CHIEF JOSEPH DAYS
Wallowa.com
Wednesday, July 28, 2021
B11
Sponsors help make Chief Joseph Days possible
about and become a part of,”
Huff man said.
Over the years Huff man
said she has served as the
court chaperone and court
director, helps with court
coronation in the spring and
has done everything else
imaginable from pouring
beer, cooking at the Cowboy
Breakfast, and even pick-
ing up garbage under the
bleachers. She agreed with
Teah Jones that it becomes a
family aff air.
“When my sister, Shelly
Stilson Paparazzo, was on
the court we pulled the horse
trailer for the girls,” Huff -
man said.
Each year her sons Cody
and Chance Arbogast help
with the sponsor dinner and
both plan on volunteering
into the future.
Huff man said, “Once
you’ve been a part of Chief
Joseph Days, it becomes a
part of you.”
By KATY NESBITT
For the Wallowa County
Chieftain
JOSEPH — This July
marks the 75th Chief Joseph
Days Rodeo — four days
and nights of pro rodeo
action supported by genera-
tions of dedicated volunteers
and local sponsors.
The one constant at every
Chief Joseph Days event —
the rodeo court coronation,
the Christmas party or the
sponsor dinner, the directors
take time to thank every sin-
gle sponsor who contributed
to either the court’s regalia,
buckles for the rodeo con-
testants or food for the hos-
pitality room. If they were
to thank the volunteers it
would take at least an hour
to name the 300 or more
people who help make Wal-
lowa County’s biggest event
a success year after year.
Terry Jones is the Chief
Joseph Days Rodeo pres-
ident and is typically the
director who personally
thanks each of the sponsors.
“There wouldn’t be a
Chief Joseph Days without
sponsors,” Jones said. “We
depend on them a lot.”
Brad Peterson/Contributed Photo
Brad Peterson and Debbie Surface are just two of the longtime sponsors who have helped support Chief Joseph Days Rodeo
over the years.
“THERE WOULDN’T BE
A CHIEF JOSEPH DAYS
WITHOUT SPONSORS. WE
DEPEND ON THEM A LOT.”
Proudly
serving Wallowa
County and surrounding
area residence!
Enjoy Chief Joseph
Days ya’ll!
What they fund
Sponsorships,
Jones
said, pay for contract acts
like the barrelman, bull-
fi ghters, the announcer and
the scoreboard. He said the
rodeo has relied on a lot of
the same sponsors for many
years.
“It’s incredible how
loyal some of our sponsors
are,” Jones said. “They are
helping Chief Joseph Days
get better and better every
year.”
Debbie Surface and
Brad Peterson of Joseph are
some of the loyal sponsors
to whom Jones referred.
For many years Gresham
nursery owners Debbie and
her husband Richard enter-
tained friends during the
rodeo at their ranch outside
of Joseph.
“We had 38 rodeo tickets
for friends and would have
a big shindig at the cabin,”
Surface said.
Richard Surface died
in 2009, but Debbie Sur-
face said she continued
to entertain friends at the
ranch during Chief Joseph
Days. When the rodeo box
became available in 2011
she said the rodeo offi ce
called and asked if she
would like to rent it.
After 10 years entertain-
ing guests in their box, Sur-
face said, “Now we’ve got-
ten to know everyone and
often take the announcer
and specialty acts out on
our boat.”
It was the same year she
started renting the rodeo
box, Surface said, that she
and Peterson, a longtime
friend, started dating. They
own a house on Wallowa
Lake and have become
enmeshed in the local rodeo
family.
The couple sponsors the
buckle for the mini bull rid-
ing champion, buys items
at the various rodeo din-
ner auctions, twice were
the high bidder on chaps
auctioned at the Thursday
Terry Jones, Chief Joseph Days Rodeo president
Tough Enough to Wear Pink
performance, and last year
they donated a new heat-
ing system for the Thunder
Room, the rodeo grounds
event center. With the hope
of future development of
the rodeo grounds, the cou-
ple donated a 100-by-100-
foot metal building.
“We believe in belong-
ing to the community and
are hoping what we do
helps strengthen it,” Sur-
face said.
Where they come from
Roughly half of the
sponsors are from Wal-
lowa County, like The Dol-
lar Stretcher in Enterprise,
a local grocery store that
supplies food served in the
hospitality room. For many
years the store’s owner,
Mike Goss, could be seen
visiting with Tim Marshall,
a longtime rodeo volunteer,
as he barbecued the meat
served for dinner before
each night’s performance.
“Chief Joseph Days is
a cultural and historical
event that brings Nez Perce
tribal members, rodeo
cowboys and fans to the
county,” Goss said. “It’s a
pretty big deal and it’s for
everybody.”
