Rockyford Rodeo cancelled, but Bullarama gets green light

By Lorenzo Gavilan Vargas Times Reporter

The Rockyford Lions Club has decided to cancel the Rockyford Rodeo, but the Bullarama is set to take place on July 24.

The decision to cancel the rodeo was attributed to the inconvenient timing of COVID restriction announcements.

“We were worried with the amount of planning it takes to put our rodeo on. We felt as though there would not be enough time to get that done,” said Darcy Burke, Lions Club member.

The Lions Club wanted to maintain a July event in place of the Rockyford Rodeo, so the Bullarama was scheduled. The Bullarama is a one-day event, instead of the rodeo which usually takes place over three days.

According to Burke, the festivities will start at around 8 p.m. on July 24, and will have events for kids before around 30 riders will try their hand at the Bullarama throughout the rest of the evening.

In 2020, both events were cancelled which had a financial impact on the Rockyford Lions Club.

“It certainly affected the revenues, and that has a fallout into how the Lions Club can financially support other clubs and organizations and community projects,” noted Burke. “So we were very eager to get this back and running this year.” 

In the absence of the money raised by the rodeo, the Lions Club was forced to look for other ways to raise funds. 

“Last month we had a very successful online auction,” explained Burke. “Our Lions Club canvassed the community and nearby communities for donations. We generated almost $35,000 in proceeds out of that auction. It was very, very successful. The club is very, very happy with the donors, and the buyers were just overwhelmingly surprised.”

Burke says the Lions Club is excited to welcome anyone interested in attending the event and understands that people are ready to get out and socialize.