SUMMER RODEO ACTION IN KAMLOOPS, B.C.
August 27 , 2009

The Kamloops Outdoor Pro Rodeo is commemorating their 10th anniversary this year from Aug. 28 to 29, with the RCMP Musical Ride and the Budweiser Big Rig on board and adding to the usual excitement surrounding the annual event.

But while there are a few extra sights and sounds to behold as part of the celebrations at the two-day event, the real action will in the arena where more than two hundred contestants are set to compete in the saddle bronc riding, bareback riding, bull riding, tie down roping, steer wrestling and ladies barrel racing, and team roping.

According to Kamloops Outdoor Pro Rodeo Club president and former bareback rider Dennis DeRose, between 3,500 and 4,000 spectators usually head down to the Kamloops Exhibition Association (KXA) rodeo grounds, located at 485 Mt Paul Centre Way in Kamloops, B.C., to take in the two-day event.

“But we’re probably going to double that,” he said of this year’s attendance.

To accommodate for the expected extra guests, the committee and volunteers have moved everything to the large arena on the KXA grounds and, “We’re putting in more stands to provide adequate seating,” DeRose offers, noting the rise in numbers will be partly because the RCMP Musical Ride is such a huge crowd pleaser, but mostly because of the rodeo’s anniversary, and it’s one of the last rodeos in the regular season where athletes trying to make it the Canadian Finals Rodeo (CFR) can earn.

“It’s going to be a great show because everyone is going to get down to the race. It’s starting to get close for everybody, so it should be good. That’s what everyone likes about this rodeo. This is a fun rodeo,” DeRose says excitedly.

Part of his excitement could stem from the fact that two of his sons will be competing in their hometown this weekend: Denver, reigning Canadian novice bareback champion and CPRA permit holder, and Ryland, who usually can be seen in the novice saddle bronc. He’ll be taking a try in the open. Both are riding in Friday’s performance.

Each of the two rodeo performances kick off at 7 p.m.