THE HISTORY OF THE CAVALIER COOKERS

Cavalier Cookers is a decades old tradition and was started by members of the Sigma Nu Chapter at The University of Houston.  Many brothers have taken the lead over the years including Pat Brown, Jeremy Patrick and Gene Young.  

The founding members of Cavalier Cookers decided on the name Cavalier Cookers to honor the founding members of the Zeta Chi Chapter of Sigma Nu.  Before the chapter was chartered at The University of Houston, the group of men called themselves the Cavalier Drinking Club.  

Since its inception, the Cavalier Cookers tent has won every award possible and welcomed more than 10,000 people in the last 28 years.  

In staying true to tradition, Cavalier Cookers will be back at Frontier Fiesta 2024 and will continue to be bigger and better each year.  We are excited to announce that at Fiesta 2024, we will present our second Gene Young Memorial Scholarship to an active member of the fraternity at The University of Houston. Gene was known as the life of the party, and while he liked to have a good time, he never shied away from working hard and doing whatever it took to get the job done.  He was a friend to many and never turned his back on anyone who needed him. 

Gene pledged the Zeta Chi Chapter of Sigma Nu in the fall of 1997 and eventually served as Housing Manager.  He was always proud to wear the Sigma Nu black and gold and the red and white of The University of Houston.  He graduated from UH in 2000 with a finance degree.  Gene married his high school sweetheart and they have two boys and a daughter.  Gene became a Sergeant in the Houston Police Department before his passing in 2020.  Those who knew Gene well, knew that what he loved most was cooking with his brothers and having fun with the Cavalier Cookers.  He loved it so much, the first two years he and his brothers slept in a U-Haul and took shifts cooking the meat.  Gene continued his yearly tradition at Frontier Fiesta for 19 consecutive years.  Cavalier Cookers is proud to continue Frontier Fiesta – Sigma Nu in honor of our brother, Gene Young.