Messages from August 2011
posted 8.26.11
I received a call this morning from an old friend that works as a hospice volunteer in Amarillo. She has a patient that loves horses. He owns several is still able to care for them in a limited capacity. My friend is looking for someone with a shared love of horses that could come and visit with him. Having someone to talk with about horses would really brighten his day. You could even bring photos of your horses to share with him. I don't know all of the details, but she mentioned that visitors under age 18 would need to have a parent with them. If you are coming to Amarillo and are willing to spend an hour of your day making someone very happy, give me a call and I will get you the number for my friend.
You'll need your dancing shoes (or boots) when you come to Pampa on September 17th. The Pampa Rodeo Club is hosting a dance on Saturday night at the covered pavillion east of the arena. A DJ will provide music and they will have a concession stand for drinks and snacks. Admission is $5 and if you are 10 years old or younger, you get in free. More details may be announced the week of the rodeo, but go ahead and make plans to attend.
Amarillo Club members - and potential members: You will have a meeting on Tuesday September 6th at the Mr. Gatti's in Amarillo. I'm sure Susan will be notifying you when it gets closer, but you can mark your calendars now and be ahead of the game. Start time is 6:30pm.
posted 8.25.11
I have been working on the website this week. It can be a frustrating process sometimes. I have no training in this field. I just learn as I go which means I spend a lot of time fixing errors that show up when I publish something new. Frustrating, but still fun to work on.
There are some rodeo schools this weekend in Goodwell: calf roping, bull riding and cowboy protection. If you aren't signed up yet and would like to go, it would definitely be worth a phone call to see if there are still openings available. Here is a flyer with the entire schedule of this year's rodeo schools being held at OPSU. This can also be found on each of the news pages towards the bottom of the middle column.
The entries for the Dumas rodeos have not opened yet so I should not be getting entries with your memberships this week. Once I have a completed membership application, I will send you the information you need to enter next week. If you could see how much paperwork I have in my office right now, you would not risk your rodeo entries getting lost in the shuffle by sending them in early. Please let me get the memberships processed and put away first and then I will be as ready to face the incoming rodeo entries.
posted 8.22.11
I found a book this summer full of useless facts. When flipping through it the other day, I found a fact that kind of relates to our record-setting summer temperatures. Warning: this is probably something you don't care to know but I am going to share anyway.
"The skin can release as much as three gallons of sweat a day in hot weather."
I think I get pretty close to that amount and I am not laboring outside in the direct heat. I am so ready to be complaining about how cold it is. How long until winter gets here?
I will start mailing entry forms tomorrow for everyone who has returned their membership application to me. Entries for Dumas open next Monday. If you haven't mailed your application yet, make sure you get it to me early enough that I can send your entry forms in time for you to get those back to me by the September 3rd entry deadline.
I don't think I've mentioned this yet, but every high school and junior high member will be receiving a copy of the Cowboy Times magazine as part of their membership. If you are already on the mailing list through another association, you will be able to extend your current subscription or you can also have your extra copies sent directly to grandparents who like to keep up with your rodeo activities. My deadline for sending addresses to the magazine is Tuesday, so some of you will get your first issue in September and the rest will start in October. The Board is very excited about the exposure our associations will be recieving each month. I hope you like it.
I am back on track for getting the news pages up-to-date. So far, the junior high page is current. I should have the Tri-State and high school pages done soon. If there is ever anything you can't find on here, please let me know. My goal is to make this as user-friendly as possible. Occassionally there may be links that don't go anywhere, but sometimes that is on purpose. Right now, I prefer to mail membership applications instead of letting you download them. This way I know you are getting all of the information. Once the "membership rush" is behind us, I will update those links.
I have started a list of members looking for team roping and ribbon roping partners. If I don't know you need a partner, I can't help you. I will try to help everyone get paired up before we get to Dumas.
The membership deadline for the first rodeos in this Saturday. If you know someone who would like to join, have them give me a call. It is not too late yet.
posted 8.20.11
I can't come up with the perfect word to describe the Custer Family so I am going to have to settle for amazing. It is a true testament to their faith to be able to accept so gracefully that God's plan for Aaron limited our time with him to just 18 years.
