One of the longest running rodeo’s in the province is flying out the chute this weekend.
Starting on Friday, May 31, the 97th Handhills Lake Stampede will begin another exciting rodeo.
The action starts at noon on Friday, with Chuckwagon and Chariot races scheduled for 6 p.m.
Then, the next day at noon, the rodeo officially opens. Each year a guest of honour opens the Stampede. This year long-time rodeo volunteer Ken Wells was chosen.
“It’s quite an honour. I’m kind of surprised, there are a lot of people that should be there, too. I volunteered off and on for a number of years, as much as I could,” said Wells.
Wells was chosen for his years of volunteer service to the Handhills Lake Stampede and the Hanna Indoor Rodeo. Wells first began volunteering when he was 15 and had attended his first Handhills Lake Stampede when he was five.
“I was about five years old when my parents came back to help out my grandfather on our land south of Hanna. I was about 5 when I went to my first Handhills Stampede,” said Wells. “I started (volunteering) pretty young, helping out at the Handhills. We’d help pulling saddles off the broncs when they were done.”
Wells, now 82, has a lot of memories from years at the rodeo.
Ken Wells, the 97th Handhill Lake Stampede guest of honour, during his younger years. Wells volunteered with the Stampede and Hanna Indoor Rodeo starting when he was 15-years-old. Over the years he has seen some of the biggest moments and names at the rodeo. The most important thing, he says, is the friendships forged along the way.
“I got to know a lot of the cowboys over the years. They would stay at our place and give us a hand with the chores,” said Wells. “There are a lot of memories. I wish I could remember all the stories over the years, that would be quite a book. Some you wouldn’t be able to put in a book! Some of those characters got pretty wild. What I remember most is how many riders are in the Canadian and U.S. halls of fame.”
In three more years, the Handhill Lake Stampede will be celebrating its centennial. Planning has already begun.
“We’re two years away. We struck a committee and we’re setting plans in motion for the 100th. We’re trying to get all our projects on the grounds completed. They’re projects that have been ongoing for years and we’d like to have them finished up,” said Day Lenfesty, treasurer of the Handhills Lake Stampede committee.
The project includes new outside railings, having the corrals and chutes rearranged, and painting.
After almost 100 years of running, perhaps the most enduring legacy of the stampede is the friendships it kindles.
“It’s kind of a reunion out there,” said Wells. “Sometimes it’s the only chance you get to see people again you knew when you were younger.”
