Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, July 5, 2023 -- SEVEN
Knowles inducted into hall of fame Heppner coach, athletes honored
-Continued from PAGE ONE
Knowles in the TV booth at the Calgary Stampede in Alberta,
Canada. While some of Knowles’s post-production jobs are
weekend affairs, on-site announcing and analyzing can take
him away from his home on Butter Creek for more than a
week at a time. -Contributed photo
he says.
His high school success
continued into college as
he won championship after
championship, including
Northwest regional champi-
onships in bareback, saddle
bronc, bull riding and all-
around cowboy—not once,
but several times.
It was also rodeo that
drew Knowles and his wife
together. Mary Healy was
on the Blue Mountain Com-
munity College rodeo team.
They met in 1976 when a
friend invited Knowles to a
spaghetti feed the girls were
received some advice.
“Give it a try—you
never know what it might
lead to,” Field told him.
Knowles called back
and said he’d try. He ended
up working with country
legend Red Steagall, who
was host that year.
“I enjoyed it,” he says.
“My job was an analyst,
so it was just talking about
what I really liked doing
anyways. I really liked it.”
It wasn’t too long after
that that he got another call
from Corfield. This time,
his former coach told him,
Knowles and Jeff Medders on a ESPN broadcast in the 1990s.
-Contributed photo
putting on.
“It was at Mary’s house,
and that’s how we met,” he
says, “and she’s been crazy
about me ever since.”
They were married in
1977. They went on to have
two sons, Brian and Blake,
and eventually settled down
on the Healy ranch on Little
Butter Creek, where they
still live and work.
“She’s been along
for the whole ride,” says
Knowles of his wife. “It’s
as much hers as mine.”
Both sons have spent
their share of time in the
rodeo arena, and Blake still
rodeos as a PRCA steer
wrestler.
Knowles continued his
rodeo career on the profes-
sional circuit after college.
He joined the Professional
Rodeo Cowboys Associa-
tion (PRCA) in 1974 and
competed professionally in
bareback, bull riding and
saddle bronc riding through
1991.
In his time, he com-
peted at all major PRCA
and Cowboys Professional
Rodeo Association (CPRA)
events across the U.S. and
Canada. He continued to
rack up accomplishments,
including 1987 NFR saddle
bronc average champion,
two-time Pendleton Round-
Up saddle bronc champion
and competing on the U.S.
gold medal rodeo team in
the 1988 Olympics in Cal-
gary, Alberta.
A turning point in his
career came in the mid-
‘80s, when Corfield called
and told him the College
National Finals Rodeo was
looking for an analyst for its
television production.
“I actually turned them
down at the beginning,”
Knowles says. “I had a
couple decent broncs that I
could win some money on.”
He says he was talking
to friend Lewis Field be-
hind the chutes, though, and
the PRCA and National
Intercollegiate Rodeo Asso-
ciation were teaming up to
put on rodeo judging semi-
nars across the county, and
Corfield thought Knowles
would be a good fit.
Knowles agreed and
ended up traveling around
the U.S. with PRCA head
judge Jack Hannum. He
says they put on about 12
seminars a year with 30-50
participants each.
“We just really dug
deep into the inside of
each event,” Knowles says.
“That really helped me,
because it really helped
Finals Rodeo.
“That was my big
break,” says Knowles. “I’ve
done it ever since.”
Knowles kept compet-
ing in rodeos part time until
1992, when he retired from
the rough stock riding he
loved. He had been a rodeo
professional for almost 20
years—an average career
length, he says, though ad-
mitting that it was a fairly
long career for a rough
stock rider.
Knowles also did a lot
to promote rodeo closer to
home. He and fellow saddle
bronc rider David Bothum
and their wives were all
involved in starting the
Hermiston pro rodeo. The
Umatilla County Fair was
struggling at the time, and
Knowles and Bothum sug-
gested starting a rodeo to
coincide with the fair.
“But it has to be a pro-
fessional rodeo,” Knowles
says he told them.
They got the go-ahead,
but when they asked about
a budget for the rodeo, they
were told, “There is no
budget.”
“We put together a
board and went to work,”
says Knowles.
The Farm City Pro Ro-
deo was born in 1988 and
has grown steadily over the
last three decades. Knowles
was chairman of the rodeo
board from 1988-2004,
during which time it was
voted “small rodeo of the
year” eight times.
Meanwhile, Knowles
has been a familiar voice on
the NFR telecast for more
than 33 years, along with
multiple other broadcasts.
Throughout his career, hun-
dreds of shows have been
featured on 12 different
television networks, includ-
ing ESPN, Fox Sports and
CBS Sports. He’s still an-
nouncing, most recently at
the National Finals Rodeo
last December.
He divides his time
between that career and
working the ranch on Little
Butter Creek, where he still
lives with Mary, while sons
Blake and Brian and their
families nearby.
“It’s worked out great
to fit both in,” he says.
“I’ve had the best of both
worlds.”
