How to support Paint Estes Pink

from 2021 Rooftop Rodeo Guide

by Prairie Mountain Media

Royalty Program

Paint Estes Pink raises money for the EPH Foundation.

EPH Foundation / Courtesy photo

Local businesses are key to the success of Paint Estes Pink

By Kevin Mullin

For the Trail-Gazette

As the Executive Director of EPH Foundation, I’ve been privy to the generosity of this community through individual, corporate, and foundation giving, and I’ve had the great fortune of obser ving how those funds directly impact the quality of health care available in the Estes Valley. Next month, EPHF’s biggest fundraiser of the year, Paint Estes Pink, takes place. Paint Estes Pink relies on local business participation to support Oncology Ser vices at Estes Park Health. 100% of funds raised during Paint Estes Pink this year go toward purchasing a new MRI machine at EPH. MRI is often used to diagnose certain forms of cancer, and the current MRI machine at EPH is 14 years old and near end of life.

Business Competitions for Paint Estes Pink take place July 2-9. For the Top Fundraiser Competition, the Estes Park Mountain Bike Team will drop off donation jars to local businesses on July 2 and pick up July 9. Ever y business that participated in 2019 will automatically receive a collection jar. The business that collects the most cash in collection jars and/or through online donations will win a plaque with their name engraved to display for a year. Please RSVP by June 28 at giving@eph.orgto participate.

Businesses can also show support for cancer warriors ever ywhere by decorating their interior and exterior in pink. The Best Decorated Business wins an engraved plaque to display for the year, and judges stop by on July 8-9. Please RSVP by July 1 at giving@eph.org to participate.

The winners of both business competitions as well as the 2021 Mrs. Rooftop Rodeo winner are announced during Pink Night at the Rooftop Rodeo on July 10. To learn about Paint Estes Pink or to donate, visit GivetoEPH.org/ pink or contact giving@eph.org.Paint Estes Pink volunteers and EPHF Staff appreciate the commitment of business owners and staff in the Estes Valley who take time to participate in these endeavors. Because of folks like you, Oncology Ser vices at EPH continue to upgrade and expand.

The Estes Park Health Foundation increases community awareness of Estes Park Health, and develops, manages and distributes funds to assist EPH in fulfilling its mission. To learn more about initiatives or to volunteer, contact them at GiveToEPH.org or 970-577-4370.

Mullin

many thrilling and amusing western ranch features such as roping and branding and steer riding.”

The following paragraphs taken from the July 9, 1908 edition of The Mountaineer document the fact that the histor y of rodeo in Estes Park did begin at least as early as 1908. As you will read it was a glorious beginning indeed. THE MOUNTAINEER

Volume I, Number 6, Estes Park, Colorado, July 9, 1908

THE GLORIOUS FOURTH WAS DULY CELEBRATED

Genuine Wild West Show Provides Plenty of Thrills For Large Crowd, Including Many Eastern Tourists “The Broncho Busting Contest on the Fourth of July was a howling success-with the emphasis on the “howling”. One of the largest crowds that the Park ever turned out for such an event thronged the show grounds and cheered lustily for its favorite riders as they “cut the capers” on the pitching horses. And there were some “buckers”, too, horses that went straight into the air, “sunfished” and fell with their riders beneath them. But the more the bronchos twisted, the more the crowd howled and danced and enjoyed itself; and the result of the afternoon’s performance was declared to be one of the most enjoyable entertainments ever given in the Park.

Long before the hour scheduled for the performance-2 o’clock-the show grounds were lined with people. They came on horse, on foot, in rigs and in autos; and the display of the latter vehicles would have made a New Yorker fancy himself back on the Sea Beach drive to Coney Island on a Sunday afternoon in August. The number of people present when the grand promenade and introduction of the riders began was an astonishing tribute to the popularity of Estes Park as a summer resort….”

This early rodeo-type event had many of the same features as modern rodeo but with less sophistication. Take, for instance, the following description of the official judging of the bucking horse event.

The feature of the afternoon, of course, was the bucking horses. The horsemanship displayed in these contests, could scarcely have been better, and in the face of the riding done by all contestants, the judges threw up their hands and refused to go on record as declaring any one man the winner.”

Of course, today, the rodeo clown is an absolutely essential part of the rodeo. As the following exert from the 1908 Mountaineer article demonstrates, the clown was also quite important. “…The real feature of the show, as far as fun was concerned, was A.G. Birch, dressed as a clown. Scarcely a one on the grounds knew Mr. Birch in his strange rig, and his funny stunts filled ever y gap between the exciting events. The clown divided his time between a burro, wearing trousers of the national colors and a wooden horse, which he endeavored to enter in the bucking contest. When it became whispered around who the clown really was, there were repeated calls for his appearance, and he graciously responded.”

As best as can be determined there was no formal committee that put on the early rodeos but we do know that in 1908 Johnny Malmberg See History, pg. 19

W E ’ R E H E R E F O R T H E O N E S W H O G E T T H E I R B O O T S D I R T Y

These are the ones who define the Colorado spirit. We’re proud to be the community bank that’s helped them live that way for over forty years. Because we’re not just a bank in Colorado, we’re Bank of Colorado. Discover community banking at BankOfColorado.com ESTES PARK 533 Big Thompson Ave., 970.586.8185