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The Home of Ropin', Ridin', & Barrel
Racing.....Wild West Lives On In 101 Ranch Rodeo
The rodeo. Nowhere but on the North American continent will you find
one.
While sports such as soccer, hockey, and tennis have gained
international recognition, the rodeo remains purely an
American-Canadian venture.
Created as a test of
skills and bravery that once were required of every cowboy who
herded cattle across the western plains, the rodeo has retained a
mystique about it that is unique in the sporting world. One gets the
impression that he is not actually watching a modern-day spectator
sport, but a segment of the past that began to disappear with the
advent of the barbed wire fence.
The men who make up
the rodeo also share a common bond with their heritage. Their lives,
as such, are not as harsh as their grandfathers or
great-grandfathers, but they have the same ,toughness and
single-mindedness that their predecessors had.
Next
week, the 101 Ranch Rodeo returns to Ponca City. With it come
parades, contests, and some of the best rodeo performers in the
United States. And a chance to catch a little glimpse of history.
101 Ranch Rodeo Week Events In Full Swing
Festivities for the 101 Ranch Rodeo are in full swing with activities
continuing through Saturday.
A "Dig for Gold", sponsored by Security Bank, is scheduled for noon
Wednesday near Third and Grand, along with free horse and wagon rides by
the Ponca Trail Blazers Round-up Club. Thursday will feature a high noon
shootout by the American Business Club, followed by a square dance,
promoted by the Pioneer Squares, downtown at 7 p.m., with the first
round of the rodeo at the rodeo grounds at 8 p.m.
KLOR's World Famous Terrapin Derby will be run at noon Friday in the
downtown area and the second leg of the rodeo will be held at 8 p.m.
The Noon Lions Club is sponsoring this year's Cow Chip Throw, to be held
downtown Saturday at 10 a.m., followed by another "high noon shootout"
by the AMBUCS.
The annual Rodeo Parade will begin at 2 p.m. and the final night of the
rodeo will again start at 8 p.m. The rodeo will be followed by a western
dance, sponsored by the 101 Ranch Foundation, at the Rodeo Grounds.
101 Ranch Oldtimers Reunite This
Week
The 101 Ranch Oldtimers Association will meet at the
Cherokee Strip Living Museum of Arkansas City on Aug. 18th. The
group will gather at 3 p.m. in the lobby of the museum. A tour
will be conducted by the curator, Herbert Marshall.
According to Mike Sokol, president of the Oldtimers, the
group will also meet in the Chamber of Commerce Building . in
Ponca City on the 17th, 18th and 19th of Aug. A chuck wagon
dinner will be held on Aug. 19th at 4 p.m. |
Denzil Alcorn's Band To Play at
Rodeo Dance Saturday
Denzil Alcorn and the Wanderin, Okies
will be the featured band at the 101 Ranch Rodeo Dance, to be
held Saturday night after the rodeo at the rodeo grounds.
Alcorn, a native son, started his band career in 1960 when he
won a talent show and went on the the Big D Jamboree and the
Louisiana Hayride in Shreveport, La. |
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Other winners
were:
David Yerby, 9-6, $10; Edna Pesewonit, 9-2, $5; Bryce Parker,
9-1, $2; Sean Robinson, 9-0, $1; Trent Fryer. 8-10, $1, Shelly
Gross 8-10, $1 |
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TWIRLIN' THOSE ROPES IN THE 101 RANCH RODEO ARENA are Dallas and Marty
Tipton. They're getting ready for their Saturday night performance at
the rodeo, along with other trick roping students learning the "tricks
of the trade" from Mike Sokoll, a trick roper with the 101 Ranch. In the
arena with Dallas and Marty will be Margaret Moorman, Kelly Kitchen,
Bayne Kreger, Sara Kreger, Kim Kreger, Dessa Kreger ,Danny Coon, Buddy
Coon, Robert Cartlidge, Mark Freeman IV, Mikeal Aker, Evelyn Dulinsky,
and daughter Tammy, Buddy Nash, Matt Crumrine, Jo-Lin Walker, Mary
Steichen, Cary Sue Majors, Pam McVay and Michele Parker.
Katie The Mule To Miss First Parade In 18 Years
John Heinze will be participating in his 18th 101 Ranch Rodeo Parade,
Saturday. For nearly all of them he has been the parade chairman.
