No wonder Adolph Bablitz left the Agrena with the broadest of smiles.
Great action, no major injuries, and big crowds on Saturday and Sunday – Bablitz had virtually all his prayers answered for his swan song as the organizing chief of the Wildrose Rodeo Finals.
There was even good news outside the arena: Barrhead had won another three-year contract to stage the prestigious four-day event.
Only one of Bablitz’s wishes didn’t come true. The rain he hoped would bring farmers in from the fields didn’t happen.
Not that it mattered a great deal, for people came anyway, packing the bleachers and cheering whenever a hometown favourite was in action.
The Barrhead Agricultural Society president now plans to take a backseat with the rodeo, playing the role of an adviser.
A new committee will come to the fore, hopefully to inject fresh ideas into the event.
Bablitz hailed the Sept. 19-22 rodeo a huge success. For local fans there was plenty to applaud with teenager Kagen Schmidt winning the junior steer riding. Meanwhile, Sangudo’s Austin Nash won junior bull riding and Carolynn Knapp, from Mayerthorpe, took top honours in ladies barrel racing.
“It was a really good rodeo,” Bablitz said. “Everything worked smoothly as we hoped. There were no glitches and nobody got seriously injured. We had good crowds. Saturday night was really good and Sunday was pretty good too.
“We are happy with the turnout. Okay we didn’t get the rain, but we can’t get everything.”
Bablitz said Barrhead should be thrilled with news that it will be hosting the rodeo for the next three years.
“The bid this time was a bit lower,” he said. “There was a bit of concern that we might lose it because of that.
“The new committee, however, is very realistic in assessing what we can afford to spend.
“Right now we’ve been losing money almost every year for the last 20 years. It would be nice to break even or make a dollar. I think we made a very realistic bid, although I’m sure the rodeo people aren’t as happy as they would like to be. But those are the fact of life, that’s the way it is.”
