Oak Leaf • Rodeo
INAUGURAL
SLO County Sheriff's
Rodeo
By Camille DeVaul
T
he San Luis Obispo County Sheriff ’s Department held its inaugural Sheriff ’s Rodeo on Saturday, May 14, and the community was ready for it. More than 4,000 people were in attendance. The original plan for the sheriff ’s rodeo was to debut in 2020 but had to be postponed twice due to covid restrictions, but it was well worth the wait. “Everything went phenomenal. It was a huge success,” Commander Chad Nicholson explained. Held in the Grandstand Arena at the Paso Robles Event Center, the rodeo was followed by a concert performance by country music duo Joe & Martina. Families and friends gathered on the rodeo grounds to dance during the concert.
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“We wanted to produce a family-filled event where the community could come together and celebrate togetherness, the sport of rodeo, law enforcement, and the western way of life,” Nicholson shared. Eight different events were held at the rodeo finals: open team roping, sort n rope, #10 roping, breakaway, sorting, barrel racing, steer wrestling, and JR team roping. Contestants competed at the SLO Sheriff ’s Rodeo Qualifier event held at the RCR River Ranch Arena a few weeks prior. Seventy-five contestants tried their hand at becoming the first to win a buckle at the inaugural rodeo. The event winners were: • Open Team Roping — Cody Mora / Dalton Pearce
• Sort N Rope — Dalton Pearce / Brinan Varian • #10 Roping — Cody Mora / Shaylee Baxley • Breakaway — Jaycet Tweedy • Sorting — Joanie Ketchum, Ryan Pascoe, Chad Nicholson • Barrel Race — Cheri Kelly • JR Team Roping — Noah Cervantes / Trey White When planning the rodeo, Nicholson wanted to create a modified timed event rodeo mixed with ranch roping, allowing more locals to join the fun. Announcing the rodeo was Drew Stewart, who came out from Oklahoma to lend his voice. He was joined by Professional Rodeo Cowboy
Paso Robles Magazine | June 2022
5/24/22 7:33 PM
