MOUNTAIN VIEW COUNTY – The 23rd edition of the Howard Smith Memorial Team Roping event went as well as organizers might have hoped for.
“We got a ton of participants, ropers, lots of spectators, the weather was perfect,” said Glen Smith.
“It was a safe event; no ropers or cattle got injured, and we raised a bunch of money for the ALS Society of Alberta,” Smith told the Albertan.
Everything unfolded on Sunday, Aug. 25 at the Howard Smith Memorial Arena in Eagle Valley, where between 40 to 50 people came out to watch 70 ropers compete in memory of Howard Smith, who was Glen’s father.
But as one contender has the option to rope with up to three different heelers, there ended up being 153 teams overall that roped, he said.
Although organizers were still sifting through bills and expenses when Smith spoke with the Albertan, he estimated that at least $20,000 was raised for the ALS Society of Alberta, which is the beneficiary of the annual memorial event.
“(Howard) was diagnosed with ALS in 1995,” Glen said, adding his dad decided to start the fundraiser as a result back in 2002.
“He was still alive when we started it,” said Glen, adding that Howard later passed away in 2006.
The family has since endeavoured to keep alive Howard’s legacy through the memorial team roping event.
This year, some participants from Cochrane who just last year had come out for their first time decided to return along with a donation for the cause, as their family had also been impacted by a loss due to ALS, which is sometimes also referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease after the famous baseball player who also died due to the fatal motor neurone condition that causes a progressive degeneration of nerve cells in the spinal cord and brain.
Provided their schedule for the annual event aligns, that family hopes to continue coming back to keep supporting the fundraiser, he said.
“It’s kind of getting out there,” he said, adding that seems to be a positive sign for the fundraiser’s future.
Recalling his father Howard, Glen said that team roping was his favourite pastime.
“He roped all the time,” Glen said, adding Howard continued on as long as he could despite the deteriorating condition.
“He couldn’t talk anymore, but he could still ride,” said Glen.
Even when Howard lost his ability to speak, he would still make the effort to connect with close ones.
“He would write notes on a little pad of paper and pencil in his pocket. So if he wanted to have a conversation with you, he would write some stuff down and let you read it,” said Glen.
“Conversations took quite a while, but that’s how we communicated and it worked quite well, actually.”
Visit www.alsab.ca for more information about the disease or to support the organization.
