BARRHEAD - The Barrhead Agricultural Society will be able to use the municipally-owned curling rink, essentially rent-free, to host a trade show during the Wildrose Rodeo Association (WRA) Challenge.
Town of Barrhead councillors unanimously approved the request during the Aug. 13 council meeting.
To ensure the facility's books balance, council approves such requests by giving the organization a grant for the same amount as the rental fee.
Chief administrative officer Edward LeBlanc added the item to the agenda at the last minute, stating that administration had only received the request via e-mail from ag society president Jackie Miller earlier that day.
Usually, to be put on a council agenda, groups must submit their request the Wednesday before.
However, LeBlanc said due to the time-sensitive nature of the request, he decided to add it to the Aug. 13 council agenda.
The WRA is an amateur rodeo association boasting more than 600 members. It annually sponsors a circuit of between 30 and 40 rodeo events in communities, primarily in central to northern Alberta.
The Challenge, or rodeo finals, is the WRA circuit's final event and the association's showcase event. It features the competitors who have earned the Top 10 point totals in the seven core rodeo events (bull riding, bareback and saddleback riding, calf roping, team roping, steer wrestling and ladies barrel racing). It also features the Top 6 junior point leaders who will compete in the steer riding, bull riding, breakaway roping, and barrel racing events.
This year, the event will be held from Sep. 19 to 22 in the Barrhead Agrena.
Councillors Rod Klumph and Don Smith asked if the request would interfere with other events, referring to the Barrhead Curling Club season and the municipality's annual Make the Connection night.
LeBlanc replied that there were no conflicts, noting the Make the Connection event is on Sept. 5, and the curling club does not put ice in until early October.
Klumph also asked what type of trade show the ag society was planning, "Will there be horses, saddles, that type of thing?"
LeBlanc said the event is still in the planning stages.
Coun. Dausen Kluin interjected, saying as the trade show would run in conjunction with the WRA finals, it would have to be rodeo-related.
"There will be a theme, but the ag society is yet to determine what it will be," LeBlanc said.
While Mayor Dave McKenzie supported the request in principle, he said he would have liked to know more about what the ag society had in mind.
"It has an impact," he said. "If we are going to invest in it, it would be nice to know that it is in the community's best interest and represented well."
Coun. Anthony Oswald suggested delaying the decision until council's next council meeting on Sept. 10.
Coun. Dave Sawatzky suggested the ag society needed a decision much sooner than that, saying they only had a month to organize everything.
Smith said he wasn't concerned.
"It is a non-issue. We have to believe in the ag society," he said, adding the society has a proven track record. "Whatever they are going to do will be good for our community. It is going to be a tradeshow, and it's going to be great. That is all we need to know."
Barrhead had hosted the event for an unprecedented string from 1989 to 2022, except for 2020 and 2021, due to the pandemic.
However, they lost the bid for the 2023 finals to Rimbey.
In late February, the ag society announced their bid to return the finals to Barrhead had been successful.
"We want to make our event bigger and better in hopes that it will bring people to Barrhead and inject cash into our community," Miller wrote.
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
