DENVER — The National Western Stock Show has announced Ron Williams as the 2022 Citizen of the West.
Selected by a committee of community leaders, the annual award recognizes those who embody Western pioneers' spirit and determination and perpetuate their agricultural heritage and ideals.
Due to the postponement of the traditional stock show this year, Williams will receive the award at a dinner in January 2022.
Each year, proceeds from the Citizens of the West event support 100 scholarships in the National Western Scholarship Trust, which are awarded to students who attend colleges and universities in Colorado and Wyoming and major in agricultural science, rural medicine or veterinary medicine, according to the National Western Stock Show.
> Above video: National Western goes virtual in 2021
A leader in Colorado's business, education, civic and philanthropic communities, Williams co-chaired the capital campaign to raise private funds for a new state-of-the-art Children's Hospital at the Fitzsimons Campus in Denver. The committee raised $250 million.
Williams has served on the Board of Directors for the Denver Public Schools Foundation for a decade. Williams has also been a member of the National Western Stock Show Board of Directors since 2004.
"Ron is a very competitive person, and everything he does, he wants to do as well as it can be done," said Skip Miller, a long-time golfing and business colleague. "It's demonstrated in the results he brings about."
Williams was inducted into the Colorado Business Hall of Fame in 2016.
To purchase tickets for the 2022 Citizen of the West event honoring Ron Williams, contact Morgan Unks at 303-299-5560 or MUnks@NationalWestern.com.
RELATED: The National Western Stock Show won’t happen in Denver this year for only the second time since 1906
A tradition since 1906, the National Western is part-rodeo, part-livestock show and part-fair that brings hundreds of thousands of people to the National Western Complex each year for a celebration of the state’s agricultural heritage.
Organizers have opted to postpone the 115th National Western Stock Show by one year and to resume the event in January 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2022 show will run from Jan. 8 to Jan. 23, 2022.
The 16-day event, Colorado's largest agricultural event, typically includes nearly 900 booths and draws about 700,000 people annually. The event carries a $100-million economic impact.
9NEWS is a corporate partner of the National Western Stock Show.
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