The village of Kennedy has a population of just over 200, but this past weekend, it grew to over 1,500 attending the 88th annual Moose Mountain Pro Rodeo on Saturday.
The village became a large campground this past Friday, Saturday and Sunday with all the campers and horse trailers pulling in for the big rodeo weekend. The weekend event was attended once again by many spectators of all ages.
Competitors came from all across Canada, mainly from Alberta, as well as a few from quite close to home.
The weekend kicked off with a pancake breakfast followed by the well-attended parade on Main Street with over 50 entries. Kids lined the streets in anticipation of candy being thrown their way.
Taking part in the parade was Stewy Lawrence, a rodeo member since 1948, and the only remaining life member. He has never missed a rodeo.
Throughout the two days there were the food booths, beer gardens and the ever popular mini donuts.
A demolition derby was held on both Saturday and Sunday with Greg Moorcraft out of Estevan ending up in top place.
The rodeo ran a slack performance on Friday evening.
The rodeo grand entry began at 5 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday with Tim Edge as rodeo announcer while the rodeo stock was provided by Big Stone Rodeo and Primetime Rodeo.
Edge gave a big shout out to the volunteer rodeo committee who stuck to it through the hard times and kept things going to put this year’s event on.
A memorial at this year’s rodeo was dedicated to the first lady of the Moose Mountain Pro Rodeo, Dingi Berglund, who passed away in 2019. She once said that she cannot remember a time when the rodeo was not a part of her life. The fans acknowledged her family as they made their way into the arena. Dingi was two years old when they had the first Moose Mountain Pro Rodeo.
She presumed that she’d see all of them except the one that she missed when she went to school. Her dad Willie Warner was one of the rodeo founders. It was a real community celebration back then and it would go from dawn to dusk. While some events of those early rodeos would be familiar to us, Berglund remembered others were different. There was saddle bronc and bareback riding, tie down and steer wrestling, but there was no bull riding.
Rodeos were a bit slower back then so the rodeo association used to pay people to ride a cow to keep the audience entertained. Teenagers especially would line up so that they could get paid 50 cents to ride a cow. Berglund, who had a good pole-bending horse, eventually took part in the barrel racing event and sure liked it. Along with barrel racing, Berglund took part in ladies goat-tying and she won the title of Saskatchewan champion twice.
She and George were longtime members of the Moose Mountain Rodeo Association. In 2009 Berglund was honoured as a life member of the Canadian Cowboys’ Association and awarded the title Cowgirl of the Year. Whether in the arena or in the stands, Berglund was the first lady of the Moose Mountain Pro Rodeo.
Another person acknowledged was DJ Kevin ‘Beaker’ Armstrong who passed away in April 2021. One of his favourite events to DJ at was the rodeo in Kennedy. Some years he was like a one-man show who played music long into the night. He liked seeing everyone having a good time.
It takes talent and skill to get the people on the dance floor and keep them there. The fans reflected on the lives well-lived and their contributions to the rodeo with the Cowboy’s Prayer.
One of the main attractions, usually held off until the end of the rodeo, was the bull riding which was held first on Saturday. Very few competitors rode the eight seconds while others were bucked to the dirt.
“It’s the biggest rodeo I can remember,” says Curtis Smyth, president of the Moose Mountain Pro Rodeo committee.
Smyth says he heard comments from many that this year had the most people they’ve ever seen at the rodeo in Kennedy.
Approximately 1,500 fans attended Saturday’s performance and 1,000 were there Sunday.
“This year we were about 15 per cent down in our entries from the cowboys,” explains Smyth.
“They weren’t sure if there was going to be a season so not all had bought their cards yet.”
The Pro Rodeo in Kennedy was one of the first rodeos going forward. Some of the competitors from the States didn’t come.
“We didn’t quite have the entries in the association,” says Smyth.
Smyth explained that the rodeo committee has a new concession stand this year and the food lineups were quite lengthy so there were a lot of hungry people.
“Most of the people opted for the loaded burger so that may have been some of the holdup of the long lineups as it takes a bit longer to build a loaded burger rather than a bun and a patty.”
The committee is looking into doing things a bit different for next year. It’s all a learning curve to see how they can improve.
“I would sure like to thank each and every one of the volunteers for their help,” says Smyth and adds “we couldn’t put the rodeo on without them.”
“We are absolutely looking for new members.”
“If there is anyone who would like to join the committee, we could sure use the help.”
The rodeo requires many volunteers to lend a helping hand in order for the event to go off without a hitch.
Results from the Moose Mountain Pro Rodeo are as follows:
Bareback riding: 1. Ty Taypotat, 87 points; 2. Colin Adams 80.5; 3. Strawbs Jones, 80;
Steer wrestling: 1. Cody Cassidy, 4.7 seconds; 2. Walker Guthrie, 5.6; 3. Layne Delemont, 5.8;
Team roping: 1. Keely Bonnett/Logan Bonnett, 5.5 seconds; 2. Riley Wilson/Jackson Louis, 5.8; 3. Dillon Graham/Travis Nickolson, 7.1; 4. Wyatt Eirikson/Sawyer Eirikson, 7.8;
Saddle bronc: 1. Sam Kelts, 82.5 points; 2. (tie) Chance Barrass and Hunter Sawley, 73.5; 4. Tyrel Roberts, 73.
Tie down roping: 1. Jason Smith, 8.5 seconds; 2. Logan Bird, 9.4; 3. Keely Bonnett, 9.5; 4. Riley Warren, 9.8.
Ladies barrel racing: 1. Carman Pozzobon, 15.641; 2. (tie) Lynette Brodoway and Vanessa Leggett, 15.677; 4. Taylor Manning, 15.732;
Bull riding leaders: 1. Dakota Butter; 2. Wacey Finkbeiner, 67.
Novice saddle bronc: 1. Sawyer Eirikson, 69.5 points; 2. Tyrel Roberts, 61; 3. Brodie Roessler, 54 points.
Novice bareback: 1. Cruz McNulty, 68 points.
Junior steer riding: 1. Kane Scott, 67 points.
Breakaway roping: 1. Taylor Flewelling, 2.53 seconds; 2. Lakota Bird, 2.60; 3. Jenna Dallyn, 2.63; 4. Bailey Hines, 3.12.