But missing from the event for the first time will be.his mule Katie,
which was ridden either by Heinze or his young grandson, Scottie Fisher,
in the previous 17 parades. Katie's health won't permit her to take part
this time.
The 18th annual edition is scheduled to move out at 2 p.m. Saturday,
starting at Union and Grand and proceeding west to Seventh.
Chairman Heinze is encouraging all types of western units to
participate. In the line of march are to be the official 101 Ranch Rodeo
Band, directed by Bill Anderson; Shrine units, riding clubs, unattached
horseback riders, buggies, wagons and other similar vehicles, antique
cars and a number of political figures.
Those wishing to be in the parade are urged to be in position at the
starting . point ahead of the starting time. Heinze said all horse units
are asked to line up in the 100 block of North Union, Shrine units in
the 100 block of South Union and the politicians on Grand west of the
starting line.
One of the color guard units will be' the newly formed group from the
Marland VFW chapter. Marland, then Bliss, was the first location of the
famous 101 Ranch.
Rodeo Starts Tonight
The 101 Ranch Rodeo opens tonight with the first of three nights of
competition. Starting time is set for 8 p.m. at the rodeo grounds.
Clem McSpadden, well known rodeo announcer and former gubernatorial
candidate, will again be the announcer at this year's outing.
Competition will include bareback riding, calf roping, saddle bronc
riding, steer wrestling, barrel racing, and bull riding, as well as the
annual buffalo stampede. Thursday's stampede will feature riders from
radio station KLOR, with riders from the Ponca City Police Department
riding Friday night, and a combined team of the best riders riding in
the Saturday night finale.
In addition to the regular competition, the Rodeo Queen will be selected
on Saturday night.
Several champions from last year will be returning to try and repeat
their wins. Top money-winner and winner of the calf-roping competition,
Rick Parsons, Tulsa, will be back, as well as bull riding champ Charlie
McCrary, Stillwater and bareback riding winner Bob Logue.
101 Ranch Rodeo Opening Dry, But Windy
No water, but a lot of wind. That's what faced those in attendance
during the first night of the 101 Ranch Rodeo Thursday night.
Unlike last year's rain debacle, the contestants and the 3,500
spectators, a vast improvement over last year's soggy event, in
attendance had only to sit through a steady southern wind that gusted to
25 mph.
The absence of rain showed up in the times of the riders, as well.
Pawnee's Colin Howell stunned the crowd with a 4.4 second time the steer
wrestling competition, considerably better than the 7.1 second
time set by last year's winner, Rick Bradley.
Howell was followed closely by Kellyville, Okla., native Stan
Williamson, who posted a 4.6 second time to put him 'in second place.
Currently third is former world champion Tommy Puryear, with a 4.8
second run.
Corpus Christi, Tex., resident Buddy Geter topped last year's winning
time in the calf roping contest, as well, tying his calf in 8.7 seconds.
His time beat that of last year's winner Rick Parsons, who is slated to
compete in the calf roping tonight, by .7 of a second.
Bill Tyer, Grandview, Tex. ,currently holds second with a time of 10.4
seconds, and Stillwater resident Roger Marlow is third with 10.8
seconds.
Ike Sankey, Rose Hill, Kans., took a first-night lead -in the bareback
riding' event with a score of 70, followed by T. J. Walter with 62 and
Rusty Riddle with 61.
Former Ponca City resident Sammie Groves took a commanding lead in the
saddle bronc riding competition. Groves, now of Stroud, Okla., hit 71
points, with former world champion Monty Henson second with 63 and Ike
Sankey with 61.
Two Texans led the way in the bull riding competition. Ricky Bolin,
Mesquite, Tex., topped the nine riders who stayed on past the
eight-second buzzer with a score of 75. Runner-up to the world champion
bull rider last year, Randy Magers, was second with a 73, and four-time
national champ Don Gay is currently in third with a score of 72.
Kathy Braungardt topped the field in the barrel races with a 17.4 ride.
Linda Moore placed second with a 17.8 and Jacque Clampitt and Paula
Phillips are tied for third with runs of 18.0.
Cowboys Holding Their Leads Going Into Final
Performance
All but one of the Thursday night contestants retained their leads after
the second performance of the 101 Ranch Rodeo, held Friday night.
Only former world champion John McBeth was able to tie the Thursday
night leader, Stroud native Sammie Grove, in the saddle bronc riding
contest. McBeth, from Burden, Kan., posted a 71 to earn his share of the
lead.
