Fallon County Fair and Rodeo earns WPRA award Staff Report
The Women’s Professional Rodeo Association has cited the Fallon County Fair and Rodeo committee as the best Large Rodeo of the year. The announcement was made Nov. 2 in Colorado Springs when the WPRA announced its 2020 Committee and Contract Awards. The winners will be recognized at the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Fort Worth during the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. In addition to Fallon County Fair and Rodeo getting the large award, the Killdeer Mountain Roundup Rodeo (ND) won the medium award and the Buffalo Stampede in Kadoko (SD) won the small rodeo award. According to the WPRA announcement of the awards, the rodeo committees were described as the “backbone of the rodeo industry.” “That was never more apparent during the 2020 rodeo season as we all dealt with the challenges of COVID-19. Without the hardworking rodeo committees, the industry would have had a hard time existing,” the release explained. Among the challenges was the early shutdown of RodeoHouston in March. “The Cave Creek (AZ) Rodeo Days was the first committee to kick open the chutes at the end of May.” That prompted the WPRA to recognize that committee for getting the rodeo business back and earned them the Outstanding Rodeo Committee Partner Award, they explained. Among the other awards announced by the WPRA was Bob Tallman as announcer of the year. He previously won the award in 1998. He also has won the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association announcer of the year award 10 times. He also
was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2004. Tillman is also slated to be honored this year by the ProRodeo Hall of Fame with the Legend of ProRodeo Award. It is not the first time that the Fallon County Fair and Rodeo has won an award. The rodeo also has won the Montana PRCA Circuit Award for the best large rodeo three years straight and it also won the WPRA large rodeo award in 2017. According to the WPRA, in order to compete in the large category, it has to have at least a $10,000 purse for the event. At the 94th annual rodeo when Fallon County got its first win, there was $15,000 in added money in barrel racing, tie down roping and single steer roping. At the time, the 2017 Rodeo Director, Jerrid Geving, said that they agreed to pick three events. “We wanted to feature the barrels as one of them. The women work just as hard and travel just as many miles as the cowboys,” he said. The Fallon County Fairgrounds celebrated the rodeo winning the award on Facebook recently. “We love including the women at the Fallon County Fair & Rodeo every August. Congratulations to all award winners that were announced. The Barrel racing and Breakaway roping has been top notch. It’s amazing to watch the horse power ridden by some devoted women to their sport that make the trip to our little southeastern town year after year to compete. Thank you Ladies.” According to Shyla Hadley, it was a surprise. “We were super glad just to have a rodeo in the first place. “This will be the fourth time we have won that award. We won the large committee of the year in 2019,” she added. “It is based on turnout and quality.”
Also competing in the large rodeo division for Cody Stampede (WY), Ft. Worth Stock Show and Rodeo (TX), Gooding Pro Rodeo in Idaho and the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo (TX). According to current fair board member and rodeo director Eddie Coulter, it wasn’t really a surprise. “We are always hopeful. We try to put on the best rodeo that we can. It is always just a bonus when you get recognized and win an award. It is the second time that we have won this award in the last four years.” The Fallon County Fair and Rodeo won the Montana PCRA Circuit award a year ago, he added. “We won’t know on this one until January, I think we should be in the running for Montana for sure.” There was a reason Coulter believes that has helped Fallon become so successful. “We have equal money in all the events. That is a big deal. Nobody gets cheated. Everybody gets the same prize money,” he said. “That is one of the better things.” Fallon also is offering breakaway roping to the women competitors, Coulter explained. “Not every rodeo has breakaway roping for the ladies. That is something we have added for the last couple of years. “It is getting more and more popular.” There also was a strong regional flavor to the small, medium and large awards with the WPRA, he said, noting that the small and medium award winners were from South Dakota and North Dakota. “This part of the region did really well this year.” In addition, some of the Baker competitors have gone on to do well at the nationals, Coulter added. “It is towards the end of the season so if they win in Baker, sometimes it puts them over
to be in the national finals rodeo. “If you look at the barrel racing results this year six out of the top seven girls in the barrel racing are going to compete in nationals finals,” he said. The 2020 edition of the rodeo was affected by the pandemic, Coulter explained. “It had lots of impact on planning, but it really helped us at the end. We were able to have our rodeo. So with so many rodeos being canceled this year, everybody tried to get here.” It helped in Baker. “We were the biggest rodeo to finish off the year. Hopefully, we don’t have to go through that (COVID-19) again, but you never know.” One change that is already in the works for the 2021 edition of the Fallon County Fair and Rodeo, Coulter said. The rodeo will be expanded to three days instead of two. There will be three rodeo performances – on Thursday night, Friday night and Saturday afternoon. “It will give them an extra day to get in here and out of here and compete. We are looking forward to that.” Coulter also attributed the success of the rodeo to the Fallon County commissioners, our local sponsors and volunteers. Those three are what makes it happen. “I can put together a plan, but without them – those are three key components,” he explained. There are five on the Fallon County Fair Board and I have got about another five to 10 for volunteers, so it is a pretty small group,” Coulter said. “But they all work their butt off and know what to do and do a great job of doing it. “Without them, it wouldn’t be happening,” he added. The fairground officials also announced that it will be hosting the 2021 Montana High School Rodeo Championships from June 7 through June 12.
