By Adam Eisenbarth
This was a special year for the Buck Lake Stampede, as rodeo fans celebrated the 80th year of the rodeo, along with the 100th anniversary of Buck Lake.
Poor weather on July 10 didn’t keep the fans from supporting their local rodeo.
“It was really good. We had a good attendance despite the weather conditions on Saturday. We had full grandstands on Saturday and probably about 800 to 900 people on Sunday,” said president Danny Willows.
Although many people braved the weather, it did have somewhat of an effect on attendance.
“Last year our attendance was a little higher on Saturday but I think because of the rain that’s why it was down a bit, but over the last few years it’s grown quite consistently.”
To commemorate the special milestone year, the rodeo celebrated with trick riders and came up with a commemorative coin to remember the event.
The 100th anniversary was also recognized throughout the parade.
“It was a great parade. The theme this year was the 100th anniversary of Buck Lake. It was a good parade, we had lots of people there, lots of people in the parade. It was just a pretty successful year.”
The rodeo itself is a highly competitive event and cowboys and cowgirls are quite talented, says Willows.
“The next step for most of these guys would be to go to the pros and some of them have come from the pro rodeo that have families now.”
The event attracts competitors from throughout the province but about 30 of them were local participants.
Willows is pleased with the volunteer effort and the community spirit that makes the event possible, and also realizes the importance of sponsors and fan support for the event.
“I’d like to thank everyone that came out and supported the Buck Lake Stampede and we couldn’t do it without the sponsors. They continue to come back year after year and without them we wouldn’t be able to put on the stampede.”
The stampede takes place every second full weekend in July.