OFF PAGE ONE
Thursday, September 16, 2021
East Oregonian
A7
Crisis:
Continued from Page A1
Infection rate remains high,
vaccination rate low
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Stetson Wright, of Milford, Utah, rides Rock Salt and Na on Monday, Sept. 13, 2021, for 84 points during the PRCA Xtreme Bulls Tour
Finale at Happy Canyon Arena in Pendleton.
Rodeo:
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In a perfect world, they’d
rope and ride every night
because horses need to be
ridden nearly every day. But,
there has been an evolution for
training opportunities as tech-
nology has advanced.
“We’ve got some real neat
tools that you can learn a whole
lot faster these days than ever
before,” Sorey said.
For roping, teams can pull
dummies behind four-wheelers
that the aspiring pro can chase
down and rope. Or, there are newer
mechanical dummies that let you
work on your horse and yourself at
slower speeds. But even with these
advances, it doesn’t quite compare
to live animals, which might cut
in surprising directions or do the
exact opposite of what is expected.
“You learn to read cattle as
they move, and the horse does
to some extent, but you help
them make those decisions from
above,” Sorey said. “And that’s
just part of the challenge.”
There’s a lot of stuff that
happens in roping that you
won’t understand until you get
into it, he said.
“I guess that’s what makes
it fun,” he said. “It’s just you’re
always learning something,
always trying to find a better
way; different ways and better
ways and different ideas. You
know, there’s not a real hand-
book.”
Beating the bulls
Bull riding doesn’t have
much of a handbook either.
Just give a little prayer before
heading out into the packed
arena, hold on as best you can
for the necessary eight seconds
and hope that you’re not one of
the unlucky ones to walk away
with a blown-out shoulder, shat-
tered bones or permanent brain
damage
For many professionals, it’s
difficult to describe the feeling
of riding a bull, much less how
to successfully ride one. Riders
can’t have a trace of fear as
they climb onto a 1,500-pound
bull, feeling its muscles flex
and shiver in the chute, already
trying to buck them off before
the gate opens.
Fear has no place as they try
to conquer the rocketing whip-
saw under them, tendrils of
bull spittle flying out in spirals
and heavy hooves churning
the dirt below. Stetson Wright,
who placed second at the 2021
Xtreme Bulls finale in Pendle-
ton on Tuesday, Sept. 14, and
is the current world all-around
leader, said some riders thought
of it almost like a drug.
“Once you start,” he said,
“you can’t stop.”
“We don’t get paid to think,”
said Matt Palmer, who won the
Tuesday finale. “We get paid to
ride.”
Palmer said there’s not
much strategy that goes into
riding a bull. Everything
happens so fast that there’s no
time to think. It’s just split-sec-
ond reactions.
“A lot of the time it’s just
muscle memory,” Wright said.
For those trying to break
into the sport, however, starting
small is the way to go. Starting
with riding barrels or mechan-
ical bulls can help with timing
and act as tune-ups for profes-
sionals, before moving onto
smaller, easier bulls at jackpot
rodeos, then working your way
through the ranks.
For professionals such as
Sage Kimzey, who won his
fifth Xtreme Bulls Tour Cham-
pionship on Sept. 14 and spends
between two to six hours on the
road every day, there isn’t an
effective way or need to train for
the event during the season —
especially when he rides around
150 to 175 bulls a year.
“Whenever we were younger
we’d practice a lot,” Kimzey
said, “but once you kind of hit
the pro rank it’s a little built-in.”
Kimzey, who still has a
fitness coach and works on
mobility and conditioning,
doesn’t have much time for
outside training aside from
eating and staying healthy. This
can be enough of a challenge for
some, however, with the lack of
healthy food on the road. Palmer
basically relies on a diet of fast
food and Red Bull while on the
circuit.
For professionals, “If you’re
not winning out on the road,
then you go broke and have to
go home and that’s where the
practice comes back,” Kimzey
said.
Riding bulls is dangerous.
It’s a sport that leaves a trail
of broken bones, torn muscles,
gauged stomachs and crushed
chest cavities. Despite the possi-
ble bodily harm, however, the
key to riding is not physical.
It’s not all about having the best
arm strength or core workout.
Instead, it is almost entirely a
psychological sport.
“If you’re thinking about (it)
before you get on, you’re already
messing your head up, and bull
riding is 90% mental,” Palmer
said. “It’s all in your head.”
