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Rodeo brings out the crowds
Young cowboys held tightly to the reins of spinning, bucking broncs as countless mud puddles from freshly fallen rain awaited the youngsters' falls on Saturday night during the Youth Bronc event at the Old Settlers' 26th Annual Ranch Rodeo in Uniontown.
However, heavy rains on both Friday and Saturday did little to dampen the spirits of the contestants.
Julia Hall, of the Uniontown Saddle Club, said some parents did pull their kids out of the Youth Bronc event because of the mud, but five youth still competed in the event, including the youngest cowboy, Jasper Allison, 6, of Fort Scott.
Riding a nearly full-size bronc, Allison's 45-pound frame was bucked well into the air, landing head first into a large, muddy puddle. He was the first to admit that the mud wasn't his favorite thing, but flying through the air was the funnest part.
"It was a soft landing," Allison said.
Jasper's mother Katie Allison said she was a little nervous at first.
"But seeing him get bucked off and popping right up and grinning kind of reassured me that he can handle himself," she said.
Allison, who also is learning to rope and run barrels, hopes to grow up to be a cowboy and an oilman and said he has had some practice on a bucking pony at his family's ranch. But the tiny 6-year-old has already broken that pony, so it will be sold.
Allison, who also wrestles with the Fort Scott Tiger Wrestling Club, said he likes rodeo because it makes him tough and he has a chance to make a little money doing something he likes.
"I like to ride," Allison said, adding that his father, Nathan Allison, also rides and ropes.
"The pony he (Jasper) rode this weekend was a whole lot bigger than we expected," his mother said.
Jasper admitted that he is much more confident now after riding a bigger horse and competing with high school age boys.
"But it didn't look too good when I fell off," Jasper said as he smiled.
Jasper said he enjoyed this weekend's rodeo.
"It was pretty good, because we had lots of teams," Jasper said.
Hall was also grateful that so many teams showed for the event.
"I want to thank each team personally," Hall said. "I am so glad they came up and played in the mud and played hard."
She said she plans on mailing a picture postcard taken of all the teams at the start of the night as a thank you to the contestants.
"It went well; there were no wrecks. We were happy with that," Julia Hall said. "Nobody got hurt. Even in the mud, nobody got hurt. They've got some bumps and bruises, but we didn't have to use the EMTs."
Of the 19 teams that competed, she said all have expressed an interest in returning next year.
Hall said they are trying to decide if they want to make next year's rodeo a Working Ranch Cowboys Association event.
"There are a lot of hoops you have to jump through (to be sanctioned by WRCA) and it might leave some local teams out," she said. "And we would like to keep it local, too. That's our only 'iffy' thing, we had such a good turnout."
Wayne Hall said the contestants were "tickled to death" over the rodeo and each one thanked him for the invitation to come to Uniontown.
"I apologized to everyone for the conditions and they all said, 'man, this is a barrel of fun; we're not going to complain about the mud,'" Wayne said.
He added that organizers hope to try and make the event even bigger and better next year.
"I was real pleased with the turnout, especially with how the weather was," Wayne said. "All the responses we got were real positive, so I guess that's a good thing. We just want to thank everyone who came and who showed up to help. I really appreciate all the help we had."
The rodeo, which also featured adult events such as bronc riding, sorting, milking, mugging and branding included teams from Oklahoma and Kansas, and was the Uniontown Saddle Club's major fundraiser for scholarships at Uniontown High School.
The Halls said the rodeo raised about $3,000 at the gate on Saturday and for Sunday's 46th Annual Youth Rodeo. Proceeds from concessions, which Julia said was about $1,400 on Saturday and $1,800 on Sunday, will also be added to the total. The Halls said about 500 to 600 people attended each night of the rodeo.
Julia said she was pleased at the attendance, especially considering the weather.
Blaine Northcutt, of Granola, placed first in the Youth Bronc event, with Bronson's Sage Hall placing second.
In the adult team overall, the Lazy B/Broken H team from Bronson placed first. That team was comprised of Bruce Beeman, Sage Hall, Doug Hall and Cliff Hall. Lathem's 4L & C-Bar Ranch placed second with Curtis Burdette, Gene Calvin, Jason Dierks and Justin Lawson. In third place was Buckcreek/Lonesome Pine, Cottonwood Falls, with Randy Perterson, Bud Higgs, Connor Grockett and Troy Higgs. Fourth-place finishers were Uniontown's H Cross Cattle/Circle A Ranch with Nathan Allison, Bill Pitts, Stewart Gulager and Wayne Hall.