Spring has sprung and many events are taking place that were canceled last year due to COVID. This past month I attended several functions that seem to be done in safe conditions and all used extreme caution to assure that the attendees could feel comfortable.
The Red Bluff Round-Up was one of the events that I attended and I was pleased to see it was able to celebrate its 100th anniversary. They missed out on celebrating last year dueto COVID and this year General Manager James Miller, along with the rodeo committee, made it happen. The weather couldn’t have been better for the record crowds that attended the outstanding rodeo. Red Bluff is so special in that it features many special events during the rodeo to make it a little above and beyond the norm. The Wild Pony Race along with Mutton Bustin open the show, giving the fans some thrilling moments. Red Bluff has long been known for its Wild Ride competition where contestants dress up in costumes and ride broncs and are then judged on their costumes as well as their ride. Cowboy Channel Hostess Amy Wilson, along with Wrangler’s Jeff Chadwick, judged this year’s ride. The winner of the Wild Ride was Tanner Butner and Chance Barass who teamed up for an overall score of 94.
GM Miller was overwhelmed by the record breaking that went on this year from contestant entries, crowds, concessions to novelty sales of the 100-year anniversary memorabilia items. He had the help of many local and state politicians and health department people to make this all happen for which he is most grateful. There was a sense of great appreciation for their efforts in making this event happen and many fans expressed their appreciation throughout the weekend.
Other great news that has reached our office this month is that that the Reno Rodeo and Wrangler BFI Reno Championship will be allowed to happen once again. This event also had been put on hold the past year due to the virus, with no Reno Rodeo happening and the grounds unavailable. In 2020, BFI was moved to the Lazy E Arena in Oklahoma to fulfill the contestant’s desire to compete in a year that was full of cancelations. Earlier this year, it was still undecided if Reno was going to be able to host any events again. With that uncertainty, the BFI ownersdecided to go back to Oklahoma once again in March to ensure that there would be a BFI in 2021. As of now, Reno has once again been given the green light to host events, which has kicked all involved into high gear to make events happen again in the month of June.
The Wrangler BFI Reno Championship will be the title of this year’s event and will take place during the Reno Rodeo in June. There is a full schedule of events to be held at the Reno-Sparks Livestock Events Center in this issue on pages ???. Many of the same events were held in Oklahoma will take place with a limited number of teams in each event. This is mainly due to the fact that the Reno Rodeo is held each night and events must be over in time for the the parking lots to empty of contestants rigs to make way for the rodeo fans.
Reno-Sparks Livestock Events Center is limited to the amount of parking they have available. Each year it seems to get a little tighter. It is hard to accommodate the large rodeo rigs of today when you have restricted parking conditions. This is being addressed by the rodeo committee and the powers that be in Reno. In years past there has been some parking available across the street at the college campus but this year it may not be available due to cost factors. If you are planning to attend this year’s event be aware that parking may be somewhat of a problem so check ahead to make sure you aren’t caught off guard. If you are coming to watch the events and not hauling horses, you should remember that the Silver Legacy is again the host hotel and does provide shuttle services to the arena all day long.
Many ropings are back on schedule this year and as always there will be many ropings throughout the Reno area during the rodeo and Wrangler BFI Reno Championship. Check out this issue for many ropings and barrel races that will be going on these coming months.
The city of Reno has always been a great host city for western events and it is good to see that some of the COVID restrictions have been lifted to accommodate these events again. It is always a pleasure to stay in Reno and enjoy all of the great food and entertainment available there and in Lake Tahoe. Over the years, prior to COVID, Reno has lost some western events due to the Livestock Events Center not being able to handle the stalls and parking. The Event Center hasn’t always kept up with the times in equipment in the indoor facility to produce modern day events to the standards that they require. Hopefully this will be addressed in the future and Reno will once again be an equestrian destination for our industry. There are many arenas that are competing with Reno to draw the equestrian related events their direction and have kept up with the needs of the market. Everyone loves going to the Reno, Sparks and Tahoe area as it has so much to offer in and out of the arena and competition.
My Resistol is off to all of the producers who have gone above and beyond to keep things going during these trying times of COVID. Hopefully we can continue on a path of openness in the months to follow and get back to some kind of normalicys.
See you at “Wrangler BFI Reno Championship presented by Yeti.”