Pink:
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The money, she said, goes
to local cancer survivors and
patients. Beneficiaries include
the St. Anthony Hospital Cancer
Clinic, supporting local cancer
patients with travel costs, wigs,
mastectomy bras and more.
Money also goes to Kick’n
Cancer New Beginnings, a
group for cancer survivors who
are less than 10 years in remis-
sion. Kick’n tries to keep cancer
survivors healthy by offering
them yoga, massage, nutrition
assistance and more.
A third beneficiary, The
Round Up for TETWP, is new
this year. From August to Octo-
ber, people will be able to “round
up” their purchases to the near-
est dollar at area merchants. The
balance is directed to the East
Oregon Cancer Network, which
supports patients who are visit-
ing from out of town. A patient
house is available to visiting
patients, but there is need for a
second house.
White-Zollman is glad for all
of the support. Tough Enough
sets up two booths at Round-Up,
and people flock to those booths
to buy T-shirts and other
merchandise. The commemo-
rative pins are especially hot, as
people collect them.
The organization also holds a
raffle. This year, Pendleton Hat
Co. will make a custom hat and
case for the winner of the raffle.
Montana Silversmiths is donat-
ing a one-of-a-kind, custom belt
buckle for the winner of another
raffle. The drawing will be held
at the arena, after the Indian
dancing, and the winner will be
announced.
And then there is the “big,
pink boot,” which people can
use for their donations.
“People are very generous,”
White-Zollman said. “It’s amaz-
ing. When they see our booths,
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, File
Volunteers staff a Tough Enough to Wear Pink booth at the Pendleton Round-Up on Sept. 12, 2019.
they come rushing over to
show their support and tell their
stories.”
This is a learning opportu-
nity, as well as a giving opportu-
nity, she said. Around 1:45 p.m.,
cancer patients and survivors
line up with their families and
walk through the arena. Seeing
this walk, and being part of this
walk, people recognize the large
number of individuals who have
endured cancer.
Like other charities that
rely on Round-Up week, the
2020 cancellation of Pendle-
ton’s showcase even meant
Tough Enough could not fund-
raise as in previous years. The
Round-Up’s Let’er Buck Cares
fund, however, gave $10,000 to
TETWP for its beneficiaries.
Deb Shampine, volunteer for
both Kick’n Cancer and Tough
Enough to Wear Pink, said her
groups make a difference for
people. She has seen both the
groups grow since she started
working with them.
Shampine regularly encoun-
ters people who have benefited
from Kick’n Cancer and Tough
Enough, and they are inevitably
grateful. This makes Shamp-
ine’s work very satisfying, she
said.
Lisa Hummell is a certified
fitter for mastectomy pros-
thetics and a TETWP volun-
teer. As such, she has known
many people who have bene-
fited from the group. Thanks
to TETWP funds, patients
have received prosthetics,
emergency funding and travel
expenses.
She said she is grateful
for the opportunity to help
others. Seeing people helped at
Round-Up makes her emotional.
“It’s pretty powerful,” she
said. “I’m just glad I can be part
of it.”
Kathryn Youngman, Tough
Enough to Wear Pink volun-
teer, said not only does she help
this cause, she has received help
from it. Youngman, a Pendle-
ton High School teacher, has
had cancer multiple times, and
she has received funds from the
organization.
She first had cancer in 1991,
Hodgkin’s disease. Following
this, she had a neuroendocrine
sinus tumor in 2013 and breast
cancer in 2016. Her students that
year began a Twitter campaign
so she could appear on “The
Ellen DeGeneres Show.”
“I’ve had extraordinary
things happen to me,” she said.
Youngman, however, does
not accept people calling her
exceptional; it’s just the events
around her that have been
special. Also, she said, the
people in her life have been
outstanding.
Donations helped when she
needed to drive to the Tri-Cit-
ies every day for chemotherapy
and radiation treatments. Loved
ones, including her mother,
were very helpful, but she also
credited strangers for helping
her to be a survivor. Anony-
mous donations helped make it
possible for her to survive.
She wants people to know
TETWP exists, and they help
people — not just women, but
also men.
“It’s so nice that there is an
organization like Tough Enough
to Wear Pink,” she said.
“I’m obviously nervous,” said Umatilla
County Commissioner George Murdock. “We
had a minor spike after the county fair. I’m
just hoping that people are careful and that we
can get through the week. I know everybody’s
excited to have (Round-Up). Let’s hope that it
goes off fine.”
