Odessa's hare heritage

Odessa forever will be known for its oil, its football and, yep, its rabbits - thanks to a hare-brained idea with "legs" that carried the concept for almost a half century.

It's always been a bit laughable that Odessa was home to the World's Largest Jackrabbit. But, by the same token, it made this city a tourist destination. One can only wonder how many family photo albums across the nation and even abroad are graced with a snapshot of a giant rabbit taken in Odessa.

It all began in the early 1960s when Tom H. Taylor, a state tourism official, suggested that Odessa create some sort of tribute to the jackrabbit. The Odessa Chamber of Commerce, under leadership of former Texas Attorney General John Ben Shepperd, hopped right on the thought.

A couple a thousand bucks later, a company in California had created the giant statue and the rest is history.

Today, he's known as Jack Ben Rabbit, in tribute to the late Shepperd.

Like most prairie hares, Jack Ben has had his ups and downs. In the 1970s, Jim Beam produced a collectible liquor decanter in his likeness, a high honor that gives the landmark some face time on various Internet sites including e-Bay.

But he also was vandalized at the various locations where he's always standing ready for a photo op. And in 1997, Jack Ben was hare-jacked. But it's hard to hide a stolen giant jackrabbit and authorities soon found him and brought the culprits to justice. He was returned to his perch near the Ector County Independent School District Administration Building on West Eighth Street. Some additional security measures were taken to ensure his safety.

On the up side, Jack Ben got to take a road trip in 2002 when he was invited to be part of the Best of Texas Festival at Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington. He got to hang around with other eye-catching tourist magnets like a giant strawberry and a dinosaur.

But by far the most flattering development for our hare came when several local agencies banded together to arrange for Jack Ben to have numerous heirs at locations across the city. 

And Jackrabbit Jamboree had the same fanciful tone that Shepperd used while promoting the original rabbit idea.

Nancy Wells, executive director of Main Street Odessa, said the project to create multiplication of the original heir was a collaboration of seven local organizations.

It started with the Running of the Hares and has resulted in about three dozen mini-versions of Jack Ben (if you can call 6-foot fiberglass replicas as mini) stationed around the community. The new hares were sold to individuals, businesses and organizations. Local artists painted them brightly and in themes that fit their assignment.

Wells said she has a wonderful notebook that chronicles the proliferation of public art. "Everything we were doing was totally tongue in cheek. I was getting jokes the whole time, and I should have collected them all."

As one of the promoters of the project, done in part to honor the late Bill Hext, who died while serving as Odessa's mayor, Wells was concerned when a letter critical of the effort appeared in the Odessa American.

But then came a figurative flood of letters from other writers supporting Jackrabbit Jamboree and the contributions to Odessa's rabbit heritage.

"It was so funny. At the time we were in the middle of an election and somebody told me there were more letters about our rabbits than about politics," Wells said.

She said her organization still gets requests for locations of Jack Ben's offspring. She has copies of the original Hoppy Trails brochure that can be had for half off the original $10 price.

So now the papa hare has been joined by 30-something other bunnies. Some want a list so their visiting grandchildren can see as many of the rabbits as possible. Some teachers give students extra credit for having their photos taken with the hares. They're even used as part of scavenger hunts.

It's safe to say that Odessa's jackrabbits are in high cotton thanks to some fun-filled promotion through the years.