Laughter and friendly bets were common during the Williams Lake Derby held at the Stampede Grounds this Saturday.
The day’s events were all a part of a fundraiser to get Williams Lake’s 2017 Stampede Queen Kaylee Billyboy to the Miss Rodeo Canada national championships in Red Deer, Alta. There Billyboy will compete with five other Rodeo Queen’s from across the country where she’ll be judged on a mix of poise, rodeo knowledge, public speaking and horsemanship.
Read more: Williams Lake Derby to benefit Miss Rodeo Canada hopeful
Despite cloudy skies and bouts of rain throughout, the festivities carried on un-dampened with chicken, wiener dog and horse racing throughout the day. Attendees could place some light bets on each event and take place in a silent auction, with all proceeds going to Billyboy’s expense budget for Red Deer.
“We decided to do our chicken races because my Auntie Kim has a bunch of chickens and she thought wouldn’t that be just the funniest thing ever,” Billboy said. “We decided to do a head honcho race because that’s even funnier.”
Participants in the chicken race included Mayor Walt Cobb, Superintendent Mark Wintjes and Williams Lake Indian Band Chief Willie Sellars as well as various other members of the community. In three heats they competed to see who could herd their ornery chickens across the finish line first, with Mayor Cobb winning by proxy thanks to Cordell Elkins.
Overall Billyboy thought the event was a success and hopes to raise the full $10,000 needed to cover her expenses, including transportation, costumes and lodgings with the help of the residents of Williams Lake.
Read More: Kaylee Billyboy crowned 2017 Williams Lake Stampede Queen
“It would be my biggest dream to win (the completion) I’ve had so much fun with the Williams Lake title and representing our hometown over there (is a big thing) to me,” Billyboy said.
patrick.davies@wltribune.com
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