Messages from April 2010

posted 4.29.10

Believe it or not, I am getting some pages updated on here.  The Tri-State Finals page is up-to-date with 8 days to go.  I even remembered to post the voting results for next year's Tri-State Board of Directors and the junior high student officers and event directors.  There is a link to the right to see the results.  Congratulations to all of next year's leaders and thank you to all of our current board members, officers and event directors for your work this year.

I am expecting to get the draw for the Abilene high school finals by Monday so I will be updating the Region 1 page in the next few days getting ready for it.  Before long, I may have this whole website caught up.  :)

posted 4.28.10

I sent an e-mail to all of the Tri-State Finalists tonight.  I try to avoid attaching files to the bulk e-mails I send so I pasted a copy of an information letter in the body of the e-mail.  Here is a PDF version you can print out if the e-mail doesn't come through clear. 

e-mailed 4.26.10

Junior High Members:  The competition draw for Gonzales is ready and posted on the Wrangler News page.  There is also a link to a State Finals information page that is actually updated with this year's information.  I apologize for taking so long with the updates.  This website is a constant work in progress.  I could easily spend several days doing nothing else besides updating the information on here.  It tends to have snowball effect.  There always seems to be something else that can be added.  It is fun to do but it can be its own full time job and I don't really have time for that right now!

Please check your Gonzales entries and take a look at the other information for the State Finals.  One important link you need to open is the new rules that will be in effect at Gonzales.

I haven't heard of any potential candidates for state student officer positions, but if you are interested in applying, the May 1st deadline will be here on Saturday.  This year's 6th and 7th graders are eligible to run for office.  This is a great leadership position and I encourage all of you to consider it.

e-mailed 4.15.10

Any Region 1 members interested in running for state student officer positions have until May 1st to turn in their candidate resume.  You can download the form from the Region 1 News page on the website (http://www.tri-statehsrodeo.com/R1%20News.htm). 

 May 1st is also the deadline for submitting your sample article for the Extreme Team News regional reporter position.  E-mail your article to hdelaune@erickson-usa.com.

 I had several blank stares and "I never heard of that" comments at Happy when passing out the Yard Bird Bingo tickets.  Here is a copy of what was printed in the letter you received way back in February.  Your tickets will be due back no later than check-in at Vernon.  To be eligible to compete at the Finals, you must sell a minimum of 5 tickets to each game (a total of 10 for the weekend.)  If all of the tickets are sold, both games will generate $4250 - after paying the winners.

 Yard Bird Bingo:

If you have any questions about the silent auction, please contact Sally Wright at sallywright@clearwire.net.  Auction proceeds and Yard Bird Bingo proceeds go directly to the Finals Fund.

 Finally, if your family or friends what a finals t-shirt, don't forget to get your shirt size to Kellie Macy no later than Monday April 19th.  You can e-mail her at mkabmacy@aol.com or call 806-549-6461.  They will be $15 each.  Finalists receive theirs at no charge.

 Have a great week.

e-mailed 4.14.10

I just have a few things for you this week:

I will be leaving on Friday for state board meetings in Dallas this weekend and will be out of town all next week for a pro rodeo.  The office phone will be forwarded and I should be able to check e-mails daily if you need anything.

posted 4.11.10

I think we were very fortunate with our weather yesterday in Happy.  If the wind picks up out there, you cannot escape the dirt.  The office would have been a little more crowded and I'm sure there has to be a weight limit on that building.  :)  Fortunately, we didn't have to find out and it was a wonderful day for out last rodeo of the regular season.  Thank you to the Happy Rodeo Club for being our hosts and for the many volunteers who helped out.  There is a lot of support from Happy and the neighboring communities and it sure helps keep the events running smoothly.

The results from Saturday and updated (and audited) points have been posted.  The points show the correct standings regardless of whether someone entered the Tri-State or Texas State Finals.  They don't lose their ranking just because they chose not to compete at the finals.

I want to thank everyone for their patience yesterday.  It is a mentally and emotionally draining day for me.  Not only am I trying to do my regular job of figuring the rodeo results but I also have to update two sets of standings as I go so you know if you need to turn in your entry forms.  I feel like a sponge soaking up everyone's emotions.  There is the excitement of making the cut, the disappointment of being one hole out and the anxiety of just waiting  to find out. 

