Letter from Bob
Honoring the Past, Roping Toward the Future
By Bob Feist
October saw many happy faces from those who placed at the annual ACTRA Finals held in Reno, Nevada. ACTRA continues to be a driving force in the team roping world attracting families involved in team roping. Their affordable fees make it more possible for many to go for a weekend event and not have to mortgage the home place. The weather was outstanding this year and made going over the Sierras was nice if you were coming from the California side of the mountains. Be sure and read up on the many winners who were talented enough to win the cash and great awards that were offered at this year’s event.
I talked to Ty Yost recently and he informed me that all of his ropings he produced over the summer in Wyoming and Montana saw a huge jump in entries from past years. This, I’m sure has a lot to do with the cattle market being so strong along with the increasing popularity of all the roping events. Many of these same ropers will now head to Arizona for a winter full of ropings.
Ty said many of the ropers have already started to arrive in Arizona where one can find a roping almost any day of the week. If one wants a break from roping they can always find a golf game or other side hobbies while in the host state of Arizona. The fall horse sales will also be part of the activities. It is the only area I know where there is more roping arenas than swimming pools in the backyards! This area will be loaded with things to do until next spring when the snowbirds decide to head back to their home country. Always look forward to the Mike Cervi Open Roping produced by George Aros and family to top off the spring roster. One might even take in some spring training baseball.
I was fortunate enough to attend this years National Rodeo Hall of Fame Inductions in Oklahoma City. The hall is celebrating 70 years of excellence in preserving the Western traditions of our great country. This year’s class included Mike “HUD” Hudson as the recipient of the Ben Johnson Award, Lari Dee Guy, the Tad Lucas Memorial Award, Jon Taylor, the Directors Award. Eight others were inducted into the Hall including, Chad Berger, Larry Allen Clayman, Joel Edmondson, Monty “HP” Evetts, Neal Gay (1926-2022), Bobby Goodspeed, Wiley McCray (1916-1977) and Charlie Throckmorton. Each living inductee gave an acceptance speech to show their gratitude and to give thanks. The two deceased inductees were represented by a family member thanking the Hall for the coveted award.
If you have never been to the National Rodeo Hall of Fame inductions, you need to put it on your bucket list. The National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum do an excellent job with the presentation. Pam Minick and Dave Appleton are the emcees and always do an excellent job in their introductions of the inductees. The event is opened with a welcome by the Museum President and CEO, Pat Fitzgerald, along with Chairman of the Board, Wyatt McCrea. Rob Smets does the invocation. The Flag of the USA is presented by the Oklahoma City Police Color Guard followed by the National Anthem sung by Doug Wade. A live auction is held in the middle of the event hosted by former state representative, Don Armes. Thousands of dollars are raised for the Hall during this and the silent auction.
If you know of someone that you think is worthy of being inducted into Hall, you can go online and find out how to nominate someone based on his or her accomplishments in the rodeo industry.
Dee Yates, owner and publisher of Ropers Sports News was in attendance and doing interviews with many of the new inductees. I was asked by many of the past readers of RSN if the immensely popular column, Rona Barrier, was ever going to make a return. For those of you that are not familiar with Rona Barrier, It was a column that used to be in RSN back in the day and was just an open gossip column about who was roping with who and the rumors within the industry. Kind of a Facebook before its time. It was a lot of fun and sometimes got me in a lot of trouble. LOL. Kendra Santos was also in attendance at the induction ceremony and was doing her usual great job of interviews and personal stories. Love her style.
Best of Luck to all headed to Arizona and to Las Vegas. The SOUTH POINT again will be the place where millions of dollars will be up for grabs at the WSTR events during the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. Hope to see many of you soon. HAPPY THANKSGIVING AND MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL!!!
