When a rodeo cowboy flies out of the gate on a bucking, raging 1,500-pound freight train, thereB次元官网网址檚 little room for error, or people get hurt.
Safety for riders and volunteers lies in the details B次元官网网址� gates and latches on the stockades and chutes need to work perfectly, despite punishment from bucking bulls and broncs. Earth in the ring is prepped and obsessively picked over for rocks and debris.
B次元官网网址淭hereB次元官网网址檚 a lot of work that goes into the arena,B次元官网网址� says Mike Cooper, part of the ring crew and a three-year volunteer with the Luxton Pro Rodeo. B次元官网网址淭he groundB次元官网网址檚 got to be the right consistency for barrel racing horses and so cowboys donB次元官网网址檛 fall on hardpack.B次元官网网址�
Cooper and his buddy Billy B次元官网网址淲ild BillB次元官网网址� Blore understand this from personal experience. Both rode bulls through the 1990s, but BloreB次元官网网址檚 career was cut short on Aug. 16, 1997, after an animal named No Mistakes crushed his skull.
Cooper held his friendB次元官网网址檚 head in the ambulance and he was pronounced dead twice. Blore was unconscious for six weeks. B次元官网网址淣o Mistakes made no mistakes,B次元官网网址� Blore quips. B次元官网网址淚t took 2-1/2 years of rehabilitation.B次元官网网址�
Volunteering at the Luxton rodeo allows the men to stay close to the tough-as-nails culture they love, and to support the next generation of cowboys.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a way to still be a part of rodeo. IB次元官网网址檓 too old for competition and itB次元官网网址檚 a way to give back to the community,B次元官网网址� Cooper says. B次元官网网址淎nd we get to be up close to the action like way-back-when.
B次元官网网址淓ither people love rodeo or hate it. ThereB次元官网网址檚 no in between. I donB次元官网网址檛 love much, but I love my truck and I love rodeo.B次元官网网址�
Dozens of volunteers B次元官网网址� rodeo diehards, urban cowboys and cowgirls, and guys who tinker with antique farm equipment B次元官网网址� offer their sweat and toil at the Luxton Fairgrounds each weekend months before the event. Many book holidays from work to sleep, eat and work at the fairgrounds.
B次元官网网址淲e ask an awful lot of our volunteers,B次元官网网址� says Bill Bennett, president of the Metchosin FarmersB次元官网网址� Institute, the non-profit which owns the Luxton Fairgrounds. B次元官网网址淲e call and they show up and give all their time. In this economy today, itB次元官网网址檚 pretty impressive.B次元官网网址�
Nancy Elzinga, 59, is happy to hop on a rider mower or lend a hand in any way she can B次元官网网址� preserving the Luxton Fairgrounds is preserving a slice of old Langford, when Happy Valley was rural.
B次元官网网址淢y mom and dad worked the grounds here when I was a baby,B次元官网网址� say Elzinga, sister to Sandy West, one of the key volunteer organizers of the rodeo. B次元官网网址淲e are trying to hang onto these grounds, and the volunteers put on the best rodeo youB次元官网网址檒l ever see.B次元官网网址�
The Luxton Pro Rodeo, now in its 36th year, remains the only Vancouver Island venue on the pro circuit, and for years was the only rodeo on the Island. Coombs has revived an amateur rodeo event this year.
Organizers expect more than 200 rodeo competitors will funnel through Luxton over the weekend, with many moving between rodeos in Falkland B.C. and Redding, Calif.
Dedicated volunteers and generous sponsorships from local businesses has helped keep Luxton pro rodeo alive, Bennett says, where so many others have folded.
Even with free labour, he estimates the rodeo costs $100,000 B次元官网网址� prize purses, the stock contractor, ambulance service, veterinarians and rodeo judges add up.
B次元官网网址淩odeoing is a way of life. It gets in your blood. But without volunteers or sponsors, weB次元官网网址檇 have no rodeo. That is the bottom line.B次元官网网址�
Weather also plays a key factor in the success of each yearB次元官网网址檚 rodeo. Rain can drive away all but the most dedicated of rodeo fans, but not the cowboys.
B次元官网网址淟ast year was the best year weB次元官网网址檝e ever had. It was three good days of weather,B次元官网网址� says Charlie Price, a long-serving Luxton rodeo manager. B次元官网网址淏ut it doesnB次元官网网址檛 matter if itB次元官网网址檚 muddy or rainy, the cowboys ride no matter what.B次元官网网址�
editor@goldstreamgazette.com
Rodeo weekend