Goss said he believes
it is important to support
the rodeo because of the
benefi t to the community,
including small businesses
like his, but credited the
contribution made by the
volunteers.
“It’s easy to write a
check, but it blows me
away the amount of time,
blood, sweat and tears the
volunteers put into the
rodeo,” he said.
Some of the biggest sup-
porters and volunteers at
the rodeo were groomed
that way. Jones, who was
the father of a rodeo court
member, said that the
contribution of the girls
often extends into their
adulthood.
Teah Jones was on the
1991 rodeo court and has
been a volunteer ever since.
For almost 20 years, she
rode with the Tuckerettes
drill team and ended up
organizing the group until
2018. This winter, she was
elected to serve as a rodeo
director and oversees the
Tuckerettes and the rodeo
court. For the past 10 years,
she has served as the court’s
stylist, choosing the outfi ts
the girls wear in parades,
during run-ins at the rodeos
and when they travel.
“I think once you become
involved in the organiza-
tion, it’s like a family,”
Jones said. “To be part of
your own hometown rodeo
brings everybody together
— you feel like you are a
part of something.”
She said the directors,
who do everything from
pick rocks out of the arena
to opening the gates for
the broncs and bulls, make
their work fun. Ever since
that fi rst experience with
Chief Joseph Days Rodeo
court and later as Miss
Rodeo Oregon, Jones said
most people get involved
because they love the sport
and in the case of the court
members, their families get
involved, too.
“Getting the past court
members and their fami-
lies as volunteers for life is
hugely important,” Jones
said.
Jill Huff man was on the
court in 1989 and helps put
on the annual sponsor dinner
the night before the rodeo
begins.
“Chief Joseph Days
means a lot to the rodeo
court members — it’s not
about wearing a crown or
traveling around to rodeos,
it’s that tradition you learn
FREE
DELIVERY
Call for available
delivery
locations
43 N. 8th • Elgin • 541-437-2054
Open Monday-Friday 10am-5pm
989
,500
$26
800
$10,
$18,
0
85
$67,
1985 GMC
1 985 CHEVROLET
2008 CHEVROLET
2019 CHEVROLET
CABALLERO PICKUP
Stock # 10727 • 45,846 MI.
RWD, AM/FM A/C, CD, PB, PS,
PW, PWR Locks, PWRr Mirrors
C10 SHORTBOX
Stock # 10990 • 8,411 MI.
RWD, AM/FM
SILVERADO 2500 HEAVY
DUTY FLATBED
Stock # 10959A
4WD, A/C, ABS, CD, A/C, PB, PS,
PW, PWR Locks, PWR Mirrors
SILVERADO 2500 HEAVY
DUTY LTZ
Stock # 10996 •50,606 MI.
4WD, A/C, PS, PW, PWR Locks
,885
$59
Call
ice
,900
4 Pr
$23
,500
$48
2018 CHEVROLET
1964 FORD
2011 FORD
2015 FORD
SILVERADO 3500 LT
Stock # 10991 • 44,572 MI.
4WD, A/C, PS, PW, PWR Locks
F-100 Shortbox
Stock # 10730 • 29,279 MI.
RWD, A/C, PB, PS. This is the
start of a very cool project.
F150 SUPERCREW
PLATINUM
Stock # 11016
4WD, AM/FM A/C, ABS, CD, CD,
A/C, A/C, GPS ETC, ETC.
F350 SUPER DUTY
Stock # 10978B
4WD, AM/FM A/C, PS
Call
ice
,000
885
4 Pr
$18,
$30
Call
ice
4 Pr
1 969 CHEVROLET
2007 TOYOTA
2010 MITSUBISHI
2020 RAM
C-10 STEPSIDE SHORT BOX
Stock # 11010 • 80,137 MI.
RWD, CLEAN MACHINE!
FJ CRUISER SUV
Stock # 10976
4WD, A/C, PS, PW, PWR Locks
FG CAB FORWARD SERVICE
BODY
Stock # 10989
4WD, PB, PS, PW, PWR Locks
2500 POWERWAGON
Stock # 11022 • 3,803 MI.
4WD, A/C, PS, PW, Pwr Locks
SE
YOU A E
C J D! T
Saddle on up
and come on in to
a stampede of
savings!
Old Fashioned Values Sales & Services
Find information including veteran application
and ways to donate @ www.dividecamp.org
NW 3rd
541-426-2100
Andy Crow
208-816-8349
82
311 West Main Street • Enterprise
www.main-street-motors.com
Main St Motors
W Main St