Dr Pepper Snapple CEO to chair 2011 Cattle Baron's Ball

Larry D. Young, president and CEO of Texas-based Dr Pepper Snapple Group, will serve as honorary chairman of the 2011 American Cancer Society Cattle Baron's Ball.

The Cattle Baron's Ball - a fundraising gala - will be held Aug. 20 at Missouri State University's William H. Darr Agricultural Center. Since the ball's 2009 inception in southwest Missouri, participants have raised more than $1 million through ticket sales, corporate contributions, and silent and live auctions of livestock and other items, according to a news release.

"My wife, Vickie, and I are thrilled that Larry D. Young has joined our Cattle Baron’s Ball committee of more than 130 local volunteers in the fight to eliminate cancer as a major health concern,” Larry Hayward, executive vice president of Price Cutter and Cattle Baron’s Ball event co-chairman, said in the release.

Steve Naegler of Naegler Oil Co. and Fast N Friendly convenience stores, and an executive baron of the ball's steering committee, managed to rustle in Young for the event while Young was being inducted into the Springfield Public Schools Hall of Fame on Oct. 28.

Young, who graduated from Hillcrest High School in 1972, was one of the first three inducted into the hall of fame, according to Springfield Business Journal coverage.

Naegler and Young met when Young worked as a Pepsi route driver for Naegler's Fast N Friendly convenience stores.

Young now lives in Dallas but has a home in Millwood, the release said.

The 2010 Cattle Baron's Ball, held Aug. 21 at MSU's Darr Agricultural Center, raised $670,000 for the American Cancer Society, according to SBJ coverage.

William H. Darr served as honorary chairman for the 2010 Cattle Baron's Ball, and former MSU president Michael Nietzel was the honorary chairman for the inaugural ball in southwest Missouri.[[In-content Ad]]