Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 16, 2000)
OTPR this weekend will impress rodeo fans By Sue Gibbs B 8 3 3 » ® TJ 3 * " 91 i U o f O He'*5?*pa** Li brar y Lu : i i - * ^R 9V4J3 VOL. 119 NO. 33 10 Pages Wednesday, August 16,2000 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon Queen Tracy a pretty combo of riding, rodeo and royalty By Merlyn Robinson Riding, rodeos and royalty roles have become an integral part of the lifestyle of Queen Tracy Rankin of this year's Morrow County Fair and Oregon Trail Pro Rodeo. This pretty miss is the 17-year- old daughter of Tim and Kathy Rankin. Her older sisters are Jennifer and Bobbie. It has been r ----- - -------------- ri H iie e n \ Q u t u u f | ' ^ ¡ ¿ a n k in j ! ‘E yes: Blue ! i Utair: Blonde ! A ge: 1 7 years o ld \ I j 2000graduate o f | heppner 9Hgh School j B aren ts: 1 Tim and ‘K athy ‘HgnJqn 1 In te re sts: , A nything to do unth j j ' horses, particularly \ barrel racing, pole bending I a n d g o a t tying, roller- \ 1 i I blading, w a ter sports, her I fea th ered frien d s a n d | I hanging ou t w ith frien ds. I a tradition for the Rankin girls to be involved participants with their 4-H projects at fairs, carrying sponsor flags and serving as pennant bearers or court members. Tracy was a princess on the court of her sister, Bobbie, in 1999. For the past six years Queen Tracy and her family have been dedicated ambassadors for the county. During summer months they have been "on the road" every weekend attending celebrations near and far. This year's court members and families have trailered their horses to attend events in Arlington, Waitsburg, WA, Spray, Sisters, Prineville, lone, Elgin, Athena, The Dalles, Joseph and Hermiston. After the local fair and rodeo they will also be attending the Pendleton Round-Up parades and events. Eager to promote fair and rodeo, these girls have been present at luncheons and other events as well as handing out brochures, putting up posters and greeting the public. All the work of horse washing and personal preparations for these public appearances, plus the miles traveled, has been Queen Tracy competes at horse show worth it, says Queen Tracy. She says that like most teenagers, they like to be independent, but their participation at so many events wouldn't be possible without supportive and helpful parents. Tracy’s mother, Kathy, is court chaperon and she juggles her time between working for the Forest Service and helping her extended family. Her job of chaperoning has been enhanced since these court members have become friends that spend time together outside court appearances. Tracy's father, Tim, who works for the Morrow County Road Department, has also dedicated many hours in helping his daughters participate in fair and rodeo events through these past years. Tim constructed the family's large horse trailer that has logged around 100,000 miles transporting the girls' horses to events. This includes 4-H horse and open horse shows for the past eight years. Tracy has a room full of ribbons and trophies to show for her championships in rail classes, dressage and hunt continued page two Rodeo fans should be impressed with this year's PRCA talent heading to the 78th Oregon Trail Pro Rodeo in Heppner. Two-hundred- and-seventy-four professional rodeo contestants will be arriving to compete for money and the coveted awards. Over 30 of these are currently in the top 20 world standing in their event. These include past and current world champions. The PRCA rodeo kicks off in Heppner with mutton bustin' at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 18, with the professional performance at 7:30 p.m. There will also be slack for all timed events following the performance on Friday. A second show will be on Saturday beginning with mutton bustin' at 12:45 p.m. Sunday afternoon will bring the Morrow County Rodeo with local residents or alumni competing for money and awards. This action gets underway with slack at 10 a.m. on Sunday, followed by the main event at 1:15 p.m. Tickets may be purchased at the gate. Adult prices are $8 each with tickets for children seven-12 at $5. Children six and under are admitted free. Headlining the list of entries are three of the top 10 contestants vying for the number one back number at the National Finals Rodeo, representing the most money won in any event. These contestants include Blair Burke with $84,860 won this year and currently standing second in the world in calf roping. Rod Hay has won $74,329 and is sitting third in the world in saddle bronc. Dan Mortensen has a total year's earning of $68,181 and a separate $50,000 bonus from the Calgary Stampede. Fans will be able to watch this 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997 and 1998 world champion saddle bronc rider in action. He also was the 1997 All Around World Champion. Many other past world champions will be at OTPR including Brad Gleason in steer wrestling, two time all around champion Joe Beavers and all around cowboy and Canadian World Champion Rod Hay in saddle bronc. Don't miss all this world class talent coming to the Oregon Trail Pro Rodeo arena. Steer wrestlers