People Know You By Your First Name

Good-bye Ponoka Stampede, you have successfully provided Ponoka residents and many visitors another year of jam packed, rodeo fun!

Whether you are from Ponoka or a guest camping for the week you will enjoy the sights and sounds of the Ponoka Stampede.  For people from Ponoka, the Stampede serves as a high school reunion, a way to catch up with old friends who have, since high school, moved away.  For the kids still in high school, Stampede serves as a mark to the start of summer and the end of classes.

For me, Stampede was a high school reunion.  I was able to reconnect with many friends that I haven't seen since last Stampede.  The atmosphere of the rodeo offers nothing but excitement and it seems as though people of all ages drop everything when it comes to Stampede time.

For businesses in Ponoka, the Stampede brings thousands of people, and business skyrockets.  All of the hotel rooms fill, holiday trailers fill the campsite, the school fields and the ditches of surrounding businesses.  Resturaunts and fast food establishments are completely full at all hours of the day with hungry rodeo goers grabbing a snack before the next performance or after the beer gardens.  If you are a resident of Ponoka, this is the one week you should refrain from eating out.

For parents with small children, Stampede brings stress.  With the rodeo comes the midway, and the rides full of screaming children, cotton candy, ice cream and mini donuts, all of the things that keep the children just wired.  If you have ever been to the stampede and have walked through the midway during the day, you will know just the craze I am talking about.

For the police in Ponoka, Stampede brings double time.  Driving home the other night I passed five cop cars, three with vehicles pulled over.  Check stops are setup all over town, and Police station themselves in the beer gardens hoping to prevent fights and weed out any underage'rs.  The drunk tank in Ponoka is the busiest this time of year, and if you are lucky enough to have that one friend who always challenges the cops, you will hear many interesting stories about the drunk tank the next morning.  You may even be lucky enough to be the friend who gets the early morning call "can you come pick me up, I am at the cop shop".

All in all, I think that Stampede brings much joy to many people, and I for one cannot complain.  I had the opportunity this year to volunteer as a bartender during the Saturday night cabaret in the arena.  Being on the other side of the bar was humorous to say the least.  From this angle you get to watch friends progress through the night, and you watch some pretty funny situations unfold.

Last night I took in the rodeo finals, and watched as my cousin`s boyfriend won the team roping event for the second year in a row! It makes rodeo that much more exciting when you get to cheer for someone you personally know! Congratulations Levi Simpson! The video below is Levi last year at Ponoka Stampede, this year he had a different roping partner.  Levi also competed in the Canadian Finals Rodeo last year

Lately I have heard a song on the radio that reminds me exactly of Ponoka.  I decided to dig up the lyrics and add my own little stories to them!

Artist: Brody Dean
Song: People Know You By Your First Name  
Album: Trail In Life

It's a town just outside of nowhere 
with a general store and one lamp pole
we got wheat fields saw mills and coal mines (Ponoka is surrounded by farms any direction you go) 
down home country folks

raised on 4H and dance hall auctions (Ponoka has many various 4-H clubs)
spaghetti dinners and parkin lot fights,
ohh we might be a little bit backwoods
but `round here thats alright

Chorus:
where people know you by your first name
what kinda truck you drive (You can always tell who is anywhere by checking out vehicles parked)
how your team did back in high school
so you can't lie
better watch out who you take home
`cause `round here its a fact of life
that people know you by your first name
and what you did last night

so c'mon down to our fund raiser dinner it'll be a highschool reunion I swear
another family fallin' on hard times
so there won't be an empty chair (this recently happened in Ponoka.  A farm family lost their young father to a heart attack, and a fundraiser/silent auction was held at the Stampede grounds to raise money for the family.  Everyone was there, from farmers to hockey coaches, figure skaters to business people, not a seat was empty)

listen close and you'll hear a local legend
Billy Crocket and that twelve point rack
oh and you thought you were alone skinny dippin in the springs last night
word here travels fast

Chorus:
where people know you by your first name what kinda truck you drive
how your team did back in highschool
so can't lie
better watch out who you take home

`cause `round here it's a fact of life
that people know you by your first name
and what you did last night

here we go

Chorus:
where people know you by your first name what kinda truck you drive
how your team did back in highschool
so can't lie
better watch out who you take home
`cause `round here it's a fact of life
that people know you by your first name
and what you did last night

yeah people know you by your first name
and what you did last night

[Thanks to Jacob Scully for lyrics]

http://www.cowboylyrics.com/lyrics/brody-dean/people-know-you-by-your-first-name-32844.html

Out to the cows I go!

Have a good day everyone!

Sam

A Bunch of Bull

For any of you who have heard of Ponoka, I am sure your first thought is "Ponoka Stampede" or possibly "isn't there a mental hospital there?".  Those are the sorts of questions which I am asked when I mention my home town.

For Ponoka, the town and the residents, the Ponoka Stampede is the biggest function of the year, exponentially increasing the towns population of 6500 to 60,000+.  All of the hotels are filled, tents and holiday trailers fill all open grass areas, and people from everywhere crowd the small stampede grounds.

