Frontier Sportsman’s Holiday events went off without any hitches, for the most part, Saturday, with crowds lined up along Main and Long streets to watch the annual parade Saturday morning.
The parade had 43 entries with additional entries at the last minute, said Andrea Culy, administrative assistant at the Chamber of Commerce. “I think the parade went really well.”
The South Santiam Sweet Potato Queens won the Grand Parade Sweepstakes. Floats and other entries were judged by the Kiwanis Club.
I was running back and forth,” she said. “On Long Street, it looked like a really big crowd.”
One minor injury occurred during the Grand Parade when a little girl fell off the back of a minivan, she said. She suffered a skinned knee.
Twelve children attended the stick horse rodeo, Culy said. NPRA Queen Mackenzie Carr and Sweet Home Rodeo Queen Nicole Schrock rode stick horses with the children and The New Era Publisher Scott Swanson pulled double duty in the dunk tank in the Mollie’s parking lot to cover for others who were supposed to be in the tank. Twenty-six people tried to dunk him.
The John Wayne movie event wasn’t well-publicized, and it was not well-attended, Culy said. Next year, it will be better advertised and the price will need to be cut. Six attended the event. For anyone dressed like John Wayne, admission was $2 instead of $3.
The Sweet Home Rodeo saw some benefit from the leadership of the Sweet Home Economic Development Group, Rodeo President David Kem said. “Things are up. Gates were up. Money was up. Sponsors were down, but the gates were up.”
SHEDG actually handles the books, he said. With sponsorships down, it will be close, organizers said.
“But what I see, it looks like we’re breaking even,” Kem said. Attendance was up over the previous year on all three days.
Approximately 260 attended Friday night, 600 Saturday and 160 on Sunday, a total attendance of approximately 1,020, he said. Friday’s attendance was up decently. Saturday was around the same as last year, and Sunday was up from maybe 50 last year.
“It was a lot better than last year,” Kem said. “We did everything SHEDG told us to do, and it worked.”
The rodeo had its posters out a month ahead of time, and local merchants were selling tickets ahead of time, he said. He thinks the economy helped too because people are staying closer to home.
Having more people attending will help cover the gap in sponsorships this year, he said.
The Last Frontier had a mechanical bull and contests for the after-rodeo events, Kem said, and those went over well even though some of the activities were not well-advertised ahead of time.
The crowd loved it, Kem said. “I stood at the front gate and said goodnight to everybody. They said they loved it.”
One rodeo veteran participating in the event told Kem this was the best rodeo he has attended in 27 years of involvement in rodeos, Kem said.
Good weather probably helped, Kem said. “The grounds were excellent, better than usual. We didn’t have any dust. That rain actually helped us a little bit.”
Local bull rider Leif Erickson, Sweet Home High School Class of 2009, performed Friday night. He didn’t score, but he enjoyed riding in his home town.
“We came out on a bull called Sweet Slam,” he said. The bull came out and went to the left. At 6.5 seconds, he stretched Erickson out and “lawn darted” him into the dirt.
“He was the coolest bull,” Erickson said. He is smart, not all power.
Friday’s performance was his third time out since breaking his jaw during baseball season while attending a bull riding camp, he said.
Erickson still has several rodeos left this summer, he said. “It’s enough I should have fun.”
His next appearance will be at McMinnville.
The following are award winners from the grand parade:
Youth Groups
1. AmVets Boy Scouts
2. Boys & Girls Club
3. Boys & Girls Club #2
Large Groups
1. I Believe I Can Dance
2. Sweet Home High School Dance Team
3. VFW Aux.
Religious
1. Cornerstone Fellowship
2. Little Promises
3. Fir Lawn Lutheran Church
Marching
1. Linn County Young Marines
2. Community Band
Fraternal
1. Lincoln County Shriners
2. Linn County Sheriff’s Posse
Horses
1. Rhinestone Riders
2. East Linn Museum
Courts
1. Frontier Sportsman’s Holiday Court
2. Sweet Home Rodeo Court
3. Lebanon Strawberry Court
Commercial
1. A&W
2. Avamere Twin Oaks
3. Timber Tech
Small Groups
1. Sweet Potato Queens
2. Red Hat Society