News and Notes from the Rodeo Trail, May 11

Rodeo announcer Hadley Barrett, who has worked behind the microphone at Rodeo Austin for more than 20 years, was inducted into that rodeo’s Hall of Fame April 27, alongside Stan Voelker, a past president of Rodeo Austin and a longtime member of its board of directors. Barrett, a PRCA member since 1965, was voted PRCA Announcer of the Year in 1983, 1985, 1989 and 2002. The Kersey, Colo., resident has worked four National Finals Rodeos (1968, 1976, 1979 and 1983), the 1967 National Finals Steer Roping and seven Canadian Finals Rodeos. Barrett, 85, was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs, Colo., in 1999.

The Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund has surpassed $7 million in payouts to injured rodeo athletes. The milestone comes in the JCCF’s 25th year of existence, as it was incorporated on Dec. 12, 1990. Since then, it has provided need-based financial assistance to athletes injured through their participation in professional rodeo. “Thank you to all of our supporters and donors who have allowed the Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund to reach this milestone,” JCCF President and CEO Cindy Schonholtz said. “25 years of offering injured rodeo athletes and their families $7 million in assistance is a testament to the founders of the fund, including John Justin and Jim Shoulders.” The non-profit organization donates 100 percent of all contributions to cowboys who are injured, to help them and their families. PRCA bull rider Friday Wright is one of the many cowboys who have received help from the JCCF. “I would like to thank everyone involved with the JCCF,” Wright said. “On behalf of my family, we personally know that you make a difference in rodeo families’ lives while they are not able to compete.” For more information, or to donate to the Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund, go to www.justincowboycrisisfund.org or email jccfinfo@prorodeo.com.

The ProRodeo Hall of Fame has officially opened the Zoetis Rodeo Livestock Exhibit for the summer, with two retired bucking horses living on the premises until September. Cervi Championship Rodeo’s Brown Bomber and Back Street are the two horses featured in the exhibit. Brown Bomber, 27, went to the WNFR 14 times in a 15-year span, from 1994-2008, as a bareback horse. One of his most memorable performances came in the 10th round of the 1995 WNFR when he carried Billy Laye to a 90-point ride, which stood as the WNFR bareback riding record until 2002. Back Street is a 24-year-old saddle bronc horse who qualified for the WNFR three times (1997, 1999 and 2005). She retired from rodeo in 2012. A video of the horses getting acquainted with their summer home can be found on the Hall of Fame’s Facebook page www.facebook.com/pages/ProRodeo-Hall-of-Fame-Museum-of-the-American-Cowboy.

Ace Campbell won the Nothin’ But Try Steer Wrestling event at the U Cross Arena in Coleman, Okla., May 9. The event raised money for the Levi Wisness scholarship, and also included an auction to benefit rodeo publicist Julie Mankin. More than $4,000 was raised for a scholarship for a National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association member in honor of Wisness, a PRCA steer wrestler who died in 2008 after battling brain cancer. Additionally, an auction was held to benefit Mankin, a rodeo publicist and writer who worked at the PRCA from 1998-2001 as public relations coordinator. Mankin was involved in a serious car accident March 24 near her home in Fairfield, Texas. She underwent surgery to repair facial lacerations on March 25, and had another surgery March 27 to fuse three fractured vertebrae in her neck.

Gloria Deal, the wife of retired bareback rider and PRCA Gold Card member Alvin Deal, died May 6 in Medford, Ore., after a lengthy illness. She was 69. A funeral mass will be held for her at 10 a.m. May 12 at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church in Shady Cove, Ore., with a reception to follow at the church hall. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations be made to the Providence Community Health Foundation (Charity Care), 940 Royal Ave., Suite 410, Medford, OR 97504.

PRCA timer Jerry Luckett was awarded the prestigious Clarke Award for Teaching Excellence during Dakota Wesleyan University’s commencement services May 10 in Mitchell, S.D. Luckett, a 1989 DWU alumna, is an associate professor of business administration and economics.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“I think he’s the best horse in the world. Day in and day out this year, he’s been the best horse. The only time I don’t ride him is when I have to fly somewhere and I can’t ride him, but the rodeos I’ve had him at, I’ve won real good money. It’s a good feeling to know you have one of the better horses out there.”

-Seven-time WNFR tie-down roper Hunter Herrin talking about his horse, Rambo, which won the 2014 PRCA/AQHA Tie-down Roping Horse of the Year award.

Courtesy of PRCA