The Sweet Home Economic Development Group Board of Directors has made a good decision in opting to take over the Calapooia Rodeo and ensure its survival.
What this means for the rodeo and its organizers is that if they hit a bad year, such as this year, members of the rodeo board of directors or other friends won’t be forced to dig deep into their own pockets to bail out an event that, for the most part, has been a financial success.
Unseasonable rain this year cut the crowd sizes down and put the organizers in the red. Two of the directors’ families were forced to come up with $4,700 out of their own pockets, and from another friend of the rodeo, to make things right. We commended them for doing so at the time, but the rodeo needs a shot in the arm and this may be exactly that.
There are a number of reasons why this is a good thing, not the least of which is that this rodeo has existed for 60 years and thus is an enduring part of Sweet Home’s heritage. It’s something that brings us together and helps our city stand out. The rodeo is fun and if you haven’t tried it, you’re missing out.
This rodeo is a Northwest Professional Rodeo Association event, which means that most of the competitors are from the Northwest, many of them from Oregon. Sweet Home’s is the only pro rodeo within 40 miles ? the closest being the PRCA event in Eugene and another NPRA event in Corvallis.
The three-day rodeo, held during Sportsman’s Holiday, attracts people from out of town. Competitors and their families, nearly all of them from the Northwest, roll into town for the affair, and it brings in people from neighboring communities who just like rodeo.
We all know that visitors are good for Sweet Home and this thing brings in visitors.
With SHEDG’s help, there could be more. The nonprofit organization, funded by proceeds from the Oregon Jamboree, can provide marketing help and money to make surrounding communities more aware of what the rodeo has to offer. If SHEDG throws its weight behind the rodeo, it could take it to the next level, which could attract a broader range of people than just rodeo fans and the curious.
Some have suggested, for instance, that a carnival be held in conjunction with the rodeo. There are good carnivals out there, with decent attractions and with workers that are held to a higher standard. Bringing one of them in might be a way to broaden the appeal not only of the rodeo but of the Sportsman’s Holiday in general.
The people who founded SHEDG had guts and foresight to produce the Jamboree, which has gotten bigger and better over the years, as attested to by the many, many returnees to this year’s event. The people who run SHEDG now have shown foresight again and we can hope we all are rewarded with a rodeo that will get bigger and better in coming years, to the benefit of the entire community.