Review staff
The acts have been booked, the decorations are up and all systems are go for the annual Rimbey Rodeo which will open this Friday night and continue on until sometime the following Sunday.
This year’s edition of the rodeo promises something for people of all ages including member of the Canadian Cowboy Mounted Shooters Association who will be giving daily performances, and the Mustang Show featuring Claude Chausse and his amazing black stallion.
“Things are going really well and everything is on schedule,” said Promotions director Hazel Street, “We haven’t made a deal with Mother Nature yet about the rain, but we’re hoping. But we’ll go rain or shine.”
The show kicks off Friday morning with a pancake breakfast at the Co-op grocery store and until the lights go on Sunday night at the conclusion of the event, there’ll be plenty to take in.
Other attractions scheduled for Friday include competitions such as wild cow milking, a relay race and barrel racing events for kids up to 16 years of age and older.
Street said those who have attended the rodeo in the past can look forward to seeing some of their old favourites like young kids hanging on for dear life while mutton busting, as well as a new variation of rodeo – a calf scramble.
“The kids just love to participate in the mutton busting,” Street said. “This year we went with the calf scramble too for kids who are a little older. When the little kids are in the mutton busting, there was really nothing for the older kids to do, so we brought in the calf scramble.”
The calf scramble involves participants who let their calves loose in the arena and are then required to round them up and lead them back to a designated area.
Another unique event will be the wild pony race whereby participants must, again, turn their horse loose, then catch it, saddle it, bridle it, mount it, and cross a finish line.
There’ll also be a new twist to this year’s show so you might want to consider sleeping in a bit later on Saturday morning so you don’t miss it.
“This will be the first year that we’ll be running the rodeo during the evening of Saturday and into the night,“ Street said. “We’ve got the lights and everything and we really hope the public likes it. Then, of course, we’ll have the cabaret up there at the grounds in the Ag Building. The midway will also be going and there’ll be all sorts of things happening.”
Street said the move to a night rodeo was precipitated by crowds that were somewhat less than they expected in previous years, and decided to try something new in order to attract more spectators.
“We had trouble getting a crowd so we tried to think of something new that people might like and enjoy,” Street said. “Maybe we can’t get a good crowd on Saturday nights because they’re working – maybe it’ll help them out a bit, and hopefully the farmers will be able to attend a night rodeo. We’re hoping that it will serve the community better and more people will be able to attend.”
Street was quick to add that while attendance has remained steady over the past little while, the organizing committee is always looking for new and innovative ideas to make the rodeo even better.
Another big attraction to the rodeo will be the parade that begins at 11 a.m. on Saturday morning at the high school and will proceed down 50th Avenue, ending up at the Rodeo Grounds.
Street said she’d like to see as many floats as possible in the parade and encouraged all businesses to either enter a float, dress-up their store fronts, or do both adding that there’s some really nice prizes up for grabs.
“We’re inviting all the locals to get their best floats in. We’ve got all sorts of prizes and we have 13 sponsors for entries into the parade,” she said. “We’ve also got first and second prizes for the best-decorated storefronts. It would be great if the local businesses could dress up for rodeo week.”
And if that isn’t enough, Street said the kids will be thrilled to know that West Coast Amusements will be returning with a wide variety of midway rides. There’ll also be a number of food booths for anyone who might find themselves a bit hungry as well, the beer gardens will be returning for those who might want to wet their whistle.
“We’ll have lots of choices for anyone who gets hungry,” she said. “Well also be having our beer gardens again - it didn’t really go too well last year because is was raining, but this year we’ve got a tent and beer gardens on the grounds.”
Sunday could prove to be the most exciting day of the rodeo as that’s when the chuckwagon and chariot racing finals will be held and Street said it’ll be the ideal day for people to bring their dads along as part of Father’s Day.
In all, Street said the committee and an army of volunteers have put in many tireless hours of work to ensure that the 2008 Rimbey Rodeo is a big success.
“We tried very hard and everybody’s worked together to get a full slate of events and attractions,” she said. “It’s going to be a great show this year. We’re going to pack those stands.”