The following e-mail was received by Rodeo Attitude. We agree with Tom and are asking for any ideas or thoughts from others. Feel free to contact us and we can give you Tom's number or will pass on any ideas to the right people.Thank you. "Rodeo Friends, The Oklahoma State Fair Grounds are doing some renovations... The original wooden NFR bucking chutes are still in the arena hidden in a tunnel. Some grandstands were built over the top of them years ago... very few people know that they are still there. I've seen them myself... it's like going into the catacombs under an Egyptian pyramid... By crawling with a flashlight you can see where guys like Jim Shoulders, Freckles Brown and Clyde Vamorous carved their initals in the catwalks... I'm sure that there are items that need to be preserved for historical purposes. I doubt that the contractor doing the renovations understands the importance of the chutes. I would hate for them to go in a dumpster or landfill. I would like to see some of it go to the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs and some to the Cowboy Hall of Fame in OKC. Maybe a chute gate... maybe just a post with some names on it... The last time I saw it a couple of years ago the board walkway where guys would go up to the chutes was still intact... Some of this history needs to be saved... See what you can do... Butch Pinkerton and the folks at W-W Livestock brought it to my attention and will help out were they can also... Later,Tom Smith
