Ag Society reflects on year
By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
According to Ryan Schmidt, president and CEO of the Strathmore & District Agricultural Society, the team and their volunteers have had an exciting year to be proud of, as they wrap up 2023.
Schmidt reflected on the successes of the year, as well as the lessons learned along the way which he intends to learn from and make next year’s itinerary even more grandiose.
“I feel like we had a wonderful year that our events really hit their stride this year. We had great concerts, amazing rodeo chuckwagons and Running With the Bulls … our Fright Night was wonderful, the Celebration of Lights is rolling right now, the volunteers of the Ag Society have really put together a smashing year for us in 2023,” he said.
Schmidt explained in his opinion, the four events which really stood out to him as having been of particular note and success included the Cowboy Town Concert, Celebration of Lights, Fright Night, and 50th anniversary gala to celebrate the organization and its history.
“Our Brett Kissel cowboy town concert was just such an amazing night … the energy was just palpable, people had a wonderful time and it really set things up for a great concert next year,” he said. “I thought Fright Night was our best performance ever in the mazes. The volunteers who came out as scarers, and the volunteers who put together a tremendous maze this year, it was just an awesome experience for everybody.”
Among the lessons learned, Schmidt said there are improvements that need to be addressed regarding the smooth operation of the rodeo school in the summer, mindfulness of potential weather problems during outdoor events, as well as rodent control throughout the grounds.
“Our rodeo school sold out as usual … one thing we found, especially with saddle bronc and bareback, we had a roster of all brand new green kids sign up and it made it really challenging for the coaches to manage because a lot of the kids did not have their own equipment.
“Those couple of days were a real slog-fest. We definitely invite and want new people to the sport, to the rodeo school — it probably just would have been smarter to have some mix of kids who had done it a few times and had some equipment so there was not so much sharing.
To resolve this problem, Schmidt intends for the Ag Society to have its own supply of equipment for athletes new to their sports to learn on before buying any equipment, and to have a more balanced distribution of green to seasoned athletes throughout the school.
The large project and significant focus for the Ag Society throughout 2024, will be raising capital required for the development of the planned indoor Western Events and Cultural Centre.
“In order to build this wonderful facility just outside of town, we need to raise a lot of capital and that campaign is launching in February. We are going to be working hard all year on that,” he said. “If we can succeed on that, it will be transformational for the Ag Society.”