It won’t be long before the dirt flies and the crowd cheers as cowboys and cowgirls take the spotlight at the Kearny County Saddle Club’s annual rodeo. The Saddle Club is in its 75th year and still going strong. The club was organized January 9, 1950 when a group of people who were interested in both 4-H and saddle club met at the courthouse. Bob Caldwell was elected as the club’s first president with Ed Holt as vice and Cecil Tate as secretary-treasurer. All 38 in attendance pledged membership.
Membership fees went towards buying roping calves and other necessary equipment as well as two former army barracks from the Garden City Air Force Base which were purchased on a rent-to-own agreement. Charles and Rhoda Loucks offered a tract of 18.2 acres just west of Lakin on a “use-and-occupancy basis” for one dollar. Saddle Club members built the foundations, and Fred Rogers, Elmer Ploeger and Leonard Enslow were appointed to prepare the army buildings for the move. Everett Kemper moved the buildings which were ready for 4-H Club use by late summer. The Saddle Club and other organizations held a box supper and dance to celebrate.
A committee arranged for materials to build an arena with a racetrack around it and to make other improvements. Several members agreed to donate calves for roping practice, and plans were made for the first rodeo to be held Saturday and Sunday, August 19th and 20th, 1950. A prevue of the event was given on a Sunday afternoon in July when members of the local club staged a home talent rodeo for local fans which included calf roping, fancy riding, calf riding and other events.
The inaugural Saddle Club rodeo was a huge success that August in spite of chilly and threatening weather. Rodeo “specials” were offered at local grocery stores, and the Dorothy clothing store advertised “Rodeo Outfits.” Lakin stores closed at noon that Saturday so that both employees and customers could attend the big event. More than 100 cowboys and cowgirls participated in a huge parade down Lakin’s Main Street Saturday morning. Other displays, floats and farm equipment comprised the remainder of the procession. The official program began at 1 that afternoon with a 4-H livestock parade and sale which was followed by the grand entry at 2 p.m.
Stock for the rodeo was provided by Paul Long who was well known on the rodeo circuit for his feisty Brahma bulls and other “salty” stock. Contestants came from New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado and elsewhere in Kansas, but there were very few local entries. Kearny Countians Avonda Kiistner (later Burrows) won the kid’s pony race on both days, and Bob Caldwell and Virgil Rice split honors in the stock saddle horse race. Bareback riding, calf roping, saddle bronc riding, girls’ chariot race, bulldogging and bull riding were also on the agenda. There was even a novelty act put on by Claude Smith, his son and their well-trained Brahma. A total of 1,700 paid admissions were counted at the two-day event.
After that, assistance came from everywhere to make improvements to the rodeo arena. The City of Lakin provided poles for arena lights, the Garden City Sugar Beet Company dug holes and set the poles up, and Colorado Interstate Gas Company provided casing for a well. Proceeds from the annual rodeo went towards improvements and maintenance of the rodeo arena and 4-H facilities. In March 1953, the Saddle Club released a strip of land along the south edge of their tract to be used as a fairway by the golf club. According to an article written by the late Irene Rice, Mr. and Mrs. Loucks made a new contract to the Saddle Club and 4-H Club in 1957 which effectively divided the two areas and left the Saddle Club with 10 acres of the original 18.
In 1974, the rodeo went to a three-day schedule, and in 1978, J & J Rodeo Company began supplying the stock which it still does to this day. Also in 1978, the Saddle Club broke in a new metal building with a dance on the second night of the annual rodeo. The building still sits right next to the arena and houses a concessions area and bathrooms which have recently been renovated. Chutes, pens, arena fences, grandstands and the announcer’s booth have repeatedly been rebuilt and updated. Camper hook-ups have also been added. In addition to Saddle Club events and their annual rodeo, the arena has been used for other events such as Little Britches rodeos and most recently in May for a huge Kansas High School Rodeo Association competition. Some may remember chasing a “greasy” pig around the arena during fair week or even witnessing a donkey baseball game there.
The annual rodeo isn’t the only event that the Saddle Club has been involved with over the years either. They have held trail rides, calf-fries, barbecues, inter-club meets, round robins, play days and more, and members travel to compete in rodeos in other communities as well. In the 1970s, the club even sponsored a youth drill team known as the Sunshine Rascals. Saddle Club members have ridden steeds and entered floats in Lakin’s Christmas parades too. One year, the organization’s nativity scene had several animals crowded around a manger, but the donkey fell off the truck.
Still, most people associate the group with the annual Kearny County Saddle Club Rodeo. Various related activities have come and gone such as the crowning of a rodeo queen and Saturday night dance, and the Saturday parade has been replaced with an ice cream social complete with games and wagon rides at the Kearny County Senior Center. As for the rodeo itself, there is an ample supply of riding and roping at the two-day event to thrill audience members. Mutton busting and stick horse races are fun for the kids, and even the pickiest of cowboys will be happily satisfied with the vittles at Saturday night’s barbecue (included in the cost of ticket for the first 300 people.) If you’re looking for some rootin’-tootin’ fun, the Kearny County Saddle Club Rodeo is the place to be this weekend! It’s a 75-year-old Kearny County tradition!
Photo by Vivian Fankhauser.
SOURCES: History of Kearny County Vol. I, “Clowning Around Is Serious Business for this Rodeo Family” by Vivian Fankhauser; archives of The Lakin Independent, Museum archives and the Kearny County Saddle Club’s Facebook page.