News and Notes from the Rodeo Trail, April 4
by ProRodeo.com | Apr 04, 2016
The election results are in for the PRCA Executive Councils, with the winners serving a two-year term which began April 1. 2015 World Champion Saddle Bronc Rider Jacobs Crawley was elected as that event’s new rep, and Troy Weekley is the new rodeo committee at-large rep. The other seven categories saw incumbents given new terms, including Darrell Petry (steer wrestling), J.P. Wickett (steer roping), Benje Bendele (contract personnel, announcer/music director), Dustin Brewer (contract personnel, barrelman), Steve Gander (rodeo committee $10,000 or less), Keith Martin (rodeo committee $50,000 or more) and T.J. Korkow and Mike Corey (stock contractors).
The Wrangler Network will be live streaming all the action from the RAM National Circuit Finals Rodeo in Kissimmee, Fla. The coverage begins at 7:30 p.m. (ET) April 7-9, and at 2:30 p.m. (ET) April 10. Log on to www.wranglernetwork.com to watch.
The “Casey Tibbs – America’s Cowboy” exhibit, a collection of memorabilia, clothing, awards and artifacts of the legendary cowboy Casey Tibbs, opened April 1 in the ProRodeo Hall of Fame’s 101 Gallery. Tibbs, who died Jan. 28, 1990, won a record six world saddle bronc riding titles, and nine overall gold buckles. His prowess in the arena made him the living symbol of the Western icon, a cowboy on a bucking horse, for over a decade. Tibbs served on every administrative board in the RCA during his era. A statue of Tibbs riding the well-known bronc Necktie stands outside the ProRodeo Hall of Fame. The exhibit will be up until September.
Members of the Lewis and Clark County (Mont.) Fairgrounds board voted March 30 to request the county commission name the outdoor rodeo arena the Greg Kesler Arena. Kesler, stock contractor for the Last Chance Stampede rodeo, died Feb. 1 while at the family’s residence in Alberta, Canada. He had a strong connection to the area, as he kept some of his livestock in Lewis and Clark County. The Last Chance Stampede committee in Helena first proposed the idea.
The Rodeo of the Ozarks in Springdale, Ark., is changing its dates. “The last full weekend in June” will be the new home for the rodeo each year, according to Rick Culver, the rodeo’s executive director. This year’s rodeo will be June 22-25 at Parsons Stadium in Springdale, a change from the July 1-4 schedule of the past.
The Reno (Nev.) Rodeo is donating 29,000 pairs of shoes to children in need around the state. “We have a formal partnership with K.I.D.S., which stands for kids in distressed situations,” said Clara Andriola, executive director of the Reno Rodeo Foundation. “What’s special about these shoes is we have paint markers, and they can personalize and decorate their shoes and really create an experience of ownership.” The April 1 distribution was for kids in foster care, but this weekend any child between the ages of 2-12 is welcome to head down to the Livestock Events Center and pick up a new pair. The shoes are going to kids in 14 northern Nevada counties.
Longtime Clovis City Council Member Harry Armstrong will lead the Clovis (Calif.) Rodeo Parade as the Grand Marshal. Though a longtime member of the Clovis Rodeo Association, the 86-year-old Armstrong is best known in the community for his many years on the Clovis City Council – all 46 of them. First elected to the council in 1970, Armstrong has consistently won reelection since then for a total of 11 uninterrupted terms in office, serving as mayor five times along the way, all of which make him the longest-tenured elected official in California.
The California Rodeo Salinas bumper sticker contest is back, and fans are encouraged to take pictures when they find the yellow bumper sticker along their travels and submit them for a chance to win. Submit your photos to mlinquist@carodeo.com with “Bumper Sticker Contest” in the subject line for a chance to win a digital camera donated by Best Buy. The California Rodeo Salinas’ marketing committee will vote on the best photo and choose a winner. The contest is open now through June 6, with the winner notified by June 17. Bumper stickers can be obtained for free at the California Rodeo Salinas Office.
California Rodeo Salinas is also presenting a coloring contest for children in third and fourth grade. The contest began April 1, and the coloring sheet is available at Home Depot at 1890 N. Davis Rd. in Salinas, and at the California Rodeo Office, or via download at www.carodeo.com/events/2016/coloring-contest. Children can draw their favorite events in the arena at the California Rodeo Salinas or whatever image they choose in the blank area on the entry form. Entries are due by June 1. The three finalists will each receive three tickets to the 2016 California Rodeo Salinas July 21 performance. The grand prize winner will be announced by June 15, and will receive two additional tickets.
Former bull rider Jimmy Crowther of Roxbury, Kan., has been chosen to be on the Wild Bill Hickok Rodeo’s 2016 commemorative buckle. After riding bulls for several years, Crowther began a stock contracting firm called JC Rodeo Co. in 1979. In 2004, he partnered with Jerry Nelson to form Frontier Rodeo Company. About four years later, he began his own company – New Frontier Rodeo.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“It’s the determination to try to ride one of those big, mean bastards. You don’t know what’s going to happen, that’s kind of part of it, the part a guy likes. The feeling you get, I don’t think you can ever put into words.”
-WNFR bull rider Brett Stall telling his hometown Detroit Lakes (Minn.) Online how it feels to complete an eight-second ride on a great bull.
Courtesy of PRCA