6 AUGUST 1,2012
Smoke Signals
By Ron Karten
Smoke Signals tlaff writer
With events starting on Friday,
July 20, and continuing Saturday
and Sunday afternoons, the 2012
Spirit Mountain Stampede looked
like the best ever attended, said Trib
al Elder and Rodeo Special Event
Board Vice Chair Dale Langley.
"We got a good crowd today," said
Langley on Saturday. "The most
ever, and it's a good day for it."
The stands were almost full and
included Tribal Council members
and families, as well as a group of
eight St. Paul High School exchange
students from Taiwan. The weather
remained in the comfortable 70s.
Langley and Rodeo Special Event
Board Chair Harold Lyon, also a
Tribal Elder, and many other volun
teers put in "a couple hundred hours"
of work getting the grounds tilled,
groomed, domed and raked away from
the fences before the show. Saturday
night, they wet down the grounds and
Sunday morning they groomed the
ground again, said Lyon.
Preparations underway since the
beginning of the year also included
pulling together food and merchan
dise vendors and, said board member
Jim Holmes, "many new sponsors."
Sponsors included DiabetOmics
(working with the Tribe's Wellness
services); Mattecheck & Associates
(the Tribe's benefits broker); Hays
Companies (a broker for prop
erty and casualty insurance); Les
Schwab; Shasta Administrators
(Tribal health insurance); Stuck
Electric; Doris Rose, CPA; and
Dave Gunderson, who works with
with DiabetOmics but also made a
personal donation.
Volunteers worked right up to
the Stampede's opening, said board
member Joy Burcham. "Confusion
reigns!" is how she put it.
Other rodeo board members in
cluded Tribal Elder Ed Ashman.
Holmes, son of Tribal Restoration
pioneer Merle Holmes, awarded the
Bull Riding trophy at the end of
competition on Sunday. His family
sponsors a trophy and buckle each
year in honor of his father. The
Merle Holmes Memorial Cup is en
graved and stays at the Tribe while
the buckle goes with winner.
"Dad was always a big rodeo fan,"
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Photos by Michelle Alalmo
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Bareback Broncs
1 - Evan Miller
2 - Tony Buckman
3 - Nick Gutzwiler
Saddle Broncs
1 - Mark Gage
2 -Jacob Stacy
3 - Charlie Barker
Bull Riding
1 - Andy Crozier
2 - Klay Lanham
3 - Josh Dollins
Calf Roping
1 - Jason Minor
2 (tie) - Jordan Weaver
and Kurtis Barry
Breakaway Roping
1 - Caleb McMillian
2 -Shelly Treat
3 - Jordan Crossley
Steer Wrestling
1 - Taylor Gregg
. 2 - B.J. Taruscio 'j; '' ."''''.
3 - Christian Radabaugh
Team Roping
1 - Brian Reayfianner Lurrell
2 - Tanner PatzkeQuade Patzke
3 - Jason DetringNick Chapman
Barrel Racing
1 - Kayla Gregory
2 - Jordan Crossley
3 - Brooke Thomas
Rodeo Special Event Board
members, from left, Jim Holmes,
Tribal Elder Harold Lyon and Joy
Burcham pause during the national
anthem at the beginning of Spirit
Mountain Stampede at Spirit
Mountain Rodeo Grounds on the
Tribal campus on Saturday, July 21 .
VisitiheJribi
page to see more
nore photos
said Holmes. "He really enjoyed the
bull riding.
"We approached the rodeo board .
a year after (Merle Holmes) died,
and said, 'If we purchased a trophy,
would they take it on in honor of ,
him?' and they said they would." 1
This year's buckle was designed
by Columbus, Mont.-based Mon
tana Silversmiths.
The Stampede was sanctioned by .
the Northwest Professional Rodeo
Association. Howell Rodeo, out of
Veneta, provided the animal stock.
. Cody Hodge announced the show.
Sheep for a new event this year,
Mutton Bustin', were provided by
Wool Busters out of Lebanon.
Spirit Mountain Casino provided
raffle prizes for a couple of week
ends at the casino and dinners for
two. The Ross Coleman Invitational
in Molalla donated four pairs of
tickets for that event.
Winners' purses were based on
entry fees plus prize money added
by Spirit Mountain Casino, includ
ing $1,500 for timed events and
$2,000 for the rough stock events.
Langley and Lyon both rode
horses throughout their youth.
"Wish I was 45 years younger,"
said Lyon during the show, thinking
about riding again. He rode horses,
he said, from the time he was 3.
"Wish I was 60 years younger,"
said Langley. B
- . ,.... . . . .... , . . . ..........
Brooke Thomas, of Okanogan, Wash., rounds a barrel on her horse during
the barrel racing competition of Spirit Mountain Stampede held at Spirit
Mountain Rodeo Grounds on the Tribal campus on Saturday, July 21 . Thomas
placed third in the event.
'2' ;:yn, , .
Buck Sprague, of Echo, competes in the saddle bronc event of
Spirit Mountain Stampede at the Spirit Mountain Rodeo Grounds on the
Tribal campus on Saturday, July 21.