Bulls will be bucking this week as the 2018 Vancouver Rodeo starts July 4.
2018 Miss Vancouver Rodeo Shyanne Chandler.
Levi Roggenkamp sets off on a sheep during mutton bustin’ at the 2017 Vancouver Rodeo.
Past Miss Vancouver Rodeo Cheyanne Ward rides during the 2017 rodeo.
Riders parade around the arena grounds during the 2017 Vancouver Rodeo.
This year could be the last rodeo for the Clark County Saddle Club, at least for the meantime, as the close of a sale on the club’s current property next January could mean some time without a venue while a new location gets up and running.
The 48th annual Vancouver Rodeo kicks off Independence Day with a day performance while Thursday, Friday and Saturday will have events in the evening. All the competitions from past years will be making a return, though a new addition for 2018 takes a competitive spin on the dairy business, rodeo director Helen Cole explained.
This year wild cow milking is on the slate of events, which Cole explained involves a team working to rope, “mug” (control the animal by hand, usually the head) and milk a cow the fastest they can.
“The fans really like it,” Cole remarked, noting that other rodeos have a similar event.
Cole said it takes a full year to get ready for the annual event. Although there’s always some scrambling to get the show put on, seasoned committee members who have been involved for up to 20 years know their jobs well.
This year’s theme is “Mud, Blood, Guts and Glory” with Shyanne Chandler presiding as Miss Vancouver Rodeo 2018. This year’s event is also noteworthy as it is likely the last time a rodeo will be at the current location. The Clark County Saddle Club is in the process of moving and building a new arena a few miles north of the current location.
Clark County Saddle Club Chair Jackie Phillips explained that a deal on the current saddle club would have to close by the end of January 2019. If the sale falls through that could mean another rodeo where the club is now, but the club wants the transaction complete so it can get to work on building a new arena.
The club is looking at a 20-acre parcel between Battle Ground and Brush Prairie on the west side of Route 503. Phillips declined to give numbers on the cost of both the saddle club’s sale and purchase.
Even with a finalized purchase of the new location, county requirements on needed infrastructure improvements could exacerbate the wait for a new club arena. Phillips said that the current location likely had its infrastructure grandfathered in, having existed since the 1960s.
In the roughly fifty years of the current saddle club, growth in the county has encroached on once-rural land, putting the location in an unfavorable position for events that require the hauling of large horse trailers to the site.
“It’s becoming pretty hard to continue to exist there,” Phillips said. “It’s really a hazard there right now, getting in and out of there.”
When looking at alternative sites the closest location with the infrastructure in place for a rodeo would be the Clark County Fairgrounds, Phillips said, though that would require buy-in from the county for it ever to be an option.
With an indefinite hiatus of the rodeo looming, Cole said it has been emotional for her and those on the all-volunteer committee. She noted how on the days of the event there are about 125 volunteers helping the rodeo happen.
“The people that work this and volunteer their time do it because they love rodeo,” Cole said. “It’s sad to know that this is going to be our last one, and when we are able to have another one is really still undetermined.”
“I appreciate that we have been able to have the rodeo and it’s grown and everything, it’s just I hate to see it cease to exist, even for a little while,” Phillips said. She noted the community support that goes into a successful rodeo, hoping that it would continue in the hiatus period.
“With community involvement, maybe we can make it happen sooner,” Phillips remarked about a possible rodeo return.
