News & Notes from the Rodeo Trail, October 26
Before Game 1 of the 2020 World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Tampa Bay Rays at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, Oct. 20, PRCA CEO George Taylor presented Resistol cowboy hats to dignitaries of Major League Baseball and the Texas Rangers, and to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Arlington Mayor Jeff Williams as a goodwill gesture.
The 2020 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo will take place at Globe Life Field, Dec. 3-12. It will be the first non-baseball event at the new, plush, $1.1 billion facility.
The baseball dignitaries that Taylor gave cowboy hats to were Neil Leibman, Texas Rangers owner and Chief Operating Officer, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred and Ray Davis, Texas Rangers owner and managing partner.
Jacobs Crawley, the PRCA contestant director chairman and 2015 Saddle Bronc Riding World Champion, also was at the event.
The credential process for the 62nd annual Wrangler National Finals Rodeo is now open.
In an effort to make the media credential application process easier, the PRCA has created an online form. All credential applications are to be submitted through the form.
The deadline for submitting media credentials applications and mugshots is Nov. 15.
Credentials will be distributed to media from recognized daily newspapers, wire services, magazines that regularly cover rodeo, and national and local news networks (radio/TV).
Freelance writers and photographers will receive credentials if only on assignment (with verification) for a publication or media outlet that meets the criteria and is providing timely first-hand editorial coverage of the Wrangler NFR. The Wrangler NFR reserves the right to request proof of prior rodeo and Wrangler NFR coverage.
The link to complete media credential application forms is below:
2020 Wrangler NFR Media Credential Application
Longtime stock contractor, competitor and Gold Card Member, Frank Beard passed away Oct. 19. He was 92.
Raised in Toppenish, Wash., Beard loved horses. He attended Toppenish schools where he was a gifted athlete and skilled boxer. Beard’s first job was breaking horses for world champion saddle bronc rider Lee Caldwell, who encouraged Beard’s desire to be a rodeo competitor.
Beard competed in the Pacific Northwest as an all-around cowboy in saddle bronc riding, bareback riding and tie-down roping. His greatest success was as a saddle bronc rider, winning several rodeos. To augment his rodeo winnings, Beard worked for stock contractor Johnny Van Belle. When Van Belle’s rodeo-queen daughter, Charlot, returned home on semester break, the youngsters were smitten. After a whirlwind romance, they married on Sept. 3, 1947. The couple honeymooned at the Moses Lake Rodeo, where Beard won the bronc riding.
With a growing family, Beard cut back on rodeo competition, becoming a top-notch pickup man. He continued to trade and train horses and was a highly skilled farrier. Beard also was an accomplished packer, taking tour groups around Mount Rainier during the summer and guiding hunting parties in the fall.
Frank and Charlot were 4-H leaders and encouraged their children’s activities.
In the 1970s, Beard founded Beard Rodeos, earning a reputation for good stock, quality production and honesty in dealing with rodeo committees and contestants. Beard Rodeos joined the PRCA in 1987, providing stock at Northwest rodeos including Ellensburg, Wash., Pendleton, Ore., Lewiston, Idaho, Sisters, Ore., and Hermiston, Ore.
Beard owned bucking horses and bulls that won many go-rounds at the NFR. He helped several cowboys get their start and often assisted contestants in need. Cowboys enjoyed his passion for rodeo, good-natured kidding, horseplay, stories, one-armed pushup contests and pocketknife trades.
In retirement, Beard focused on his prized collection of Western memorabilia and Native American artifacts. Beard found great joy reliving old times and visiting with cowboy friends.
His wife, Charlot, preceded him in death on Aug. 17. Beard is survived by sons Casey (Anne), Tim (Val) and Pat (Stephanie); and daughter Shannon (Don) Stewart, numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews.
Beard requested that contributions be made to the Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund.
Courtesy of PRCA