Page 10 • East Oregonian/Hermiston Herald
August 2016
LOCAL FAMILIES
‘ADOPT’ CONTESTANTS
DURING VISITS
The Tullis family
driveway some-
times looks like
a horse and
travel trailer
lot during
the summers
months as the
Tullis family
plays host to
contenstants
traveling
between
rodeos.
PHOTOS
COURTE
S
Y SHARO
N TULLIS
an-
and Hunter Herrin and e
Calf ropers Ryan Jarrett
on
g
rin
du
ily
fam
lis
the Tul
other man stack hay for
n.
of their stops in Hermisto
By JADE McDOWELL
Staff Writer
When rodeo season rolls around
each summer, many cowboys who hail
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Umatilla County as their home base.
Farm-City Pro Rodeo board
member Jon Gill said Hermiston in
particular is centrally located to several
rodeos in Oregon, Washington and
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put up rodeo cowboys and their horses
in Hermiston during rodeo season, but
Gill said a variety of competitors have
made friends with locals who give
them “a place to hang their hat” each
summer on days they’re not riding bulls
or roping steer in an arena.
Gill said those cowboys in turn shop
at local stores and eat at local restau-
rants as they use Hermiston as a home
base for a couple of months.
“A lot of spin-off business is created
by the rodeos,” he said.
Sharon Tullis is one of the locals
who hosts rodeo cowboys and cowgirls
on her property for about six weeks
each summer.
“You’ll see encampments all over if
you just drive around the rural roads,”
she said. Tullis said there used to be