Umatilla County’s infection rate remain
stubbornly high and would have placed the
county in either the high or extreme coronavi-
rus risk category months ago. And its vaccina-
tion rate remains among the lowest in the state.
Roughly two out of every five Umatilla County
residents have been vaccinated against COVID-
19, according to the Oregon Health Authority.
The region’s health care system over the past
month has been rocked by the delta variant,
staffing shortages and minimal facilities to care
for critically ill patients as hospitals across the
Northwest have filled to the brim.
Fiumara said the Round-Up officials have
been in conversation with the health depart-
ment and have told him they will not allow
people into the Round-Up Grounds without
a mask on. Once inside the event, however,
attendees eating or drinking do not have to don
face coverings, per state guidance.
Signs showing a masked person in a cowboy
hat were posted on the walls of Happy Canyon
at the kickoff concert Sept. 11. It said: “Y’all
wear a mask please: On with the show!”
The signs remind attendees there’s “an
inherent risk of exposure to COVID-19” when
gathering in public places and asked attendees
to “follow all posted and verbal instructions”
at the Happy Canyon grounds.
“COVID-19 is a contagious virus that can
lead to severe illness and potential death,” the
sign said, noting senior citizens and people with
underlying health conditions are especially
vulnerable. “By your participation in the event,
you are accepting the potential risk of COVID-
19 exposure.”
Tribes urge precautions
Umatilla County reported 20 COVID-
19 deaths in August, one shy of its all-time
pandemic record for deaths reported in a single
month, which was set in July 2020. And it is
likely there are more COVID-19 deaths that
occurred in August that have yet to be reported,
Fiumara said.
Officials over the past few months have
voiced concerns about Round-Up being a
potential source of COVID-19 spread. Some
have pointed to a large surge in cases and
hospitalizations that followed the Pendleton
Whisky Music Fest, which drew upward of
12,000 people and saw at least 68 people fall ill,
according to OHA. Those cases spread across
Eastern Oregon and into Washington state and
were almost surely an undercount, health offi-
cials have said.
But county officials have said they have no
interest in barring the Round-Up because of the
economic benefit it brings to the region, hauling
in millions of dollars to local businesses that
rely on large events and have struggled amid
pandemic shutdowns over the past year.
The Board of Trustees for the Confeder-
ated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reserva-
tion said in a statement on Friday, Sept. 10, it
discussed measures with the Round-Up and
Happy Canyon boards for curbing the spread
of the virus amid tribal activities this week.
The trustees noted the “Pendleton Round-Up
and Happy Canyon are not events the CTUIR
has the responsibility to produce nor the author-
ity to cancel” and added that attending the
Round-Up is a personal choice.
“However, personal choices have the poten-
tial to cause repercussions for entire communi-
ties,” the Tribes’ board stated, “so we again ask
everyone to take safety precautions this year
during Round-Up and please take into consid-
eration the health and safety of your friends,
families, and loved ones and be respectful for
fellow community members as you decide
whether or how to participate this year.”
If a spike follows Round-Up, Fiumara said
he was worried that already-exhausted hospi-
tals could once again be overwhelmed. Despite
the surge that followed Whisky Fest, however,
Fiumara said there did not appear to be a
large outbreak that resulted from the Umatilla
County Fair, a good sign that being outdoors
can mitigate COVID-19 spread even during
mass gatherings.
New safety measures in place
“We know that (the delta variant) makes
outdoor events less safe than they were, but
we still think they are much safer than indoor
events,” Fiumara said. “And most of Round-Up
is an outdoor event.”
To be sure, events have occurred statewide
in recent weeks bringing thousands of people
together, including fairs and football games.
Masks have been few and far between at several
of those events, according to news reports.
Fiumara said state agencies have made it
clear they will be keeping an especially close
eye on the Round-Up, with the Oregon Occupa-
tional Health and Safety Division and Oregon
Liquor Control Commission in charge of
enforcing some of the state mandates.
“All it takes is a complaint for them to need
to follow up,” he said. “I’m under no illusion
that these agencies aren’t aware of Round-Up
happening this week. Not saying they’re out to
get us, but we don’t want to give them a reason.”
The Pendleton Round-Up and Happy
Canyon said in a Facebook post that it has taken
“a range of new measures to increase the safety
during our events.”
Those measures are hand sanitizer and hand
washing stations, signs encouraging masking
and distancing, medical personnel and ambu-
lance coverage, and “increased” medical room
size and coverage.
Murdock added the county has supplied
more than 26,000 masks and two pallets of
hand sanitizer for the event.