Tipping our (cowboy) hats to the Evergreen Rodeo, Parade

BY DEB HURLEY BROBST DBROBST@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Look at the crowds of the Evergreen Rodeo Parade and the Evergreen Rodeo, and one thing becomes very clear: ese local events are for everyone.

From the youngsters involved in mutton bustin’ and the young people who were Evergreen Rodeo royalty to the four women honored as parade marshals because of their many years of service to the Evergreen Rodeo Association, everyone is invited to participate or to get involved by watching the fun. at’s exactly why the rodeo is 57 years strong, and this year, the rain held o for the most part on June 17, changing to beautiful blue skies and temperatures.

"WhenwritteninChinesetheword“crisis”iscomposedof twocharacters onerepresentsdangerandtheother representsopportunity.”~JohnF.Kennedy e school is renaming its College and Career Center to the Futures Center to encompass the school’s commitment to helping all students whether they want to go to college, into the military, take a gap year, go to a trade school, spend time in the Peace Corps or something else. As community member Pam Lindquist, who helped create the Futures Center idea, put it: While not all EHS students go to college, 100%

SEE FUTURES, P2

Read an important message regarding Colorado Community Media’s print products on Page 19 of them have a future, and each has a di erent pathway. e idea to morph the College and Career Center into the Futures Center started last fall when Athletic Director LeRoy Lopez and Lindquist discussed an idea for a kiosk that would allow graduates to share with students their pathways to their careers. Lopez and Lindquist became excited about the connections that would be made among the current and past EHS community.

According to Janet Anderson, who works in the center, depending on the year, 85% to 95% of EHS students go to college, some of them to Ivy League schools. ere’s a perception that the school primarily supports graduates as they plan for college, which is not the case.

To help launch the Futures Center, the school hopes to get graduates and the community involved to help mentor students no matter where their path takes them. Graduates who are interested in participating can email ehscougarsalumni@ gmail.com.

“Whatever a graduate chooses to do, this school embraces it,” Lindquist said.

In addition to getting graduates involved, the school hopes to o er a showcase that will invite the community and graduates into the build- ing to talk about after-high school possibilities.

While the school will add a more visible focus for non-college-attending students, it won’t forget those with aspirations to attend college.

“Evergreen (High School) will continue to be a rigorous high school,” counselor Amy Wells said.

“If students want to go to college, we can help them with that.”

Wells hopes the school will get more up-to-date information on graduates as they become involved with the school again.

“ e wonderful thing about Evergreen is that we produce great, productive adults,” Lindquist said. “Whatever their pathway, it’s exciting.” e Futures Center is being nanced by Michele Vanags with

State Farm Insurance, who explained that her son struggled with what to do after high school, and the kind of additional support the Futures Center will provide would have been amazing.

“It’s super important that we support (all students) in whatever they want to do,” Vanags said. Wells added: “All of our students need to be supported.” e parade was lled with pink in honor of this year’s theme, “She’s back in the saddle again,” honoring women in rodeo.

Miss Evergreen Rodeo Amanda Cook, Evergreen Rodeo Princess Hannah Norris and Evergreen Rodeo Junior Princess Josie Sandifer said horses have been part of their lives since they were tots. So has the Evergreen Rodeo and Parade.

After they rode their horses along the parade route, they walked back, chatting with the many well-wishers lining the route in downtown Evergreen. ey agreed that the crowd appeared to be bigger than ever, and they saw many new faces in the crowd.

All three said they had wanted to be Evergreen Rodeo royalty for a long time, usually aspiring for the positions thanks to other family members.

Two of the celebrities in the crowd were Santa and Mrs. Claus, who stood on the boardwalk outside the Little Bear Saloon watching the parade. Santa called the parade amazing.

“ e elves are involved (in events) like this,” Santa said, smiling. Sporting western clothing and a cowboy Santa hat, the trim Santa said he would start eating cookies this fall so he’s ready for Christmas.

As parade attendees waited patiently for the parade to begin –some starting as early as 7:30 a.m. for the 10 a.m. start — downtown businesses opened early, allowing for some early-morning shopping and for a chance to pick up some breakfast before more than 90 parade entries moved through downtown.

Rodeo attendees saw improvements to the rodeo grounds thanks to the growth in both attendance and sponsors, according to Bryan McFarland, Evergreen Rodeo Association’s board chair. is year’s rodeo attendance shattered previous records, he added.

Both the VIP area for sponsors and the bar area have been upgraded, including the bar created by the Evans Ranch with brands of local ranches burned into it.

Parade marshals honored during the event were Liz Nordeen, who has spent 30 years managing volunteers for the Evergreen Rodeo Association;

Judy Jeronimus, a 30-year association member; Kristy Tolan, the rst woman president of the association; and Gail Sharp, the association’s rst female chairperson.

Tolan became involved in the association in 1996.

“I went to a meeting, and they never let me leave,” she said, laughing.

She said the Evergreen Rodeo was one of few small-town rodeos left in the metro area, and its tradition was important to Evergreen.

Tolan’s daughter, Jeanine Baird, who has been attending the rodeo her entire life, noted that some people come to the rodeo even if they aren’t rodeo fans — just to participate in the event.

Sharp also joined the rodeo association in 1996, saying she moved to Evergreen that year, had a horse and wanted to meet people.

“I had never been to a rodeo before,” she said, adding that she has done just about every job the association has.

“Our community is changing,” Sharp said. “We’re losing some of our rural heritage, but the rodeo helps us connect to that heritage.”

Sharp, who was in the stands before the rst rodeo, gestured to the crowd both in the stands and on the slope ready to watch the event: “It doesn’t get any better than this.”

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