Knowles’s many ac-
complishments have al-
ready earned him spots in
the St. Paul Rodeo Hall
of Fame in 2019 and the
Pendleton Round-Up Hall
of Fame in 2020. He and
other inductees into the
-Continued from PAGE ONE
SFC Joseph Sullivan (far right) with Heppner athletes Kadie Henrichs (left) and Cameron
Proudfoot (middle). -Photo courtesy of the OSAA
Their impact extends far
beyond the playing field,”
stated an OSAA posting
about the event. “Your
contributions do not go
unnoticed. We honor your
commitment to fostering
sportsmanship, leadership,
and a sense of community.”
Heppner High School
student-athletes Kadie Hen-
richs and Cameron Proud-
foot both received Oregon
Army Guard Most Valuable
Teammate (MVT) awards
for leading by example and
unwavering team spirit.
“Their hard work, posi-
tive attitudes, willingness to
adapt, and ceaseless support
of others exemplify every-
thing that a true teammate
stands for,” said an OSAA
statement. “Join us as we
celebrate the spirit of team-
work, camaraderie, and
dedication that these young
athletes bring to the field
and their communities.”
Proudfoot competed
in football, basketball and
baseball in the last school
year, while Henrichs was
involved in volleyball, bas-
ketball and softball.
Every varsity coach in
Oregon is invited to nom-
inate an MVT from his or
her team every year. The
MVTs are not only honored
at their schools by Oregon
Guard members but are also
given the chance to apply
for one of three $1,000
college scholarships.
Oregon Army National
Guard Recruiter, Sergeant
First Class Joseph Sullivan,
was on hand to present the
awards to Grant, Henrichs
and Proudfoot.
Learn more about the
Oregon Army National
Guard at https://www.ore-
gonarmyguard.com.
Oregon Senate passes bill easing
estate tax for farming families
June 22, the Oregon
Senate passed Senate Bill
498 A, a bill making Ore-
gon’s estate tax more work-
able for multigenerational
farms, fishing businesses
and family forestlands. It
allows up to $15 million
of farm, forest, and fishing
property to be excluded
from the value of estates
that pay the estate tax.
“This is a major issue
for Oregon’s natural re-
source families who fuel
our economy,” said Senator
Bill Hansell (R-Athena),
the bill’s chief sponsor.
“Cooperate farming orga-
nizations are ready to gob-
ble up farmland, including
multigenerational farms
facing foreclosure due to
an unpayable estate tax bill.
SB 498 ensures that our
natural resource families
get the relief they both need
and deserve.”
There are 37,000 farms
in Oregon averaging 423
acres in size. Of those, 96.7
percent are family owned.
“I applaud Senator
Hansell’s work to reduce
the burden of Oregon’s
worst-in-the-nation estate
tax on our farming, fish-
ing, and forestry families.
Oregon’s estate tax should
not jeopardize generational
operations nor prevent the
ability to transfer family
farms from generation to
generation,” said Senate
Republican Leader Tim
Knopp (R-Bend).
Senate Bill 498 creates
an exclusion from the es-
tate tax for any interest in
natural resource property
Orem awarded AgWest
scholarship
that is held by a decedent
for at least one year prior
to death and is transferred,
at the time of death, to one
or more family members
of the decedent. It allows
estates to claim an exemp-
tion for up to $15 million of
natural resource property
value, and if claiming the
exemption, they may not
claim the existing Natural
Resource Credit. It applies
to the estates of decedents
dying on or after July 1,
2023.
“SB 498 will help keep
rural farms in the family by
reducing, and in some cas-
es eliminating, the estate
tax,” said Rep. Greg Smith
(R-Heppner). “This a win
for the agriculture industry
in Eastern Oregon.”
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Knowles riding a saddle bronc in the Cheyenne Frontier Days
rodeo in Wyoming in 1984. -Contributed/Gustafson Photo
me know how to present
things.”
In 1989, he was ap-
proached by rodeo an-
nouncer and telecast pro-
ducer John Baumgartner.
Baumgartner was the pro-
ducer of the Dodge Na-
tional Circuit Finals Rodeo,
held in Pocatello, ID that
year.
“He asked me if I would
want to travel to Pocatello
and be the analyst during
the saddle bronc riding
of that event,” Knowles
recalls. “I said yes. When
I got there, he said, ‘Just
be the analyst on every
event.’”
After the event,
Baumgartner asked
Knowles if he’d like to be
the analyst for the National
PRCA Hall of Fame will be
honored at a ceremony July
15 in Colorado Spring, CO.
“That’s pretty hum-
bling, holy cow. For a guy
that does a lot of talking I
don’t have a ton of words
to say right now,” Knowles
said when he was notified
of the honor. “This is the
last thing that I ever thought
would happen.
“It is quite an honor. It’s
probably not the place that
I feel like I should be. But
it’s an honor to be thought
of that way, it really is.”
design and
Madison Orem of Ione
was awarded a $2,500 col-
lege scholarship from Ag-
West Farm Credit, the com-
pany announced Friday.
Orem, the daughter of Eric
and Brandi Orem, plans on
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Madison Orem
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attending the University of
Idaho in the fall.
She was one of 25 re-
cipients in Oregon who
will each receive a $2,500
college scholarship.
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Birthright of Morrow County offers
post-abortion
support. Help, Hope
and Healing. Call
and talk to someone
who cares.
Support Group to begin September 2023
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