BARRHEAD – The rodeo talent was on fire and the Wildrose Rodeo Association handed out awards after the AG Society events delighted contestants and crowds.
From Thursday, Sept. 17 to Sunday, Sept. 22 Barrhead was cowboy central for the Wildrose Rodeo Association (WRA) Rodeo Finals hosted by the Barrhead AG Society.
“This was truly the best rodeo in Barrhead,” said David Schmidt, Wildrose Rodeo Association president of this year's events.
“It was the best crowd we ever had, number-wise, enthusiasm-wise, and crowd support-wise.”
“The rodeo announcers, Randy Schmidt and Neil Branden, the rodeo clown, Dennis Halstead, and the music director, Dawn Marie Branden, all did a great job."
The WRA Cowboy of the Year award was presented to Gary Havell.
This award is given to someone who has been a great supporter of rodeo.
Havell has been involved with the Wildrose Rodeo Association since the early '80s and has been a contestant, director, and a judge.
The Leonard Schmidt Award, honouring those who are great supporters and promoters of the WRA Rodeo, was presented to Randy Schmidt. When you think about rodeo in Barrhead, many think of Schmidt as one of the rodeo celebrities.
The Darrel Paulovich award was presented a great rodeo fan who attends as many rodeos as he is able. The winner is Luke Massey from Mayerthorpe.
David Schmidt said the town had a poker event for the contestants where the they had to go around to business and collect cards and put together a poker hand that was great fun.
Pembina West Co-op put on a pancake breakfast Friday, Sept 20, morning for cowboys and crowds, that delighted all who attended.
It was the first year of the vendor market and trade show and the attendance momentum grew with each day of the event.
“I was just blown away by the community support and the volunteers the AG society had. It was all thumbs up for me,” said Schmidt. “We hope to go bigger and better.”
