A tiny rider races the barrel course at the Ridge Riders Junior Rodeo.
The Ridge Riders’ Junior Rodeo opens at 10 a.m. both Saturday and Sunday, July 18-19 and is free.
With 180 contestants from as far away as British Columbia and Ellensburg (and we saw California plates in contestants’ parking lot) the competition is stiff and the skills on these young cowboys and cowgirls impressive.
The Junior Rodeo involves both boys and girls up to the age of 18.
Young cowboys and cowgirls in several age groups will compete in such events as barrel racing, dummy roping, calf riding, bull riding, calf roping, saddle bronc riding, chute dogging and steer wrestling.
Top placers will get championship belts, and there will be all-round awards.
A cowboy gets bucked off in last year’s Cleatis Lacy memorial.
There’s some big bucks to be made today, Saturday, May 23. All you have to do is ride a few bulls.
It’s the Third Annual Cleatis Lacy Memorial Bull Ride at the Ridge Rider rodeo grounds in Delano. Action begins at 3 p.m.
This year, rodeo officials have added $3,000 to the prize money making the bull riding event attractive to some pretty good professional cowboys.
The event is named after Grand Coulee’s own Cleatis Lacy, a rodeo cowboy of the first degree. When he wasn’t competing, Lacy was one of the most popular volunteers, never turning down an opportunity to help out.
This year, rodeo fans will be able to pay tribute to Cleatis and another local cowboy, Bob Rowe, at the site of a memorial marker that has been erected across the arena from the main seating area.
The marker is a metal cutout showing Cleatis as a bulldogger. The companion marker is for Rowe, who had long been one of the cowboys that helped make the rodeo grounds what it is today. The markers are side by side, and a third marker honoring another local cowboy, Bob O’Neal, is being planned.
Glenn Shear designed the markers and then Joe Santistevan put his tool skills to work and created the cutouts.
Rodeo officials have added $1,000 to the purse for the wild horse race, one of the most popular events for the evening, and $100 has been added to the Junior Steer Riding event.
Wild horses, they just don’t listen.
Shane Marchand, Sev Carden and Deb Achord have all been active in developing the event.
And, by the way, if you’re into rodeo, this is your lucky day. Because when you get done watching the fun in Grand Coulee, you can head to the Coulee City Last Stand Rodeo about 30 miles at the other end of Banks Lake. Starts at 7 tonight.
A bullrider holds on during the 2012 Cleatis Lacy Bullarama in Grand Coulee.
Tucked against the great Grand Coulee wall, the Ridge Riders Saddle Club Rodeo grounds probably offers the most picturesque setting for any rodeo arena anywhere.
Couple that with a beer garden and you’ve got yourself a nice setting for a great time.
Ridge Rider activity heats up late this month with two special events at the Rodeo Grounds.
Friday night, June 28, the Ridge Riders present the 2nd Annual Cleatis Lacy Memorial Bull Riding.
And on Saturday night, June 29, the Ridge Riders present the lone Ranch Rodeo of the year.
The Lacy Bull Riding Memorial event is named after Grand Coulee’s late Cleatis Lacy, a rodeo cowboy and rodeo hand whose career spanned several decades.
The bull riding begins at the Rodeo Grounds at 7 p.m. with concession stands and the beer garden opening at 6 p.m. Tickets are $10.
Entry fee for bull riding is $75, with an added purse of $1,500. You can register through Sorrel Katich, 631-4655 or 634-4316. Katich will supply the stock for the special event.
Saturday night’s ranch rodeo will be an entirely different kind of contest. If you’ve never been to one, know that they’re an interesting and laid-back alternative to mainstream rodeo, with contestants in teams that practice real, modern ranch skills, such as getting that animal to go into that trailer!
The Ranch Rodeo is being organized by Bubba Egbert and teams can register by contacting him at 633-6849 or 631-4200.
Entry fee for the Ranch Bronc Riding is $50, with $1,500 added.
The team part of the Ranch Rodeo has an entry fee of $200 per team.
Teams are made up of three men and one woman and they will compete in such events as team branding, trailer loading and pasture gathering.
Teams can be made up of ranch hands, four individuals who would just like to compete, or any other combination.
Tickets are $8 and action begins at 6 p.m. The concession stands and beer garden open at 5 p.m.
