band debuted “When Love Comes To Town” live with guest B.B. King. Portions of the concert were included in the “Rattle And Hum” movie.
“A colleague and I struck up a conversation with [Bono and B.B. King],” Humphrey remembered, before adding that he asked Bono for an autograph. In his best Irish brogue, Humphrey recalled Bono’s response, “‘Do you have a piece of paper.’ I’ll never forget that. That was pretty cool.”
B.B. King, the venerated blues icon, was a regular on the Fort Worth circuit since the mid-20th century. He made several appearances over the years, including many stops with Bobby Blue Bland. Johnny Taylor and Betty Wright were other blues artists who made stops at the convention center.
Country-western legend Garth Brooks ran through town at one time.
“Garth Brooks is one of the nicest guys you could meet,” Humphrey said.
Vanilla Ice, Ice Cube, M.C. Hammer, the Beastie Boys En Vogue. And can’t forget Limp Bizkit, the multitatted, pierced, and whatever else we’re not sure we want to know came limping in once.
“You name it, we did it,” Humphrey said of hosting bands.
Heavy metal Pantera, the “cowboys from hell,” always packed the place. The mosh pit, body surfing, and, ahem, flashing gals, were always present. Guitarist Dimebag Darrell was murdered on stage in Columbus, Ohio, in 2004, an incident that gave Humphrey and his colleagues pause.
“We thought about that,” Humphrey said. “We had conversations about that. Our minds were racing back to that night.”
Coolio, the American rapper, took center stage at the convention center. He played at a lowrider convention, one of Humphrey’s best memories, he thinks.
“We weren’t expecting that many people,” he said. “We actually had to lock the building up for fire safety.”
Sure, there was competition with the lowriders, those customized vehicles with hydraulic jacks that allow the chassis to be lowered to almost a point scraping the road. But there were a number of other events, including the Coolio concert, that brought the masses in like a wave to shore.
“The first year of that show caught us off guard,” Humphrey said. “It was packed to the gills You couldn’t walk in the place without bumping into somebody.”
Congratulations to Claude Humphrey and thank you for the memories.