The BC High School Rodeo Finals (BCHSRF) begin today with a couple of events that are an integral part of the High School Finals weekend but not always held during the regular competitive portion of the rodeo.
The Queen event kicks it off, starting at 2:30 p.m. at the Longhouse, and then there are student scholarship interviews at 4 p.m. (location TBA) and a BCHSRA annual general meeting at 7 p.m. at the Longhouse.
The BCHSRF cutting horse competition starts at 9 a.m. on Friday morning (June 10) in the main Stampede arena. The first two go-rounds will take place at that time.
There is a student meeting in the arena at 10 a.m., and following that at 11 a.m. the regular rodeo action begins with the first of three performances. The first-day theme will be a look back to the 1970s — “Tie Dye Day” at the rodeo. So be prepared for a riot of colour and some great competition. Friday evening at 7 p.m. the members will attend the Season Leader Award reception at the Longhouse, where the season winners will be recognized and receive their awards.
Saturday morning will begin with a slack performance (if needed) at 8:30 a.m. for any of this year’s grads who have a ceremony to attend in another town or city, and then the Queen event horsemanship judging takes place at 9 a.m. and the regular rodeo second performance will get underway at 10 a.m.
It’s “Pink and Purple Cancer Day” at the rodeo, so this will be your opportunity to catch a lot of young ladies and young men looking pretty (handsome) in purple and pink.
All of the graduating seniors will be introduced individually during the rodeo’s grand entry. After the rodeo, they will dress up for the grad banquet (cowgirl/cowboy style) which begins at the curling rink at 6 p.m.
Sunday morning begins with a slack performance again at 8:30 a.m. (if needed for travelling grad students), then the regular rodeo action at 10 a.m. with an “Old Western Day” theme. The third go of the cutting competition will be held during this rodeo performance and the new High School Rodeo Queen will be crowned during the intermission.
Also at that time, several special memorial awards will be presented and immediately following the rodeo, all the year end championship awards will be presented.
Finally, and my sincere apologies to the following young men — whom I inadvertently forgot to mention last week in the list of BC High School Finals qualifiers from our hometown. I totally left out our steer wrestling contingent, who qualified in the following positions for the event showdown; Colton Manuel (150 Mile House) — fifth, Matthew Armes (Williams Lake) — sixth and Ryan Jasper (Riske Creek) — seventh. Sorry guys.