News and Notes from the Rodeo Trail, May 4

by ProRodeo.com | May 04, 2015

Trevor Knowles, an 11-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo steer wrestler, received the Outstanding American Award from the Oregon chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame May 2 and his plaque will be put on display in the national headquarters building in Stillwater, Okla. Knowles began wrestling in first grade for the Grant County Wrestling club located in John Day, Ore. His love of wrestling took him to places all over the United States and allowed him to win multiple state freestyle championships as a youth. As a high school wrestler, Knowles won back-to-back high school state championships.

An exhibit has returned to the ProRodeo Hall of Fame after a 26-year absence. The Hafley-Shelton Wild West Exhibit reopened in the 101 Gallery of the ProRodeo Hall of Fame May 1, and will remain up until the end of September. The exhibit contains more than 1,000 artifacts from Frank Hafley’s Wild West Show – which featured Dick and Reine Shelton – from 1910 through the mid-1920s. Dick Shelton was a rodeo cowboy who won the steer wrestling title at Madison Square Garden five times in the 1920s and 1930s. Reine Shelton was also a rodeo champion in trick riding and breakaway roping in the 1920s. The Hafley-Shelton Wild West Exhibit was displayed at the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame from 1984-89 before becoming a traveling exhibit.

ProRodeo Hall of Fame stock contractor Jim Sutton will mark his 80th birthday with a special celebration starting at 6 p.m. May 9 at the Casey Tibbs South Dakota Rodeo Center in Fort Pierre, S.D. Anyone wishing to send cards may address them in Sutton’s name to the Casey Tibbs South Dakota Rodeo Center, 210 Verendrye Dr., Fort Pierre, SD 57532.

Longtime rodeo journalist and announcer Jim Thompson, 67, will conclude his “live” radio career with the May 29 airing of his Country Café of the Airwaves which is broadcast live in South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Montana and also on the Internet at www.livewithjt.com. Thompson started his broadcast career in the summer of 1965 at Brown Institute in Minneapolis, and for the past 20 years has owned Creative Broadcast Services in Spearfish, S.D. He served as president of the South Dakota Broadcasters for a year, has been president of the Chamber of Commerce in Watertown, S.D., and was elected to two terms in the South Dakota Senate, representing Watertown. Thompson has been honored by the Casey Tibbs South Dakota Rodeo Center in Fort Pierre, the South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame in Sioux Falls and the Black Hills Stock Show Hall of Fame in Rapid City. He was named the Justin Committeeman of the Year in 2008 and served as the announcer for the first three years of the National Circuit Finals Steer Roping (2010-12) in Torrington, Wyo., before retiring from ProRodeo in 2013 after 37 years.

Jeb and Dorothy Rosebrook, friends of the legendary saddle bronc rider Casey Tibbs, are giving the Casey Tibbs South Dakota Rodeo Center in Fort Pierre, S.D., a rare collection of black-and-white films of the rodeo great. Tibbs gave the films to the Rosebrooks in 1962, and they were recently passed along to Denver filmmaker Justin Koehler, who produced a documentary about Tibbs. The tapes from the Rosebrooks include footage of Tibbs riding broncs, as well as clips from The Young Rounders, the 1966 movie that Tibbs starred in with Joel McCrea, Slim Pickens and Montie Montana.

Rookie bullfighter Cade Parks, 20, of Blue Mountain, Miss., suffered a fractured right ankle at the Guymon (Okla.) Pioneer Days Rodeo and will be sidelined indefinitely.

ProRodeo Hall of Famer Denny Flynn will help kick off the Fort Smith (Ark.) Western Heritage Month May 7 at the Fort Smith Museum of History. The program is free with paid museum admission, and will include a presentation from Flynn, a Charleston native, and 10-time NFR qualifier. Flynn will speak about the history of the rodeo and his experiences as a bull rider.

Boyd Gaming returns as sponsor of the May 14-17 Las Vegas Elks Helldorado Days. The California Hotel and Casino and Main Street Station Casino Brewery Hotel will serve as exclusive host hotels for the Wild West Weekend – offering food and beverage specials and hosting the annual Whiskerino Contest.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Rodeo is all I’ve ever known. I’m here to help the students every way I can in what is traditionally a very expensive and demanding sport. I wouldn’t have made it through college if it hadn’t been for rodeo. Doing what I most loved in the world kept me going.”

-Three-time Steer Roping World Champion Rocky Patterson talking to the Kiowa County (Kan.) Signal about taking over as the coach for the Pratt Community College rodeo team

Courtesy of PRCA