COVID-19 cases keep climbing in Fallon County, state Staff Report
The number of COVID-19 cases are continuing to climb in Fallon County. According to the Fallon County Health Department, the number of active cases increased to 39 Monday – a jump of 15 cases. That looked small Tuesday evening when the health department released the latest results of testing. There are 70 active COVID-19 cases in Fallon County as of Tuesday evening – almost doubling the previous number. The announcement was made on its Facebook page. “The Fallon County Health Department is announcing 33 new COVID-19 cases. This brings our current active count to 70. Community spread is here and rampant, please wear a mask, be considerate, and thank a health care worker today,” the post read. In addition, the department listed 101 cases as recovered, but the jump in cases brought the cumulative total of cases to 171 this year in the county. The department stressed that masks are still required. The total active cases announced Tuesday continues an up and down pattern that is on
the increase. On Nov. 7, the county had added six new cases to bring the total active cases up to 38, but a day later the active listing had dropped to 32 with eight newly listed as recovered. According to the health department there has been information put out there is a fine for not wearing a mask. They debunked it on their website. “We have been made aware of a post stating that there will now be a $500 fine for anyone not wearing a mask. This information did not come from our office and is not something we are implementing. “As always, we encourage you to wear a mask to keep us all safe and healthy and are always here for questions,” the post concluded. The health department also specified that Billings and Yellowstone County currently have additional regulations and fines for businesses, but that is not state-wide. “I can assure you that no (local) businesses will be fined for their customers not wearing masks! Employers are not responsible for their customers. They are, however, expected to follow the governor’s directive with their own employees. That being said, a plan is in place from our health officer to provide education to those businesses and try to
get their compliance. No one is going to go around fining people without good cause,” according to the Fallon County Health Department. The county has had 30 or more active cases since Oct. 24, according to the health department. According to the state statistics, there have been 16 children nine years old and under who have tested positive for COVID-19. There have been 14 between the ages of 10 and 19 who have also tested positive. The largest age group testing positive for the virus is the 30 to 39 group with 20, while the 50 to 59 age group has had 19 positives. State-wide The state of Montana reported 1,101 new cases of COVID-19 Tuesday, bringing the total of confirmed cases to 41,151. Yellowstone County continues to be the hot spot in the Treasure State with a total of 3,772 active cases, 4,332 recovered and a total this year of 8,191 cases this year. The county also has had 97 fatalities tied to COVID-19. So far this year 462 Montanans have died and 23,873 have recovered. As of Tuesday, the state had 16,816 active cases.
Submit your Christmas Story
The Christmas season is upon us, so in keeping with tradition the Times is asking residents to please submit a story, original poem, letters to Santa or photo of your favorite Christmas memory. Last year we had some wonderful stories submitted by older citizens of Fallon County. They shared Christmas memories of childhood that were enjoyed by young and old alike. These stories, poems or photos will be published in the Dec. 18, Christmas edition for everyone’s enjoyment. Please submit your stories by Dec. 9 to: fctimes@midrivers. com or mail to Fallon County Times, P.O. Box 679, Baker, MT 59313 or simply drop them by the office. (We are closed from 12-12:30 p.m. for the lunch hour.)
The time for Christmas Wishes is approaching With the holidays approaching, it’s a time for many to be thankful for what they have and to give back. Gamma Beta is sponsoring the 17th Annual Christmas Wishes Program, a great way you can pay it forward to people in your community this Christmas. The program is for people in Fallon County who may struggle to get their children gifts for Christmas. Every year, individuals as well as local businesses and organizations make monetary donations to the Christmas Wishes Program by depositing their donations into the Christmas Wishes account at the Bank of Baker anytime before Christmas. Monetary donations are preferred, as they do all of the shopping themselves to keep the privacy of the children and families in mind. They also accept gift-wrapping supplies, which can be left for Patti or LaNae at the Bank of Baker. Gamma Beta would like to have all of the request forms in by Wednesday, Nov. 25, so they can have the time to make sure every child will have a gift under their tree on Christmas. For information on the Christmas Wishes Program, contact Patti 406-647-6375 or LaNae 406-772-5813.
There were hundreds of weapons on display in Thee Garage over the weekend when a three-day gun show came to Baker. The vendors also included ammunition for several rare weapons as well as knives and other accessories. PHOTO/Brad Mosher
Baker Gun Show spends weekend in Thee Garage Staff Report
For Rick Stark, the three-day gun show he organized over the weekend kept him close to home. It opened Friday in Thee Garage than vendors from throughout the state covering tables with everything from rifles, pistols, knives and ammunition to even colorful cutting boards. For vendor Albert Kwasinski, it was his stock of Damascus Knives which made the trip from Miles City to Baker worth it. “Everybody really likes them. I sold quite a few of them,” he said packing up Sunday afternoon. “There are no two (knives) alike.” Even as the weather worsened in Baker, Kwasinski said it would be a problem getting back to Miles City. “With four-wheel drive, all you have to do is slow down,” he said. For other vendors, like Rusty Pegar of Billings, it was busy
Friday and Saturday and fairly quiet by Sunday afternoon. Pegar’s Terus Gallery business is based in Billings, but he spends time on the road hitting gun shows like the recent one in Bowman and has a wide variety of items, including badges, knives, pistols and rifles, in addition to other items. For Baker resident Cindy Boe, she specializes in selling paintings and colorful cutting boards for kitchens with scenic images and wildlife on them. She also said that the show was busier on Friday and Saturday. Stark, who lives in Baker, had his rifles and shotguns covering several tables in the center of the room. It was the second gun show in the region that he had organized, following a three-day show in Bowman two weeks earlier. He admitted that Baker was smaller with a smaller venue, but it also has been successful.