Aug. 10, 2007, 3:18PM
Authorities not amused by Texas Redneck Games
The promoter may be charged after rowdy event
By JOHN MacCORMACK
San Antonio Express-News
Don't make plans quite yet to visit Athens for the next edition of the rowdy outdoor party known as the Texas Redneck Games.
Describing the four-day event that ended Sunday as a bloated bacchanal of disorder, drunkenness and debauchery, Henderson County officials say they might charge the promoter under a state crowd control law.
"There was a lot of nudity, rowdiness, intoxication, people running wild on their four-wheelers and underage drinking," said Lt. Pat McWilliams of the county Sheriff's Department. "There was also fights and assaults, and some serious injuries."
Over the weekend, nearly 100 people were either arrested or cited for offenses that included speeding, underage possession of alcohol, driving while intoxicated and possession of marijuana.
That aside, McWilliams said the county's biggest gripe with promoter Oscar Still is that he promised that no more than 2,500 would attend.
Authorities said upwards of 8,000 people — some who traveled hundreds of miles — jammed the 3000-acre Pool Ranch to run all-terrain vehicles on muddy trails and watch contests featuring everything from Spam-eating to wet T-shirts.
The result, McWilliams said, was gridlock and mass confusion. McWilliams said several medical emergencies occurred, and the response of medical workers was severely hampered by the crowd.
When local officials began to realize the event would attract a far larger crowd than anticipated, he said, a task force involving 76 officers from five agencies was organized.
By state health law, anyone promoting a mass gathering that will involve more than 2,500 people must go through a process that includes a public hearing and a permit.
In addition, the promoter has to persuade the county judge that adequate measures have been taken to ensure public safety.
The county health inspector, sheriff and fire marshal must all sign off on it.
On Sunday, sheriff's deputies served a search warrant on Still and seized the liability waiver sheets signed by everyone who entered the ranch.
The sheets will be analyzed to get an accurate head count, McWilliams said.
"I anticipate he'll be charged but it's just a spank on the wrist, a $1,000 fine and 90 days in jail if convicted," McWilliams said.
Still, who has promoted earlier Texas Redneck Games in other venues around East Texas, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Still's lawyer, Charles Van Cleef, of Longview, did not return calls. However, in an interview two weeks before this year's event, Still predicted a crowd far exceeding the level requiring a mass gathering permit.
"Last year we had about 6,000. This year will be about the same," he said in July.
Still charged $25 a head for all attendees plus $15 for each ATV entering the site and $10 for primitive campsites.
His right-hand man, Mark Muegge, said Wednesday the legal confrontation with county officials came as no surprise.
"We knew this was coming but I don't think they'll be able to do a lot. Right now we're kind of in a holding pattern," said Muegge, an event coordinator. "The (mass gathering) law has been around since the '60s and no one has ever enforced it."
And, Muegge said, no one should have been surprised about raunchy behavior.
"It kind of goes hand in hand with the four-wheelers, the drinking and the women. It's part of the attraction," he said.
All in all, McWilliams said, Henderson County wants no more of the Redneck Games.
"They called these people rednecks. I'm from East Texas and I know rednecks," McWilliams said. "Personally I'm having trouble distinguishing the rednecks from the white trash."
jmaccormack@express-news.net