Rodeo Banquet

We had a great time at our rodeo banquet this afternoon. They had brisket to eat and everyone brought a side dish or desert. It was all really good food. Then they went through some announcements and thank you's. Then they did a little presentation for a girl named Savannah. She rode in the rodeo club. She was not older than 15. She died in a car accident not long after our rodeo season ended. Savannah's favorite color was pink, so, all the kids go to take a pink balloon and go outside and all together let the balloons go. Savannah's mother was also there to accept a gift from the rodeo club. It was a scrapbook of pictures bound in a tool leather cover. It was really special and very sad. Savannah's Dad mad some leather crosses with her initials on them for everyone to put on their saddles or bridles. It was a really nice gift from her father. I could only imagine the pain of loosing a child. My heart goes out to their family. After the ceremony, they gave out the year end awards. Everyone who participates gets a bunch of goodies and belt buckles. Then the top two winners get special prizes. The Champion gets a saddle, which were very nice with colored ostrich skin seats, and Reserve Champion gets a really nice saddle pad with cow hide and their names engraved in the leather on the pad. It was all really neat. So, here is all our loot from the banquet. All four of us got hay bags. And the hay bags were filled with more goodies. Everyone got a fun pair of muddy boots, t-shirt, feed scoop, huge box of brushes, tie down, and belt buckle. It really was some fun stuff. I love the kids' boots. Big Cowpoke's rubber boots were brown and Little Cowpoke's boots were black. Very fashionable. I love that they look like cowboy boots. My boots just had a fancy design on them and Mr. Cowboy's rubber boots were just plain brown. They didn't have any fun designs in the men's sizes. Men are no fun. Then there are our belt buckles. I am not sure if this is a new fad that is coming out or what, but I haven't seen belt buckles like these before. The main part of the buckle is a rust color. I think I am a fan of the shiny bling belt buckles. But then again, I might just be old school, and these types of buckles might be all the rage. Here is Little Cowpoke's buckle. He rode in the "Tots" division. Very cool. He was really excited about winning his very first belt buckle. Then there was Big Cowpoke's buckle. He rode in the Midgets division. That division has some serious competition. The ages are 7-10 and boy can those older kids ride!! You have to be one heck of a dare devil 7 year old to keep up with those kids. Then there is Mr. Cowboy's buckle. They accidentally put that Mr. Cowboy rode in the Junior Division. Which I think is funny. Mr. Cowboy said they could leave it because he isn't going to wear the buckle, so it doesn't make a difference. Mr. Cowboy has a trunk full of buckles plus a buckle showcase full of buckles. He doesn't get too excited when he wins a buckle. But me, I get really excited, because I have only ever won one buckle. So, this is my second buckle to win. Can you see that? I was the Rookie in the Senior Division. I was the highest scoring new senior. Even though I trotted around most of the barrels. I am such a scaredy cat. But when everyone else is flying and knocks down barrels, the I guess the slow and steady one wins!! So, I was pretty excited about my buckle. And I think my buckle is really cool looking!!

We are thinking about trying out a different rodeo club. They ride from February til May, and then pick back up again in September. It's nice to have the hot summers off. Plus with Big Cowpoke spending most of the summer with his Dad, he will get a chance to rodeo. The first rodeo will be February 7th. That is coming pretty soon. But we still are going to rodeo with the same old club. We really like how family oriented it is. They are great. And we have a really wonderful time. We will have to see how the other group pans out. Big Cowpoke would be the only one riding and the rest of us would just wait for our normal club to start. We had a great time at the banquet and can't wait for rodeo season to begin again.