will be facing tough competition with five of the current top 10 world leaders. Heading the list is the 1981 world champion Byron Walker from Ennis, Texas. He will be challenged by the number three ranked steer wrestler Rod Lyman from Victor, Montana. The Columbia River Circuit Champion last year was Burch Negaard who is currently sitting eighth in the world, followed closely by Todd Suhn of Lararme, Wyoming. All these contestants have won over $31,000 this year. The calf roping and team roping talents looks competitive and fast. Blair Burke will be challenged by other top 10 calf ropers such as five-time world champion calf roper Joe Beaver, Clay Cema and Ricky Canton, both from Texas, and Doug Pharr from Georgia will compete for the calf roping money at the OTPR. The number two and number 12 placed healers are Kyle and Brent Lockett from Ivanhoe, CA. Wade Wheatley is the number- three ranked header from Stevenville, Texas, along with Bobby Hurley from Ceres, CA, and Doyle Gellerman from Napa, ID. This loaded roping field will include other top ropers such as Bret Gould from Pollok, Texas, and Spud Duvall from Oklahoma. Many of these ropers have already pocketed over $40,000 this year alone. The added money for the women's barrel racing, in Joe Cunha, OTPR benefactor, at an early rodeo Dan Mortenson combination with the excellent ground at OTPR, brings outstanding horse and rider combinations. This year's top racers include three of the top 20 in the world standings-Amy Dale of Graham, Washington, Gloria Freeman of Calhoun, Ga, and Jamie Richards of Basrop, Texas. Fifty barrel racers are entered in this year's OTPR and many of these animals are worth up 50 to 60 thousand dollars. Big Bend Rodeo Company of Ritzville, WA will provide top ranked NFR stock to challenge these current world leaders. "Skoal's Spring Fling" will be back again with a new crown of 1999 saddle bronc of the year. This stock contractor had 12 rough stock animals at the NFR last year and the truck will have most of them coming to the OTPR. They include favorites such as bareback horse Copenhagen Two Spot, saddle bronc hotse Skoal's Miss Kitty and the 1997 spinning bull of the year Copenhagen Rapid Fire. These animals will either help the cowboys or send them to ‘he dirt; however with riders such as Rod Hay, Dan Mortensen, Glen ONeill, Chance Dixon, Rod Warren and Sean Culver, the latter is unlikely because all these cowboys are sitting in the top 20 in the world as well. A more likely picture is an inside look at the NFR line up. OTPR will also be expecting quality bull riders to challenge this rodeo stock. Lee Akin, from Weatherford, Oklahoma is sitting 10th in the nation, Josh O'Brian from Glen Rose, Texas and Gregory Potter from Whitt, Texas (all top 20 cowboys) will be testing their talents in hopes to move even higher in the world standings. Local faces will also be at the 78th OTPR this year. The Currin family will be in full force. Kelli Cumn will be one of the talented ladies barrel racing and Steve and Tony Cumn are both competing in the calf roping and steer wrestling. Dave Campbell will be calf roping and team roping Jerry Gentry will be showing his talents in calf roping. The close neighboring towns will also have top contestants entered. Randy Rae Britt of Echo and Tiffany Munkers of lone will compete in the women's barrel, racing. Tom Camarillo from lone will be after the all around saddle with three entries in calf roping steer wrestling and team roping. Jeff Chance Dixon Bucky Campbell Coelho of Long creek will be another top contender iti calf roping because he finished 15th in the world last year. Ned Keyser and Trevor McCoin, both of Condon, will compete in calf roping and team roping continued page two Sex offender not believed in area Oregon State Trooper Andrew H. McCool, Heppner Worksite, says that sex offender John Clark Milam. 40, also known as Jaycee Milam, has not, so far, shown up in the Heppner-Lexington area. Acordmg to Trooper McCool, Milam lived in Lexington in 1993 and has several acquaintances still living there. According to an OSP news release, Milam is wanted for a parole violation and has been missing from a Merced, California, hotel since June 23. According to the release, Milam is a predatory sex offender who is obsessed with young females and is known to use video cameras to film his victims. He is described as delusional and has attempted to represent himself as a millionaire. Milam is a registered sex offender in Oregon and has been conv icted of sex abuse charges in this state involving a young girl. Milam, whom officials believe may be armed and a dangerous safety risk to officers, is described as a white male, 5'9", 220 pounds, with brown hair, brown eyes and a beard. He has worked previously in the Portland area and has resided in northeast Oregon. For more information, call OSP Trooper Andrew McCool, 676-9467. MC&4S w ill He C 1 0 S C 9 on S a tu rd a y , lutoi mu a t th e M o rro w C o u n ty f a ir and O re g o n T r a il P ro R o d e o ! M o r r o w C o u n t y G rain G row ers Lexington 989-8221 • 1-800-452-7396 F»r farm »quipmuu, »«It our w*b «« it www mqg not
