Its official, spring has sprung and rodeo season is ready to kick off with the 19th annual St. Paul High School Rodeo coming to town April 15 to 17.
The event draws a large number of competitors each year, as there are a variety of events for the aspiring young cowboys and cowgirls to compete in. As always, the rodeo will take place in the St. Paul Ag Corral, and all are invited to come and take in the rodeo action and watch the competitors put on a show.
This year’s event features a new working cow horse event on Friday, along with the cutting horse event that joined for Friday last year. On Saturday and Sunday, many events will be featured for the young competitors.
Girls’ events include breakaway roping, goat tying, pole bending, and barrel racing. Amd the boys’ events will be bareback horse-riding, saddle bronc riding, bull riding, steer wrestling, tie-down roping and team roping, as well as a co-ed team roping event allowing the boys and girls to compete with and against each other.
That High School Rodeo event will see a total of 209 registered competitors.
Brian Pederson has been the main organizer of this event since its first running nearly 19 years ago, and says it is still a blast to watch the kids grow, make progress and have fun enjoying the western traditions.
“On Saturday and Sunday we’ll have about five or six hours of events, with kids of all ages and skill levels. It’s good, not to mention cheap entertainment, it’s only $5 for an entire day of good rodeo fun, and seeing the kids get excited and involved.”
This year, there are two local cowboys featured in the event. Paul Wanchuk of Boyne Lake is no stranger to rodeo activity in and around St. Paul. He will ride saddle bronc’s on Saturday and Sunday. The second local boy is Austin Young of Elk Point, who will take up the ropes as he competes in the tie down roping and team roping.
Pederson said that even during these tough economic times, the local businesses and sponsors have come through to be a huge part of making the event a success.
“We’re really glad that we still have such great sponsor support despite the economic conditions.”
The rodeo action will kick off Friday night at 6:30 p.m. and continue on throughout the weekend.
