Empty saddles pay tribute Donna Short, Sandy Thomas will be honored at rodeo By Dee Camp The Chronicle OMAK – Two longtime Stampede volunteers – one whose family ties go back to the rodeo’s beginnings 80 years ago – will be honored during empty saddle memorial ceremonies in this year’s show. Riderless horses will be led around the arena in honor of Sandy Thomas and Donna Short, both of whom died earlier this year. The memorial for Thomas will be during the Saturday rodeo performance. She died Jan. 12. Short’s memorial tribute will be during the Friday rodeo performance. She died May 12. Both dedicated years of volunteer service to the rodeo organization. Thomas, 74, was an Omak native and the daughter of Claire and Mildred Pentz. Claire Pentz, an early Stampede publicity chairman, suggested the addition of the Suicide Race in 1935 to lend more excitement to the fledgling rodeo. The race was patterned after a mountain race run by Indians for many years in the Keller area. Thomas found her Stampede niche with the grand parade, and served as its organizer for several decades. She also volunteered as a ticket seller alongside her grandson, Anthony Thomas. She was inducted into the Omak Stampede Hall of Fame in 2005 as the first child of another Hall of Fame member to be given
2013 Omak-Okanogan County Chronicle Western Rendezvous — Page 25
The late Sandy Thomas shows off her Omak Stampede Hall of Fame statuette after being inducted into the hall in 2005.
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Dee Camp/The Chronicle