August 2016
“That was the buckle I wore
until I won the world title,” said
the 2000 Farm-City steer wres-
tling winner. “I never got to know
him but everybody talked about
him and always had good things
to say.
“It was a huge honor and it
was really something that every-
body wanted that buckle for that
reason. He was so well respected.”
Cowboys will have even more
reason to go hard after the buckle
this year.
After 26 years, the 2016 Mike
Currin Memorial Buckle will be
retired.
With the rodeo moving to a
new arena for 2017, Judy said it
just felt like the right time.
“A time for new traditions,”
she said. “It should be special to
whoever wins it. Hopefully this
buckle will be the most sought-
after one.”
Hand Up To Cowboys
Gray Ribbon Challenge
Created for the 2015 Farm-
City Pro Rodeo, the Hand Up
East Oregonian/Hermiston Herald • Page 15
FILE PHOTO
Ty Erickson of Helena, Montana, finishes a 5-second time in the steer
wrestling event at the 2013 Farm-City Pro Rodeo in Hermiston. Steer
wrestlers will compete for the Mike Currin Memorial Buckle for the last
time during the 2016 rodeo.
To Cowboys Gray Ribbon Chal-
lenge memorializes longtime
Farm-City board member Darrel
Sallee.
A former competitor in team
roping, Sallee served on the
Farm-City board of directors
from 2004 up until his death in
2014 from brain cancer at age 64.
Sallee brought a tireless spirit
and unlimited generosity to his
work with Farm-City, and despite
having a thriving business of his
own to operate would never pass
on the opportunity to lend a hand.
“This was our peak season
for our business but yet he still
broke away and donated a lot of
time around down there,” said
his widow Rhonda of the time
leading up to the early-August
rodeo. “He¶d get off work at ¿ve
or six and he’d be down there
until midnight. Sometimes he
wouldn’t come home. I started
¿xing them all dinner and taking
it down there every night.”
He was also known to open his
door to the competitors when they
were in town, and his daughter
Jolene Sallee-Davis said tempo-
rary house-guests were a regular
part of the summer.
“He never said no. He never
told anybody no. When they
wanted help he went there and
helped them,” she said.
Sallee-Davis was trying to ¿nd
a way to honor her father’s giving
spirit and his love of rodeo while
also spreading awareness about
brain cancer when she came up
with the Gray Ribbon Challenge.
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“I wanted to merge the idea
of what my dad really was, what
his whole repertoire was with the
cowboys.”
The award is given during
each performance and rotates
through the four timed events —
calf roping, steer wrestling, team
roping and barrel racing.
Contestants wear gray ribbons
(the color designated for brain
cancer awareness) on their hats;
some add a gray feather.
“Some of those guys have
been wearing their feather for the
last year because that’s the kind
of connection they had with my
dad,” Sallee-Davis said.
The contestant with the fastest
time from that night’s perfor-
mance is presented with a $500
bonus check.
That’s where the Hand Up To
Cowboys part comes into play.
“We wanted to spread aware-
ness and help out those cowboys
that maybe don’t win the event
for the week, but they win the
event for the evening,” Sallee-
Davis said. “My dad was all
about helping the cowboys.”
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