If I didn't love my job, I would have burned out a long time ago.  Instead, I took advantage of being home for the first Sunday since mid-February and stayed in bed so I could recharge my mind and body.  I did some much-needed chores around the house and eased back into rodeo-mode late this afternoon.  I am not telling you all of this for sympathy.  I just want you to understand why I didn't jump out of bed at the crack of dawn and have everything finalized by now.

The checks for Happy will be mailed tomorrow and your entry fees for Happy will be deposited tomorrow, also.  I'm pretty impressed with myself because it doesn't look like I made any mistakes in the points I figured at the rodeo.  That doesn't mean that I didn't give someone wrong information about qualifying, though.  I need to go through all of the entry forms and see who actually entered and who did not.  I tried keeping up yesterday but it became a lost cause.  Plus, there were some late in the day entries that may affect some of the entries that were turned in earlier in the day.  I will start sorting everything out in the morning (and I promise I won't sleep late.)  I will call you tomorrow if something changes your entry status. 

posted 4.7.10

All of the high school points have been audited.  You can find a link to the individual events on the results page. 

I will need your help on Saturday when I am figuring the final standings.  If you think I have made an error, please say something so that we can check it before going any further.  There are several close races where a one or two point error can make a big difference in the outcome.

Remember that the Tri-State Finals takes the Top 15 in each event the State Finals takes the Top 10.  If you qualify for one (or both) of the Finals and are not going to enter, please tell me ASAP so that I can notify the next contestant in line.  Everyone has to enter on Saturday before you leave Happy. 

Make sure you bring your Tri-State Director ballot with you.  It is due by Saturday.  I will have the ballot box upstairs just inside the door.

We start at 9am.  With the number of members who moved into the afternoon performance due to the ACT test and judging competition, the morning performance will run pretty fast.  Even though it has been posted that the break would move to after the team roping, it may be that we go ahead and have it before since the team roping cannot start before 12 noon.  We'll have to wait and see how things go on Saturday to know for sure.

And to end on a tasty note, don't forget about the hot breakfast that you can pick up at the concession stand.  With the early start time, the Happy Club is providing a bigger breakfast  than normal.

posted 4.6.10

Callbacks for the high school rodeo in Happy on Saturday are posted.  I will be auditing points the rest of the day and should have them all posted by quitting time tonight.

I overlooked mentioning a big part of our weekend in Vernon in my post yesterday.  The silent auction brought in over $800.  Thank you to everyone who brought items and to everyone who bid on items.  Thank you also to Rhonda Kirkpatrick and Brenda Wren for being in charge of it all.  And since Rhonda told me how easy it was, I am marking her name down to help again next year!

I have some moms that are already making plans for the week in Gonzales so be on the lookout for e-mails from them letting you know what is going on and what you may need to bring with you.

We have 34 junior high members who will be representing Region 1 in Gonzales.  Click on the Wrangler News page to see a list of the year end event champions and finals champions that were recognized on Saturday.

posted 4.5.10

CONGRATULATIONS to our Region 1 Junior High Champions and State Finals Qualifiers!!

What an exciting and fun weekend in Vernon.  There were several close races in the standings to keep an eye on and lots of action in the arena to keep the family and friends entertained and on the edge of their seats.

Check out the results page for the daily results.  I should have the final points standings up on Tuesday.

Thank you to the Vernon High School Rodeo Club for hosting our event.  The Wilbarger County Events Center is a wonderful place to end our regular season of rodeos.

I hope everyone enjoyed their Easter weekend.  When I left Vernon on Saturday afternoon, I drove to Clinton, OK for my family reunion.  It was a short visit since everyone else came in on Friday, but it was still fun seeing everyone and trying to figure out where they belong on the family tree.  Too many years between visits makes it hard for me to keep all of my second cousins straight.

Once I wrap up the junior high entries and get them sent off to the state office, I will get started on our last regular season high school rodeo coming up this weekend.

Where does the time go?