WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12, 2015
HERMISTON HERALD/EAST OREGONIAN • PAGE 17
Even 27 years after the rodeo began, many of the its con-
tracts are still not written in ink, board member Dennis Bar-
nett said.
“We still believe, if you shake my hand, whatever we
agreed on is a done deal,´ he said. “,t¶s been a reÀection of
what we believe and what we practice.”
While relying on the integrity of a handshake from the
stock contractors, Farm-City has won two Remuda Awards
for having the best rodeo animals in the nation, according to
the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association members who
voted. As a way to increase the prize money for those cow-
boys, Barnett said the board wanted to collect the royalties
from its own brand of liquor.
A committee worked on the brand concept for a couple
years. 7he ¿nal result highlighted the handshake mentality on
which the rodeo was built.
“That really came to epitomize the cowboy and Western
spirit,” Barnett said. “What we do is what is right, not what’s
Continued on page 19
STAFF PHOTO BY SEAN HART
Shelby Coggins pours a shot of the new Chute Eight whiskey
Thursday at Nookie’s Restaurant in Hermiston. Farm-City Pro Rodeo
contracted with Portland-based Indio Spirits to create the new
whiskey and vodka that launched earlier this year.
FARM-CITY PRO RODEO
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