The Rimbey Co-operators Agrim Centre has been quite the happening place, seeing some very high end bookings in the facility.
One of those bookings included the Iron Horse Arenacross event, which saw thousands come out over the two weekends of Feb. 4 and 5 and Feb. 11 and 12.
“They actually got more entries than what they do with the same event in Chilliwack every year. That put this arena cross that we just did in Rimbey one of the largest arena cross events in Western Canada. It’s huge,” said President of the Rimbey Ag Society Ken Whitelock.
The Rimbey Ag Society is also proud to have been awarded the Alberta Association of Agricultural Societies (AAAS) Award of Merit this year, another accomplishment to put under their belt.
Whitelock added that they are also building a lot of excitement with a number of large events planned for this year in the Agrim Centre, including the Alberta Junior High Finals rodeo from May 26 to 28, the Breeders Elite event Aug. 4, 5 and 6, with approximately $220,000 in prize money and the West of the 5th STARS Charity Rodeo Aug. 11 and 12.
The WRA Finals Rodeo will be another sought after event coming up from Sept. 21 to 24.
“Our financial position is successful right now and this is going to be the first year even before COVID-19 that we are going to be able to operate 12 consecutive months. Our budget is going from under $200,000 a year to just under $1 million this fiscal,” he said.
They have also secured funding from the Rimbey Lions Club on an ongoing five year basis in order to access matching grant funding towards the completion of their concession.
Last month, Whitelock, along with others from the Rimbey Co-operators Agrim Centre, attended Ponoka County’s regular meeting to report on the growth and progress of their facility since 2020.
The board ended up requesting funding from the county of $20,000 per year for capital projects, with the decision being tabled until their March meeting.