From the midway to the rodeo, there is something for all ages at the stampede.  This year will be Ponoka Stampede's 75th year in the works, our diamond jubilee.  We will be hosting two concerts, Gord Bamford and Dwight Yoakam will be performing for the big celebration!
The video below gives you a little overview of Ponoka and the Stampede.  If you look closely at roughly 20 seconds in, you will see my roomate and I with my cow Pheebee getting ready for the mile long parade! My cow walked the parade four years in a row, giving all of the spectators a feel for just what 4-Hers in Ponoka get up to!

I love the rodeo.  I don't think there is much better than sitting in the sunshine watching a barrel racer round her last barrel and head home, or to hear the buzzer sound after an 8 second ride.  The thrill and the excitment of the rodeo entertain everyone.

For me, the best part is the bull riding.  I don't know if it is the excitment of seeing a 200 pound man grasp onto a bucking 2000 pound bull or if it is the clown, ducking into his barrel as a bull rolls him across the arena, that make me love it so much.

Luckily for me, right before the Stampede rolls into town, the Jace Harty Memorial Bull Riding takes place.  This year was the 9th year for the memorial ride, and it included 30 top PBR bull riders, as well as a performance from the Denver Daines band!  One of my favorite parts of the Memorial Bull Riding is the bull soccer.  If you have never witnessed bull soccer, you're missing out.  Two teams of people meet in the middle of the dirt, and compete in a soccer match.  But this isn't your regular soccer match.  A couple minutes into the match two bulls are sent into the ring to join in on the game.  However, instead of chasing the ball, the bulls chase the players!  It is so funny to see the players jump onto the fences for safety.  It is dangerous, of course, but that is what makes it so exciting! Check out this video to see the action from the bull soccer last year!

  

For me, having the chance to watch 30 bull riders try out their luck on some wild bulls is an opportunity I won't pass up.  Better yet, the memorial ride is for a great cause.
Jace Harty was a young bull rider who passed away in 2002 in a car accident at the age of 23.  The memorial bull riding has been put on every year since then to carry on his legacy.  And what a legacy it is.  Last night I watched as friends shared stories, as bull riders took the stage in their head to head battle with the bulls.  I witnessed tears and laughter, and I was truly touched by a poem written by Curtis Anderson, as well as the speech that he delivered following the tribute to Jace.  Curtis Anderson was a bull rider injured in 2002 while competing in a bull riding event in Ponoka.  He was brain injured and had to re-learn everything from speaking to walking.  Nine years later Curtis stood up alone and was able to share his story with the audience.  I was touched.  Curtis now hosts a trail ride with Courage Canada to raise money for brain injury awareness.  Just another bull rider touching the lives of thousands.  And it is all for the love of the sport.
To read more about Curtis Anderson's inspiring story, check out this link - http://everything-cowboy.com/tag/curtis-anderson/

If you are unfamiliar with the sport of bull riding, let me fill you in on the basics.
First and foremost, bull riding involves a cowboy (the rider) and a bull (the riden).  The bull rider cannot touch themselves or their bull with their free hand or else they will have no score.
There are two judges who watch the ride.  Each judge gives the rider a score of 1-25, as well, they give the bull a score from 1-25.  A perfect ride would score 100.
The bull rider wraps a braided rope around the bull, and then wraps around their hand, trying their best to secure themselves.  The bullrope is the only thing holding that rider onto the large bull
The main priority of the rider is to stay on for 8 seconds.  This is a task in itself, and last night only six riders out of 30 made the 8 second ride.
Bull riding doesn't only include the rider and the bull.  There are also clowns, and bull fighters in the ring to protect the rider when they leave the back of the bull.  The bulls are not impressed with the riding so they try to take out anything in their sight.  Bull fighters get the lovely job of trying to distract the bull from the rider once the rider hits the ground.  I don't know what would be more scary: being on the bull or being on the ground getting ready to distract the raging bull!
Bull riding isn't only physically challenging, but definitely mentally.  If you are not in the right mind set, the ride will likely not go well.
Bull riding is one of the most loved rodeo events, and even has it's own tour, the PBR (Professional Bull Riding) Tour.  The PBR was started in 1992 by 20 professional bull riders.  PBR now has 1200+ bull riders from United States, Canada, Australia and Brazil (The Sport Journal).

The Brahma breed (imported from India) became popular in the bull ridding because the bull had horns and large humps on their backs.  But the breeds of the bulls don't really matter as much as performance of the bull.  Each bull has to be flexible and want to jump around and be crazy.  After all, the bulls score makes up half of the riders score, so the riders want good bucking bull!

This year at the Canadian Finals Rodeo, a bull gave everyone a bit of a surprise! I was there for this! Check out the clip, it will give you an idea of just how the cowboys prepare, ride and how the bull fighters distract the bull.  It will also show you just how well bulls can jump! Check it out y'all!

So there you have it! Want to learn more about bull riding? Check out this awesome video! Saddle Up To Bull Riding.  I promise it is well worth your time!

Have a great day tomorrow everyone!

As long as there is a sunset there will always be a west.