BESSIE
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WETZELL
n e w s p a p e r
L I B
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0 7 4 0 3
gene
or
Top competitors vie for cash and prizes
Bobby Hurley
Joe Beaver
Allen Bach
"Troy Pruitt, I thought,
roped exceptional this week.
He drew some good calves and
he really roped good," Beaver
said. "I was just trying, if I had
a good calf, to win money, and
if I didn't, to get by."
Marvin Gay
VOL. 113 NO. 34 8 Pages Wednesday, August 17, 1994 Morrow County Heppner, Oregon
Queen Staci rules with a radiant smile
Morrow County Fair and
Oregon Trail Pro Rodeo
Queen Staci O'Brien rules this
week's annual event with her
radiant smile. She will be
waving at spectators as she
heads up the Saturday morn
ing parade. Her official white
divided skirt riding habit is ac
cented with fuchsia matching
the colorful outfits of her three
princesses.
Capping a full week of fair
activities, after the parade the
court will host a luncheon,
perform in grand entries and
hand out awards, those royal
duties that Staci handles with
natural grace.
This role has come easily to
the 19 year old daughter of
Burke and Ginger O'Brien,
Staci formerly served as a
pennant bearer and she was
a princess on the 1992 court of
Jenni Ashbeck.
Court life is a family tradi
tion. Her older sister, Kristi,
was a princess in 1988. Her
brother, Casey served as a
pennant bearer. Her mother,
Ginger, and her aunts have
been on royal courts and both
of her parents were former
court chaperones.
It's been a busy summer for
Staci who also has a full time
job at Kids World Day Care in
Pendleton. Besides travel-
Queen
Staci O'Brien
Height: 5 7 ”
Eyes: Green
Hair:Blond
Parents: Burke & Ginger
Age: 19 year old
Activities: '93 HHS grad,
freshman at BMCC-
general business, Swim
ming and Aerobics, Ride
Horses, Hunting, Emp
loyed with Kid's World
Day Care
ing back and forth from
Pendleton to Heppner, this
year's court has participated
in many out-of-town rodeos
and events. Their striking
parade appearances have
given them five first place
wins and other placings.
Those official trips are an im
portant part of promoting the
hometown fair and rodeo,
Staci says.
Recently they combined
business with pleasure during
a day in Pendleton. They
made recordings at the KTIK
radio station, put up fair
and rodeo posters and toured
Pendleton's Underground.
They visited at Camlu where
they were luncheon guests of
Gladys Raymond, the great
grandm other of Princess
Jossie Evans.
Queen Staci graduated from
Heppner High School in 1993.
While in school she par
ticipated in sports and she
was a member of the dance
team. She was chosen as the
1993 prom queen and she was
a homecoming princess in
1992.
Riding horses has been a
way of life as long, as Staci
can remember. Her mount for
court appearances is "B u m ”
a 15 year-old thoroughbred
that had already been indoc
trinated to court life.
From the age of 10, Staci
was involved in 4-H with
numerous livestock and horse
projects. This family has also
been active Wrangler Riding
Club members, where Staci
en jo y s p articipating in
playdays and trail rides.
As an ambassador for Mor
row County, Chaperone Julie
Ashbeck says that Queen
Staci is an excellent role
model. This year's court has
become a very cohesive group
who take their royal duties
seriously while also having a
good time, she added.
Queen Staci reads to Brent Eckman (I) and Torri Lovgren.
Clint Corey
Many former world cham
pions and top 15 cowboys and
cowgirls will be competing at
this year's Oregon Trail Pro
Rodeo to be held this Friday
night and Saturday afternoon.
Scheduled to appear are
former world champion
bareback riders Gint Corey and
Marvin Garrett, five-time world
champion calf roper Joe Beaver
and 1993 world champion team
roper Bobby Hurley.
Not many guys would have
the guts to trade in a horse that
helped him win the first round
of the National Finals Rodeo for
one that he'd owned just three
months.
Not many guys are Joe
Beaver.
"It doesn't really matter that
much to me what horse I ride,”
Beaver said. "I just kind of go
in there and whichever one I
catch that day, I ride."
During the first two rounds
of the 1993 NFR, Beaver rode
Prime Time, the sorrel gelding
that carried him to the 1992 ti
tle.. Following the second
¿round, however,-he switched
to Touchdown, a roam he
bought from Doug Clark in ear
ly September. Beaver said he
thought Prime Time was a lit
tle too strong for the pen of
calves at NFR '93. But, he ad
mitted, that wasn't the only
reason he changed horses.
