Rodeo set for Orono
Apr 11, 2008 - 08:45 AM
By Jennifer Stone
ORONO -- Northeast Clarington may look a little more like the Wild West on the weekend of June 6-8.
That's the weekend the Dodge Rodeo Tour kicks off its season, making its first-ever stop in Orono.
Ross Millar, president of the Rodeo Management Group, said he was approached last year by Jill Easton of Windsong Equestrian Farm, which is located just north of Orono.
"We met last year at a rodeo," Mr. Millar said during a kick-off media conference in Orono Wednesday. "She saw the idea, and said, 'I think we can do it.' "
The weekend will feature an array of events, both within the ring and elsewhere on Orono's fairgrounds, Mr. Millar said.
"Over 200 cowboys and cowgirls follow the tour," he said.
The weekend will feature all the standard rodeo events, "including bull-riding, which was voted the world's toughest event by the American Riders' Association," Mr. Millar said.
Outside the ring there will be an array of food, as well as opportunities to see animals up closes. Television cooking show host Ted Reader, who specializes in barbecue, will be on hand all weekend to provide demonstrations and to sell food through concessions.
Food, Mr. Reader said during the conference, "is about making your belly a happy place and having some fun and we're hoping to bring some of that to Orono."
Mr. Reader will also be heading up the VIP reception at the event -- what he calls a "Wine and cheeseburger party."
The rodeo tour makes a habit of holding events in smaller communities like Orono, Mr. Millar said.
In places like Orono, "we're a whale in a bathtub. If we were doing it in Toronto, we'd be a minnow in an ocean," he said. "One of our key checkmarks is, 'Did it help the community?' "
Junior Farmers from around the province will come in to Orono for the weekend to help out, said Brad Found, president of Junior Farmers of Ontario.
Also benefiting from the event will be local Lions Clubs, which will use the money to support the No Child Without program. No Child Without is aimed at ensuring all children who need them have MedicAlert bracelets.
Lions clubs from Orono, Newcastle, Kendal and Courtice are all participating.
Cowboys and cowgirls in the rodeo will be vying for a spot in the tour championships, to be held in Mississauga in late September. There will also be prizes awarded to the top five in each event, Mr. Millar said. They don't receive appearance fees otherwise.
"If they're in the top five, they get a paycheque. If they're not, they just pack up and go down the road to the next rodeo," he said.
The event will be well worth attending, Mr. Millar said.
"There's a story, a heritage and a history of our country" in rodeo, he said.
For more information, visit
www.ontariorodeo.com.
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