Another Burden resident, Dave Price, moved into second place with a
score of 64.
Cumby, Tex., veteran Chuck Logue moved into second in the bareback
riding event with a score of 68. Texan Paul Mayo, a two-time national
champion currently in third with a 66 and fellow Texan Curtis Molder is
fourth with a 64.
Ike Sankey still leads in bare backing with his score of 70.
Gary Toole, Mangum resident, Comanche, Okla. rider Dick Miller moved
into a fourth-place tie in the riding competition. Both scored a 71,
well short of current leader Ricky Bolin's 75, which he scored Thursday
night.
It was a bad night for the steer wrestlers, with the steers nearly
winning. Nine wrestlers left the chute in pursuit of their animals, but
only five came back with a score, and one of those had 10 seconds added
to his time for breaking the barrier.
The closest anyone came to Colin Howell's electrifying 4.4 second run in
Friday's rodeo was Apache's Gregg Hindemann. Hindemann turned in a 5.1
second time to put him in fourth behind Howell, Stan Willimason and
Tommy Puryear.
The two final contestants in Friday's calf roping event, Texans Bobby
Hungate and Johnny Hudson, took at least a temporary hold on second and
third, respectively, in the calf roping competition. Hungate, the final
roper, posted a 9.4 second run, only seven-tenths of a second slower
than leader Buddy Geters time.
Hudson finished with a time of 9.7 seconds.
Two Oklahoma girls moved into a second-place tie in the barrel race.
Renee Ward, Appington, and Sheri Trent, Del City, finished with a 17.6
second run to be currently ranked second behind Kathy Braungardt, who
ran a 7.4 Thursday night.
Ward's mother, Florence Youree, Appington, finished one-tenth of a
second behind her daughter, good enough to take third place in the
standings.
Sankey Wins Top Honor At '78 101 Ranch Rodeo
A Kansan received the award for best all around cowboy and a Texan
walked off with the biggest purse as the 101 Ranch Rodeo drew to a close
Saturday night.
Ike Sankey, Rose Hill, Kan., received the Sonny Shultz Memorial Trophy
for best all-around cowboy after winning the bareback competition and
placing fifth in the saddle bronc contest.
Sankey had erroneously been listed as the third-place finisher in the
bareback, but a quick check of the scores revealed that his Thursday
night score of 72 was good enough for first.
Sankey won $576.24 for his finish in the bare back competition. Glen
Webb, Prairieville, La., scored a 71 on Saturday night to move into
second place, along with third-place finisher. Dale Hirschman, Del City.
Two Mesquite, Texas, cowpokes became a little bit richer for their
efforts in the rodeo when they finished first and third in the bull
riding event.
Rick Bolin and Don Gay finished first and third, respectively, in the
bull riding, with Bolin taking the biggest purse of the rodeo, $952.56.
Bolin's score of 74 edged out runner-up to the national champion last
year and fellow Texan Randy Magers by one point. All three of the top
finishers competed on Thursday night.
Jimmy Roper, Oktaha, came up with an outstanding 4.3 second run on
Saturday night to take the lead, and a victory, away from Colin Howell
in the steer wrestling event. Howell, who hails from Pawnee, had a
Thursday night run of 4.4 seconds. Kellyville's Stan Williamson was
third with a time of 4.6 seconds.
Roper took home a purse of $635.04 for his win.
Sammy Groves' Thursday score of 72 proved to be unbeatable, as the
Stroud resident took the first-place. prize of $482.16 in the saddle
bronc competition. Rick Whorton, Springdale, Ark., scored a 71 on
Saturday night to move into a tie with Kansan John McBeth, while Kansans
Tom Arnold and Dave Price ended in a tie for third.
Stillwater's Buddy Geter retained his lead in the calf roping contest
with his Thursday time of 8.7 seconds to win the j $693.84 first prize.
Fellow Oklahoman Gary Johnson was one-tenth of a second behind Geter for
second place and another Oklahoman, Roy Burk, was third.
Kansan Sue Elliot won the barrel racing competition on the final night
with a time of 17.3 seconds, edging out another Kansan, Kathy Braungardt
and Oklahoman Rene Ward. Elliot won $291.30 for her efforts. |
ANNOUNCER: Clem McSpadden
