It’s Time For A Stampede!

With the Festival of Homes, and the Iron County Fair last weekend, you might be wondering if there is anything left to do this weekend in Iron County, and indeed there is.

First off, the Iron County Home Builders Association Festival of Homes will continue and conclude this weekend. The homes will be available for your inspection and idea gathering Friday, Saturday and Sunday from noon to 8PM.

But, perhaps the crown jewel of late summer activities will also take place this weekend with the Great American Stampede Rodeo presented by the Cedar City Lions Club going on at the Iron Rangers Arena out at the Cross Hollows Event Center.

There is some wonderfully small town traditions that happen when a rodeo is in town. It is certainly a gathering place for the smaller, agricultural areas of the nation where people would celebrate and find enjoyment in just being together while they cheered for their favorite cowboys.

For those unfamiliar with the Great American Stampede, it is a rodeo. But unlike last week's PRCA rodeo at the Iron County Fair where the cowboys were competing to make their way to the NFR in Las Vegas, the Stampede is college rodeo.

Yes, just like the football, basketball, volleyball, gymnastics, track and field and other teams, Southern Utah University also has a rodeo team. And just like the other campus teams, the SUU Rodeo team has league competition, with hopes of making it to the finals next July in Casper, Wyoming.

Ellie Johnson and Jade Stowell from the SUU rodeo team joined us on the radio show this morning to talk about the Great American Stamped.

Johnson told us, “I compete in barrel racing, breakaway roping, and I'm hoping to compete in team roping this year.” Ellie is from Laketown, Utah, up by Bear Lake. Ellie certainly experienced small town rodeo as a member of the Rich High School rodeo team. She is studying agriculture education and wants to teach and manage FFA programs.

Stowell will also compete in the breakaway roping. While Jade is now on the SUU Rodeo team, her first college competition was at Snow College where she “I was on the rodeo team and the stock horse team.” Jade is from Parowan where she also competed on the high school team. She is the granddaughter of Dennis Stowell. She is also studying agriculture at SUU.

They explained to us how the college rodeo season works. They will have eight competitions this fall, will take a break when winter sets in, and then complete the season with eight more competitions in the spring.

If you want to get a good feel for the future of our society, take a listen to our interview with Ellie and Jade at the end of the article.

But even more, if you want a lot of fun and a chance to experience the world of college rodeo, by all means make your way to the Iron Rangers Arena this Friday and Saturday. Ten college rodeo teams will be in the competition and this will be our opportunity to cheer on the SUU Rodeo team. It's always good to have the hometown crowd behind you.

Tickets are available now at I-F-A and the Cal Ranch stores in Cedar City, and you can also get tickets at the event. The Great American Stampede starts at 7PM on both Frday and Saturday. Even though Cedar City is growing, we get a couple of nights to feel small town again.