I have no idea how many attended Aaron's funeral but the church was overflowing with love and support for his family and all of us grieving his loss. The memories that were shared by friends and family allowed smiles to replace some of the tears. While the tears are far from over, the healing has begun. May God bless the Custer Family and hold them tight in his loving arms. Aaron, may you rest in peace and feel the love from all of us who were blessed to have known you.
posted 8.17.11
Creative writing was not a strong subject for me in school. I am much better at what I call "business" writing - provide the information in a concise, easy to read format. So I am struggling with what to post today. Not that I need to be creative, but I don't want to come across as cold and distant, either. I am very good at keeping my mouth shut when I don't know what to say and being supportive by listening or just being present. That is kind of hard to do on a web post. Please know that you can call if you want to talk or share a few tears.
For those of you who can attend, Aaron's services will be on Friday at 10am at Trinity Fellowship in Sayre. The address is 1405 North 4th Street. Whinery-Savage Funeral Services is handling the arrangements. Their number is 580-225-2112.
Aaron's family has requested that memorials be made in lieu of flowers to the Merritt Athletic Association (Bank of Western Oklahoma) or Southwestern Oklahoma State University Rodeo Team (MidFirst Bank.)
Bank of Western Oklahoma
201 E Broadway
Elk City, OK 73644
MidFirst Bank
305 N Washington
Weatherford, OK 79096
I don't know what we will do as an association yet, but if any members want to send donations to the Tri-State Office, they are welcome to send it in the envelope with their membership applications and I will make sure it makes it to the desired memorial fund.
Please continue to pray for the Custer, Drury and Frey families. And please find the support you need to help you with the grieving process.
posted 8.16.11
Forgive my bluntness with this post, but I am still in shock from the phone calls I've received this morning. Aaron Custer was killed overnight in a car accident in Oklahoma. I'm sorry I can't give you more information right now. Please pray for Cody, Stacey, Lacey and Brett and the families of the other boys involved. I will forward any information I receive.
posted 8.15.11
I am starting an overhaul for the website and decided the best way to do it is one page per day. I updated the Contacts page last week so at least one page is current. Hopefully by the end of this week it will be more user-friendly.
Each year I get the question, "When is my membership due?" I don't give a due date on the form letter because it has generic information in it allowing it to be used throughout the year. On the schedule page, there is a chart giving membership deadlines and when rodeo entries open and close. Your membership application must be recieved at least two weeks prior to the first rodeo you are wanting to enter. For Dumas, that is August 27th. Once I have your completed application, I will send you entry information for your first rodeo. The membership deadline is before the rodeo entries open. This should prevent you from sending in your membership application at the same time as your rodeo entries. As long as you don't wait until the deadline to get your application to me, I should have plenty of time to mail your entry forms to you and for you to mail them back to me with your fees.
FYI: Postmarks do not count. Any deadline we have is a RECEIVED BY deadline. That means in my hands.
If there are any potential members in the Dumas area, the Dumas Rodeo Club will be having a meeting at 7pm on Tuesday (tomorrow August 16th) at the 4-H Annex Building. The address is 310 East 1st. You do not have to compete in rodeo to be a member of a Tri-State Rodeo Club. It takes a lot of man power to put on a rodeo. Non-rodeo members are always welcome. Who knows? They may become future rodeo members.
While it is a requirement for high school members to join a Tri-State Rodeo Club, it is not a requirement for junior high members. However, I encourage junior high members to get involved with a rodeo club. Not only will it provide more help when it comes time to host their high school rodeo, but a club will be more likely to host a junior high rodeo, too, if they have junior high members. Just a thought.
posted 8.2.11
The wait is over! Check out the schedule page for the 2011-2012 rodeo & cutting schedule. There may still be a few tweaks in the next week or so, but you will have plenty of notice of any changes to what is posted now. Several changes were made to how our rodeos will be run this year. The biggest change is that Junior High rodeos will be single rodeos on Saturday with a 12 noon start time. High School rodeos will be on Sunday with a 9am start time. When we have double rodeos (same arena both days,) you must compete both days to be eligible for average points.
I am on my way to Abilene for my last trip of the summer. I will be updating the website, if possible, with details from the Board meeting held last night. All membership packets will be mailed from Abilene. Please give me a few days to get all of the copies made and envelopes stuffed.
If you were a member last year, you will automatically receive a packet. Eighth graders that moved up to high school will receive high school information. If you have a younger brother or sister that will be in the sixth grade this year and wants to compete, please make sure I have their name. I have a hard enough time keeping up with all you that I don't even try to track the ages of the younger ones. :)
Good luck to those of you competing at the JRCA Finals this weekend.