The Okotoks Rodeo got started two decades ago the way a lot of goods things get going – with just a couple of friends chewing the fat while sharing some beverages.
However, they almost got stuck with a $50,000 tab.
“Wayne Vold an I were down at Kinfolk – that’s Foxy’s now – and we thought it would be a good idea to have a rodeo,” said Verge Reidlinger of Okotoks Good Times Party Rentals. “We might have had a few bubblies, but that’s how it got started.”
The rodeo is celebrating its 20th anniversary when the first horse comes out of the chutes on Sept. 2 at the Murray Arena.
However, there were a few anxious moments back on the Labour Day weekend of 1992.
“What I remember is, we had no money,” Vold said. “ Verge and I had to sign a note for $20,000 because there was no dough. We brought Bill McFarlane in to help with the books and we totally financed it.
“By the time the rodeo started, we had a $54,000 nut to crack and just a line of credit for $20,000.”
When the three organizers opened the doors for that inaugural rodeo, they were more nervous than a greenhorn cowboy trying to stay on one of Vold’s prize bucking horses for eight seconds.
“An hour before the rodeo, we were all kind of edgy,” he said. “By about 6:30 p.m., it started at 7, the people started to come in. We had a decent crowd on Friday night and it was packed on Saturday night and we also had a good crowd on Sunday.”
You need a good rodeo dance to make money -- which means providing some spirits for those needing some courage to try their luck at two-stepping.
Vold and Reidlinger needed a charity group to be one of the beneficiaries of the dance in order to get a liquor licence.
Who better than a major tenant of the Murray Arena?
Reidlinger went to Bill McFarlane, then president of the Foothills Junior B Bisons to see if they would be interested in helping with the event.
“You have to have a club associated with it in order to get a liquor licence for the dance and everything,” Reidlinger said. “That’s how Bill got involved.”
You can’t have a successful dance without good music. The trio proved to be sound organizers. They were able to land a country singer who at one time had his own television show broadcast from Ranchman’s.
They didn’t have to pay the country singer a dime.
“I was still performing quite a bit back then – heck, I was 20 years younger,” Vold said. “We had a great dance. I still had a good band around and it was fun.”
Vold is best known for his life in rodeo. He was the Canadian saddle bronc champion in 1965 and 1966 and was inducted into the Canadian Rodeo Hall of Fame in 2008. He is also a renowned stock contractor who has provided bulls and horses for the Calgary Stampede, the Canadian Finals Rodeo and of course, the Okotoks Pro rodeo, including that first one.
His being a stock contractor was one of the main reasons the Labour Day weekend was chosen.
“When we picked a date, I didn’t have a rodeo on the long weekend so we leaned towards that,” Vold said. “I brought the best stock we had."
The Labour Day weekend has become a blessing in disguise. Due to the Okotoks Rodeo being one of the last stops for competitors to earn money towards the Canadian Finals Rodeo, the very best are trying to get in.
Reidlinger said they had the support of the Town. However, there were concerns about how they would get the ice out of the Murray Arena and get enough dirt in the infield for the rodeo.
“We were fortunate because we had all the equipment,“ said Reidlinger, who also owned Okotoks Rental at the time. “It took about 35 full dump trucks full of dirt to get it done.”
They also had a lot of young manpower to get it done. The Bisons players were called upon to volunteer – including then 19-year-old Todd Reidlinger, Verge’s son.
“We had to pay fees for hockey and the hours we volunteered at the rodeo went towards our registration fee,” Todd said. “I was more a less a labourer and did what ever needed to be done.”
Todd helped put up the panels to protect the glass and the boards in the hockey rink from the bucking stock. He also helped distribute the dirt on the infield as well as put up the tables and chairs.
“I remember the weather was really nice and we were worried that no one would show up,” Todd said.
“But it was a sellout and we never looked back.”
Verge added Okotokians John Lockhart and Jim “Jumbo” Braun also played important roles in the first Okotoks pro rodeo.
Todd, who now owns Okotoks Rentals, would later become one of the organizers for the rodeo. He didn’t ever have to face the pressure his dad and Vold did however.
“We had that $54,000 nut to crack and Verge and I would have honoured it out of pocket if it had bombed,” Vold said.
The Reidlingers are no longer organizers with the Okotoks rodeo, but Good Time Party Rentals and Okotoks Rentals continues to sponsors cowboys such as Davey Shields Jr., Sam Kelts, Tyler Thomson and others.
Vold continues to be the stock contractor for the rodeo. He said he will bring his very best to this year’s rodeo.
The Okotoks Pro Rodeo is from Sept. 2-4. The Friday and Saturday performances are at 7 p.m. and the Sunday rodeo is at 1 p.m.
The dance will follow on Saturday night at 9:30 p.m. at the Okotoks Curling Rink.
The band is KiixSin. For tickets information for the rodeo and the dance call 403-938-1518 or go to www.okotoksprorodeo.com
