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Behind The Chutes

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HAWAII MEANS R & R - RODEO & RANCHING!!
[Nov. 12, 2008] The Rodeo Clown Reunion ended, I returned home, packed my bags and headed west. Yep, really west, the 'Big Island' of Hawai'i. My running buddies, Imogene Beals and Donna Clark joined me and after a long flight we arrived at the airport in Hilo. We rented a car and headed to our ‘cabin’ across the island. The road was winding and we hugged the Pacific Ocean on our right as we drove through lush green foliage and trees of a kind we don’t have back in Texas. A waterfall would appear amid the greenery here and there. The drive was beautiful. No freeways here, it was just a narrow two lane highway and occasionally we would drive through a village. We were enjoying it immensely. Then it got dark. By Gail Woerner, Rodeo Attitude

COWGIRL HALL INVITES FIVE INTO THEIR FOLD FOR 2008
[Oct. 16, 2008] The induction ceremony for the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame is always a fun time. It is held in one of the huge ball rooms of the Will Rogers Coliseum and Complex within walking distance of the Hall. The Cowgirl Who's Who plus so many 'movers and shakers' in the western world attend. Not only were the multitudes there to see old friends and make new acquaintances By Gail Woerner

Gail Woerner to receive Will Rogers Medallion Award September 23rd
[Sep. 22, 2008] The Academy of Western Artists has announced that Gail Hughbanks Woerner has been selected as a recipient of the 2008 Will Rogers Medallion Award for Western Non-fiction for her latest book, "Rope To Win, The History of Steer, Calf, and, Team Roping". Gail will receive her award at their awards ceremony Tuesday evening, September 23 at Granville Theater in Garland, Texas. By Cindy Meyers, Rodeo Attitude

Bullying Hurts Program Hires Former Bullfighter George Doak
[Sep. 12, 2008] A very effective program called BULLYING HURTS that educates teenagers, through a variety of organizations, to mentor grade school children against bullying, has hired former rodeo clown and bullfighter, George Doak as Director of Rodeo Relations and Education Communication. The veteran of twenty-eight years in the rodeo arena, baiting the bull and saving cowboys, will promote this positive service program throughout the rodeo world encouraging committees and individuals to introduce this worthwhile project in to their home communities. By Gail Woerner

Aftermath - Rodeo Clown Reunion
[Sep. 2, 2008] The Rodeo Clown Reunion was a huge success in Dodge City, Kansas. The Dodge City Days Rodeo Committee and so many more sponsors made our stay there so enjoyable and memorable. The honorees dressed in their familiar costumes of the past and donned their individual ‘clown faces’ to entertain the fans all over Dodge City, including autographing before each of the five rodeo performances and helping with the Youthville Rodeo for Exceptional Children, the Mutton Bustin’, the Boot Scramble and tossing T-shirts to the fans. By Gail Woerner

Rodeo Clown Reunion Dodge City Days July 30th Through August 3rd
[Jul. 24, 2008] What it the true measure of the rodeo clown? If you are anywhere near Dodge City, Kansas, from July 30th through August 3rd, come to the Dodge City Days celebration and PRCA rodeo and see for yourself. There are forty retired rodeo clowns arriving to sign autographs and entertain the fans from every direction – Montana, South and North Dakota, New Mexico, Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, New York, Louisiana, Arkansas, Colorado, Michigan and Missouri. They will don their familiar make-up and big baggy britches and get laughs where ever they happen to be. By Gail Woerner, Rodeo Historian

The Life Of Clem McSpadden A Rodeo Renaissance Man
[Jul. 20, 2008] People with wisdom and the willingness to serve don't happen to come around often. And when they do they usually have a chosen field in which they give until they can't give any more. Fortunately, Clem McSpadden chose rodeo as his field of expertise. Or maybe rodeo chose Clem. No matter. It was a beautiful match and for just eighteen years short of a century Clem and rodeo went through life as one. By Gail Woerner, Rodeo Historian
Also: Gail's Website

Clem McSpadden Makes His Last Ride
[Jul. 8, 2008] Everyone's friend and favorite announcer, Clem McSpadden, died July 7th in Houston, Texas. The proud cowboy from Oklahoma had a fifty-one year career as a rodeo announcer and a career as a politician in the Senate and Congress of Oklahoma. By Gail Woerner

Summertime Reads
[Jun. 23, 2008] New books out that will help you cowboys and cowgirls relive the past through the eyes of two of the great bronc riders of their era. The story of Bill Smith a World Champion Saddle Bronc rider is told. Turk Greenough, another tough saddle bronc rider of his time, who went on to stunt work in Hollywood, has finally received his request, a book about his unusual life. Both of these books will give the reader a great insight in to the life of a competing rodeo cowboy, in two different eras. By Gail Hughbanks-Woerner

A Cowboy That Can Outrun The Energizer Bunny
[Jun. 9, 2008] The Energizer Bunny that beats his drum across our television screens and the Timex Watch ad from the past that boasted after the watch had been dunked in water and run over by a truck "And it keeps on ticking!" have nothing on Hub Hubbell. He'll be ninety years 'young' later this year and he is still making cowboy history. By Gail Woerner

Behind The Chutes and Elsewhere - Texas Hall of Fame Induction
[Apr. 17, 2008]

My travels are getting shorter! No, it doesn’t have a thing to do with the gas prices, but it sure could. It just so happens I only live an hour away from Belton, Texas, where the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame Induction Weekend was held and I wanted to be there. Over 800 people showed up to observe, honor their friends or family. It was truly a special time as thirty-two cowboys and cowgirls were inducted for 2008.

By Gail Woerner

HISTORY OF THE RODEO CLOWN REUNION
[Mar. 6, 2008] When thinking of ‘all things funny, the rodeo clown is an example of the need for levity in a tense situation. The very first rodeo clowns, around the early part of the twentieth century, were developed out of a need for someone to keep rodeo spectators in their seats by entertaining them while a lull in the program happened. By Gail Hughbanks-Woerner

The Rodeo Clown Reunion Comes To Dodge City
[Feb. 8, 2008] The rodeo clowns of yesteryear are donning their familiar make-up and garb and will appear at the Dodge City Days in Dodge City, Kansas, July 30th through August 3rd,. Approximately fifty retired rodeo clowns, bullfighters and barrelmen will attend the annual rodeo and activities in Dodge City, which includes visiting with fans.

RODEOATTITUDE EXTRA!!!!!!!!!!
[Jun. 22, 2007] Comeback for former rodeo clown-bullfighter, George Doak! By By:Gail Hughbanks-Woerner

WHAT IF?? . . . . . RODEO HAD BEEN REPORTED ON SPORTS PAGES FOR THE LAST 100 YEARS??
[Apr. 12, 2007] Did you ever wonder what might have happened if things had been different in the past? If the sport of rodeo was covered on the Sports Pages of newspapers across this nation since the beginning of rodeo would the sport be further ahead than it is now? Would rodeo have mega-major sponsors supporting it, and more clamoring to be involved? By Gail Woerner

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