For the third performance,
Beaver's tack man "saddled the
wrong horse, so I just rode him
the rest of the week," Beaver
said with a laugh.
Whatever the motive, riding
Touchdown turned out to be
the right decision.
"H e's been real good," said
Beaver, 28. "I've won about
$45,000 on him, so he's been a
good investment."
Beaver of Huntsville, Texas,
split first-place money in the
third round riding Touchdown,
and remained consistant
throughout the week to place
third in the average. He earn
ed $118,787 for the season,
$6,510 ahead of runner-up Troy
Pruitt of Minatare, Neb., and
$7,639 ahead of third-place
finisher Shawn McMullan of
Iraan, Texas.
"It came all the way down to
today," Beaver said minutes
after the 10th round ended. "It
kind of came down to what
Shawn did."
If McMullan had roped his
final calf three seconds faster
than his 12.2 time, he would
have tied with Pruitt for the
NFR average victory and walk
ed away with the world title.
Another key moment in
Beaver's fifth world champion
ship came with his win in the
eighth round. Despite a case of
stomach flu, Beaver was able to
rope and tie his calf in 8.0
seconds.
"I'v e been real sick the last
four or five days, but I just kind
of made myself focus in on why
I was h e re," Beaver said
following the final round.
"I'v e had a good week, a
good year," he said. " I felt
pretty good (about the NFR). I
roped good and my horses
worked good. I didn't draw as
well as I have out here before,
but you can't draw good every
year. I had enough chances that
it let me w in."
Surprisingly, Beaver's closest
competitor by the end of the
NFR was Pruitt, the 1990 world
champion calf roper who
entered the Finals in the 15th
and final qualifying position.
Pruitt earned $68,111 at the
NFR to climb to the runner-up
spot with $112,277 on the
season.
World championship fires
have been burning inside Bob
by Hurley since he was a
youngster
in
Arkansas
emulating his heroes.
"When I first started roping,
the guys that were roping good
then were people like Leo and
Reg (Camarillo),"Hurley said.
"When we'd practice at home,
I liked to pretend it was the last
steer at the finals and when we
were backing in the box we'd
say we were Reg and Leo or
Jake (Barnes) and Clay (O'Brien
Cooper). You don't ever think,
in your deepest dreams, that
the stuff in your practice pen
could be a reality."
The fire that burned Hurley's
name into his first gold buckle
started in the opening round at
the National Finals Rodeo,
when he and Allen Bach tied
for third place with Charles
Pogue and Bobby Harris. The
Continued Page 2
Top stock at Rodeo
*1
'* • ■
* • ’ -
Copenhagen Heckle
Copenhagen Yellow Knife
"Oregon Trail Pro Rodeo is
proud to have Copenhagen
Heckle and Copenhagen
Yellow Knife of the top quality
bucking stock from the Beard
Rodeo C o .," said an Oregon
Trail Pro Rodeo spokesperson.
Copenhagen Heckle was
selected six times to buck at the
National Finals Rodeo, three
times at Dodge National Circuit
Finals and six times at the Col
umbia River Circuit Finals. He
was also named 1993 co-bare-
back horse of the year for the
Columbia River Circuit.
"Copenhagen Yellow Knife
and Skoal Sourdough Kid are
two of the most popular bulls
in the string. Cowboys can
count on a paycheck if they ride
one of them to the whis
tle ,"s a id
the
OTPR
spokesperson.
Daily doubles begin Aug. 22 at HHS
Daily double football practice
at Heppner High School will be
held on Monday and Tuesday,
Aug. 22 and 23 at 7 a m. and
4:30 p.m. Practice will be held
at 3:45 p.m. only on Wednes
day, Aug. 24, through Friday,
Aug. 26.
All fall sport athletes must
have their fees paid for par
ticipation before practice
begins. Beginning this year
students will be charged $50
per sport with a maximum of
$200 per family for the year.
Any player who participated
The job bank program should
call Cheryl Ployhar or Marcia
DeBo to inquire about the
money he or she earned
through the job bank.
Players must also stop by
Heppner High School to pick
up physical, insurance and
waiver forms before practice
begins.
For more information call
Heppner
High
School,
676-9138.
Enjoy th e
Morrow County Fair and Oregon Trail Pro Rodeo
We will be closed Saturday
Morrow County Grain Growers
Lexington 989-8221
1-800-824-7185
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