SUNDRE — There’s a new addition to this upcoming weekend’s lineup of chuck wagon and chariot races as well as bull riding action at the local rodeo grounds.
Due to a lack of available bull riders, an invitation was extended to bronc riders, and so the former Bulls and Wagons was this year rebranded as Broncs, Bulls and Wagons, said Jack Nichol, an organizer with the Bulls and Wagons committee, which is a subcommittee of the Sundre Rodeo & Race Association.
“Because of the time of year and there’s a shortage of bull riders, we’ve got bronc riding one night and bull riding one night,” Nichol said yesterday during a phone interview after pulling over to stop and chat while driving around Mountain View County delivering ticket packages to sponsors as well as gathering up ticket books for the Aug. 26-28 event.
“We wanted to include that,” he said. “There’s people that really like bronc riding and may not be fussy about bull riding, but it’s an incentive for the bronc riding visitors to come and watch.”
And of course chuckwagon and chariot races will also be back on the docket.
“We should be in the area of 30 wagons and 24 chariots,” he said, adding both the bronc and bull riding events will feature a full program.
Chucks and chariots will be a part of all three performances, which begin this Friday at 6 p.m., while the bronc riding event takes place Saturday evening with the show starting at 5 p.m. followed the next day by the hotly anticipated bull riding performances in the afternoon starting at 1 p.m.
“We’re getting close to harvest time, and so there may be a wagon or two that can’t come, but we still have a good number of attendance in all events," Nichol said.
Although rodeo events on Friday don’t begin until that evening, there throughout the day will be other activities, including the Sundre Petroleum Operators Group’s return of Neighbour’s Day at the Sundre Arena from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., as well as a farmer’s market that will be hosted at the Sundre Curling Rink between the hours of 1:30-7 p.m.
Friday’s rodeo performances will also include mini chucks as well as a wild pony race and wild cow milking.
After Saturday’s show that for the first time will feature bronc riding wraps up, there will be a dance at the beer garden featuring live entertainment by Glen Brown and his band Heading West.
And the program for Sunday’s final performances will finish up with the bull riding event.
“We feel that it’s going to be good attendance,” Nichol said when asked what expectations organizers had.
Asked whether the inclusion of bronc riding this year was an exceptional situation or whether the approach might become the standard moving forward, Nichol said, “It’s a possibility it’ll be a format for future years.”
The organizer also praised the many helping hands that make the heavy workload that much lighter.
“We have a very good group of volunteers,” he said. “Without ’em, we wouldn’t be making it work.”
While volunteers for the event are all essentially lined up, anyone who might be interested in pitching in with clean-up afterward can call 403-507-9711.
