Sponsored by Red Deer Television's award-winning Makin' 8 rodeo show, the Silver Buckle rodeo ran over the 3 nights of April 27 - 29 with just over 400 contestants and over $52,000 (Cdn) in prize money up for grabs. Pat Murray, Reidar Elaison, and I traveled 90 minutes north of Calgary for Saturday evening's final round. Visiting from Houston, Texas, Reidar was along for his first look at Canadian pro rodeo.
Getting There
The morning started with a minor change of plans of car rental agencies.
Our original choice, Enterprise, created a problem with their Saturday hours of
9:00am to noon. With Pat downtown at the lab and I cleaning windows at my
home, there was no way we could complete a deal. Some hasty phone calls
and the downtown Calgary office of Budget just happened to have a mid-sized
4-door available for 2:00pm pick-up. The folks working the counter on the
sunny, warm afternoon were very pleasant and helpful as we rented a Chrysler
Cirrus from for the day with unlimited kilometers and, including
insurance, the 24-hour rental only cost $53.43.
Located midway between Calgary and Edmonton in the heart of cattle country, Red Deer has the distinction of having more hotel rooms per capita than anywhere else in Canada, regularly hosting major conferences, trade shows, and sporting events at Westerner Park. As the #2 highway traverses Alberta from North to South, it has a unique geographic characteristic; If you look to the East as you travel North, you will see prairie. Looking west you see the Canadian Rocky Mountains on the horizon. With a population of just over 61,000, Red Deer has not forgotten its country roots with beef, hog, and dairy operations continuing to provide close to 20% of jobs in the local economy. Along our route we passed numerous horse and cattle ranches, where we saw livestock grazing lazily as cars and trucks whizzed past.
When traveling to rodeos, I like to arrive at least an hour prior to the gates opening so I can survey the arena for vantage points, avoid the crowds of people, and find out if there are any restrictions for photographers. As Pat had forgotten some equipment at the lab, we were late getting on the road and so arrived as lines were queuing for entry. Luckily, Westerner Park's Centrium has a separate entrance for media so it took less than a minute to sign waivers and gain entry.
The rodeo committee had set aside
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