Time to Cowboy Up
Annual parade, barbecue kickoff Lion's Club Rodeo

Wells Fargo Bank's handmade stagecoach makes its way down Aztec Avenue during the Lions Club Rodeo Parade on Saturday morning in downtown Gallup. [Photo by Matt Hinshaw/Independent]

By Bill Donovan
Staff Writer

GALLUP — The 59th annual Lion's Club Rodeo got under way Saturday, with a parade and the club's annual barbecue sale.

Hundreds of area residents lined downtown Gallup Saturday morning for the annual parade, while dozens of families went by the Lion's Club headquarters to purchase Black Angus barbecued beef.

Ralph Richards, a member of the Lion's Club Board, said that 3,000 pounds of barbecue was simmered in pits at Red Rock State Park for two days in preparation for the annual sale, the profits of which are used to go to charities the club supports throughout the year.

"We only had about 10 bundles left at the end of Saturday," Richards said.

A bundle consists of five pounds of beef, and Richards said some will be sold to stragglers - people who for one reason or another could not purchase their beef on Saturday - and the rest will be prepared for the picnic the club has every July to thank rodeo sponsors.

As for the parade, Richards said it could not have gone better, with cloudy skies keeping the temperature down.

With the parade and the barbecue out of the way, Richards said club members are now making final preparations for the rodeo, which starts Wednesday and continues through Saturday.

"We are ready to go - it's full steam ahead." he said.

If the weather cooperates, between 25,000 and 30,000 people pay admission to the rodeo, one of the biggest events of the summer in the Gallup area.

"We continue to grow every year," Richards said. He added that club officials continually look at the rodeo and think of how to improve it to bring more people and make it more exciting.

Back this year is something that the Lion's Club began last year to - the wild horse races.

This is the opening act of the rodeo with three-man teams trying - some more successfully than others - to get a wild horse under control and into a designated spot in the arena.

The good ones can do it in 20 or so seconds, said Richards. For others it can take a long two or three minutes.

A total of 880 cowboys, many from around the Four Corners area are expected to attend the event, he said, with some coming as far as Canada. Last year, the event even attracted two cowboys from Australia.

Another crowd-pleaser that will be part of Wednesday's show will be the barnyard scramble, in which area kids can compete to win small animals like ducks and chickens.

In the old days, when there were a couple of hundred kids competing, the club would have actual ducks and chickens in the area for kids to catch and keep. But as the event grew to the point where thousands of children are expected to compete this year, safety precautions were established and live animals were abandoned for balloons, which have coupons in them for the prizes.

"This is a family event," said Richards, "and we encourage every family to bring their kids and just enjoy the experience. Everyone always has a lot of fund coming to the Lion's Club Rodeo."