Gleichen Rodeo entertains crowd

Times Reporter   

 

The Gleichen rodeo was a successful one despite the cooler temperatures that sent some fans home early on the first night of competition.

On day two, the weather was warmer and more people attended but attendance was a bit lower from last year.

The fans like the fact that it is a rodeo that happens at night and one of very few that features an evening event.

“I have not seen the exact numbers but I would say they were not as good as last year for attendance. The Friday night was so cold that many people left pretty early. Saturday was pretty good, there was lots of people there,” said Jeff Yule, rodeo committee organizer.

“Saturday was not far off of what it was last year.”

“The grounds were in pretty good shape. I did not hear any complaints about it,” said Yule.

Yule and his cousin Wilson are the ones that provide the stock for the rodeo events, meaning they know the animals best, but he did not want to put the hype on what they own.

“The stock, especially on Saturday was borderline outstanding with the horses and bulls. It was our own stock and I do not think the riders would argue with that,” said Yule.

As for the entertainment, the live bands were exceptional and everything ran according to plan.

“It was awesome. We had Logan Hopp and his band, who is a grandson to a farmer from around here,” said Yule.

“Friday night we had a neighbor of mine Jim Burne who just likes to sing with the guitar.”

Yule cannot say enough about how much time and effort that the volunteers put into making this event run efficiently.

“You need a crew that does the little jobs like sponsorship, getting stuff organized, getting things booked and being there to work on the day of the rodeo,” said Yule.

“I can’t say it enough, the whole reason it works is because all them do what they do and that makes it go.”

The Gleichen rodeo by any stretch is not the biggest for Foothill Cowboy Association by rodeo standards but with the earnings getting an additional fee put on to the winnings, it is right in the mix.

“It was $1,200 per event added. Most amateur are $800-$900 and there are some that are quite a bit bigger at $2,500 added, but we are slowly getting in the mix with them,” said Yule.

Yule and his committee would like to keep the rodeo where it is, staying as a relaxed, small town rodeo. 

The unofficial results are in from the rodeo and the only local one announced was: Strathmore’s Tate Hartell, who won the Bareback with a score of 72 points. Results for Marci Wilson in the ladies barrel racing, Riley Wilson in junior barrels, bullfighter Jason Wilson and Payton Yule in the peewee barrels were not available as of press time.