Thousands of people lined the streets of downtown Texarkana on Thursday (8/27) to get a glimpse of the world famous Budweiser clydesdales horses during the Celebration of Excellence parade. From the reaction of the crown in attendance, young and old, there were plenty of oohs and ahhs that could be heard as the horses trotted gracefully down the parade route. Accompanied by representatives of Eagle Distributing in bright red shirts, the Clydesdales Hitch Wagon or beer wagon as I like to call it, was a thing of beauty as it rolled down the streets of Texarkana with both city mayors waving to the crowd.

The reason behind the visit is due to the Big Jake Award that will be handed out to employees of Eagle Distributing of Texarkana. The award is big in itself — weighing more than 20 pounds and made to look like a clydesdale horse. The Big Jake award will be presented to the entire Eagle Distributing team for their achievement of ambassador on Saturday, August 29, at Spring Lake Park at 11:30AM. and the public is invited to attend.

“Anheuser-Busch has a program called Ambassador of Excellence, the program is based on a 1,000 point system that all the 600 wholesalers throughout the United States that distribute Anheuser-Busch’s products compete for on an annual basis by region. If a distributor is the highest scorer for his region, they are the winner and titled ‘Ambassador of Excellence’ for that year. If you achieve this rank three times in a five-year period, then you are recognized as an ‘Ambassador.’ To achieve the level of Ambassador, you are considered the best of the best,” said Tim O’Neal President of Eagle Distributing.

“At this point, there have only been 16 wholesalers achieve the ranks of Ambassador, and Eagle Distributing is one of the 16 throughout the United States that has achieved the status of Ambassadors. When a wholesaler achieves this level, Anheuser-Busch brings the Budweiser Clydesdales to their community — Texarkana — to present them with the trophy called ‘Big Jake.’

O’Neal said the world-famous Budweiser clydesdales will be staying at Spring Lake Park “in a massive 120 foot x 60 foot tent that has custom stables made just for the eight horses.

Budweiser clydesdale Hitch.” Spring Lake Park is where the general public can view and take photos of these majestic horses from 10AM until 4PM on Saturday, August  29.

Kicker 102.5 will be broadcasting from 11AM to 1PM so make sure you stop by the Kicker truck and register to win some really cool Budweiser prizes!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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