St. Paul Rodeo to Host Annual Trail Ride

St. Paul, Ore. (May 23, 2018) – A long-time tradition at the St. Paul Rodeo takes place the first weekend of June.

The annual Trail Ride, the kick-off to the rodeo season, will be held on June 3. The ride begins at 10 a.m., starting in St. Paul, winding through farmland, along hop fields, to the Willamette River, then back to town.

The ride kicks off with a hearty breakfast of pancakes, scrambled eggs, sausage and locally grown strawberries. The cost of the breakfast is $10 for adults and $5 for children ages 12 and under.

For trail riders, lunch is served free of charge after the ride, in the Tack Room. St. Paul resident and long-time rodeo volunteer Paul Charron has been one of the volunteers making trail ride lunches for the last fifteen years. He and his wife Kathleen used to do the trail ride, but fixing lunch for several hundred people requires him to forgo the ride and concentrate on sandwiches. “I enjoyed the ride,” he said, “but specially the camaraderie with the people. You meet a lot of nice people.” Seeing the country while on horseback is part of the allure of the trail ride, Charron said. “You get to see a lot of beautiful scenery, sit on the back of a horse in the warm sun, get away from the city, get out and have fun.”

For those who don’t want to ride, a youth rodeo is held on June 2-3 beginning at 10 am both days, and is open and free to the public.

The trail ride is “a great weekend event and a great lead into the rodeo,” Charron said. But he’ll be in the kitchen with his crew of volunteers, making sandwiches and getting potato chips and potato salad ready to go for riders. “That’s our thanks for coming out.”

The ride is free and open to the public; lunch is provided for the trail riders and is also free.

This year’s St. Paul Rodeo is July 3-7; tickets are on sale online at www.StPaulRodeo.com. For more information, visit the website or call 800.237.5920.