QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “I'll wear the latest one (the 2010 gold buckle) and the other two will be displayed on the top of the TV.”
— Three-time Bull Riding World Champion J.W. Harris, outlining his plans for his buckle collection for the Abilene Reporter News.
Cowboys help raise money for burn survivors, Dec. 16-18
PRCA cowboys and those in the Western world raised $11,681.50 for burn survivors Whitney Alderson, 18, and Rayche’ll Ochoa, 15, in an online auction Dec. 16-18 to help the girls’ families with medical expenses. The cowgirls were burned in a trailer explosion at a rodeo in September in Arizona.
The auction was part of Alderson/Ochoa Benefit Team Roping Dec. 18 at the Tucson (Ariz.) Rodeo Grounds.
The 2010 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo jacket of 14-time World Champion Trevor Brazile was the biggest money maker at $2,050, followed by a guided mule deer hunt that went for $1,000.
Merchandise was also donated by 2008 World Champion Tie-Down Roper Stran Smith and two-time World Champion Heeler Walt Woodard. Wrangler NFR team roper Travis Tryan and eight-time World Champion Heeler Rich Skelton auctioned off a two-hour roping lesson to raise money.
Country singers George Strait and Clay Walker also had items in the auction. A full summary of the auction results is posted on the Auction Systems: Auctioneers & Appraisers website: www.auctionandappraise.com/home.html
Cowboy Downhill set for Jan. 18 at Steamboat Springs
The 37th annual Cowboy Downhill slalom and stampede races will be held on Jan. 18 at Steamboat (Colo.) Resorts.
Contestants entered in the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo, Jan. 8-9, and Jan. 13-23, in Denver may sign up.
Registration will be held from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. (MT), Jan. 17, at the Clubhouse at The Lodge and from 8:30-11:30 a.m. on Jan. 18 at Gondola Square. The cost to enter is $125 per person, which includes two nights lodging, Jan. 17-18.
Festivities include a pre-race concert at 2:45 p.m., Jan. 18 at Gondola Square. The timed-event dual slalom is set for 4:15 p.m., followed by the mass-start stampede race.
An awards ceremony will be held after the stampede, also at Gondola Square.
Check Steamboat Resorts website for snow conditions.
Steamboat Resorts website
www.steamboatresorts.com
National Western Stock Show and Rodeo (Denver) website
www.nationalwestern.com
Winners crowned at annual permit challenge
The second annual PRCA Permit Holder of the Year Challenge was held during the Benny Binion’s World Famous Bucking Horse & Bull Sale at the South Point Hotel, Spa & Casino’s Equestrian Center, Dec. 4-5, with PRCA permit holders competing for cash and prizes. Justin Miller of Billings, Mont., won the bareback riding, Keith Brauer of Freeburg, Ill., took the saddle bronc riding competition and Ty Pozzobon of Merritt, B.C., was the bull riding winner.
The top five permit holders in the bareback riding, saddle bronc riding and bull riding, based on total money won by the end of the 2010 season on Sept. 30, were invited to compete in the two-day event. The winner in each event was the cowboy with the most combined points from the go-rounds at the sale, and cowboys had to compete in all go-rounds and any bonus rounds to be eligible for the prizes.
The event was created last year by the PRCA Stock Contractor Executive Council to serve as an added benefit for PRCA permit holders – cowboys just starting out on their ProRodeo careers who are fighting to make a name for themselves in the sport.
Event sponsors included RAM Rodeo, Wrangler, Justin Brands, Barstow Rodeo, SPI and the South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa.
News and notes from the rodeo trail …
For the first time in its history the Pendleton (Ore.) Round-Up has elected a woman, Heather Corey, to its board of directors. Corey joined three other new directors — Rob Collins, Randy Leonard and Randy Thomas — after being ratified at the annual stockholders' meeting Nov. 24. Mrs. Corey, the wife of ProRodeo Hall of Fame veterinarian Dr. Doug Corey, has been a volunteer with the Round-Up for more than 40 years and is a third generation director, following her grandfather, father and brother.
More than 100 Redding (Calif.)-area children received renovated bicycles from the Redding Rodeo Association Dec. 18 at the Redding Rodeo Grounds. It is the sixth year that members of the RRA had acquired bikes from the Redding Police Department, the California Highway Patrol and indvidual donors, then restore the bikes so they are safe and usable.
Charlotte Dennis, a volunteer with the Reno (Nev.) Rodeo for more than 50 years, died Dec. 15. She was 81. Funeral services were held at the Walton Funeral Home in Reno Dec. 19.
Next Up
Dec. 28 Mesquite (Texas) Winter Classic begins
Jan. 2 National Western Stock Show Timed-Event Qualifier, Denver, begins
Jan. 6 Dodge Texas Circuit Finals Rodeo, Waco, Texas, begins
Jan. 7 SandHills Stock Show & Rodeo, Odessa, Texas, begins
Jan. 8 National Western Stock Show & Rodeo, Denver, begins
