It's almost time for the Bluebonnet Youth Ranch Celebrity Golf Tournament and Showdown. The new host, Allen Shamblin, hall of fame songwriter, was nice enough to come by the KIXS 108 studios to tell us all about this year's events.

Shamblin didn't hesitate when asked to be the host of the 31st annual Bluebonnet Youth Ranch Celebrity Golf Tournament. "I just want to help," said Shamblin, noting his mother was raised in an orphanage.

A member of both the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Texas Heritage Songwriters Association Hall of Fame, Shamblin's success as a songwriter took off when Randy Travis recorded his "He Walked on Water" in 1989. That success has continued as he is the co-writer of Miranda Lambert's "The House That Built Me."

As the event host, Shamblin hit the ground running. Told to try to find at least two new performers to add to the entertainment lineup, Shamblin admits being nervous. But his apprehension was unfounded as both Roger Creager and Jack Ingram did not hesitate to commit when Shamblin asked them to be part of the annual event, Sept. 30-Oct. 1 at the Victoria Country Club. "When you mention children, people want to get involved," Shamblin told the Victoria Advocate. In addition, Michael Martin the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers will be in attendance at Shamblin's request. "I am excited," Shamblin said. "They literally know everybody in the music business so if there's somebody we want to try to get next year, Michael will be able to help us."

Shamblin has big shoes to fill as the event host, as musician Red Steagall relinquished the duties after 20 years. Steagall is still scheduled to perform. Another newcomer to the entertainment lineup is Victoria native Danny Everitt, Shamblin announced.

Claud Jacobs, chairman emeritus of the tournament, also made several announcements during the kickoff luncheon at the Victoria Country Club including that Pick Instruments is the event's title sponsor for 2012. Pick Instruments of Galena Park is owned by Frank Pickens, a former basketball standout at Victoria College whose name is on the school's annual athletic scholarship award. Pickens later played at Rice University.

The annual golf tournament is Bluebonnet Youth Ranch's major fundraiser for operating expenses. The event includes a banquet and auction at Spring Creek Place Event Center and a dinner, dance and concert at Schroeder Hall the following night. More than $3 million has been raised in the 30 years of the tournament that started with seven professionals and 21 amateurs in Yoakum, said Jacobs.

Bluebonnet Youth Ranch opened in 1972 and serves as a long-term, residential home for dependent, abused and neglected children located four miles south of Yoakum.

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