Chucks get it wrong
People sure have some funny opinions. Last week, for example, the visiting race announcer at the World Professional Chuckwagon Association show took exception to the News’s report of a Friday night crash that led to a horse being put down.
On Saturday, during a brief interlude, the show announcer made his opinion clear: the “media” simply doesn’t understand rodeo.
Now, he probably meant the “media” as a sort of quick, easy jab at Harvard-educated, eggheaded, probably vegetarian types — the sort of opinion that is oh-so popular these days.
He couldn’t possibly have meant the News, which has 60 born and bred Hatters on its payroll, or the 130-year-old local business that sponsored the local races for as long as memory serves.
A quick count of the eggheads in the newsroom finds a combined 47 years of experience following, writing about and photographing rodeo.
This column’s author has covered chuck racing both here and in Edmonton — where, incidentally, a wagon once crashed on a city street after a race — and has covered every sort of rodeo from Box Springs to the Canadian Finals.
We know rodeo, flat out, period, full stop.
And like those who appreciate rodeo, or Western Canadians in general, we don’t appreciate people making uninformed, blanket statements about what we do or do not like.
Stampede gets it right
Similarly, to avoid making an uninformed, blanket statement ourselves, we should draw a clear distinction here between the chucks association and the Medicine Hat Stampede.
The WPCA runs its own show, has its own announcers and has its own spokespeople.
For its part, the local Stampede provided its usual standup administration of the event and proved once again a good host for the event to all.
The Stampede, by the way, seems to have hit the right note with its planned commemorations of the Canada 150th anniversary, detailed in a press release on Friday.
A salute to the military will run throughout the annual fair, set for July 26 through 29.
Colonel Eppo van Weelderen, commander of the 41 Canadian Brigade Group, will be the honorary parade marshall. The 35piece Royal Canadian Artillery Band and 16-member Canadian Armed Forces Skyhawk parachute team will also be featured.
Four days of flag raisings at Pioneer Village will make for four special themes, including volunteers, the military, youth and community organizations.
More details to come.
Getting at it...
The Canada Day counter is down to single digits ahead of next Saturday’s 150th anniversary of confederation.
The Medicine Hat SPCA is more than halfway toward its goal of raising the final $15,000 of its renovation budget by July 1. The effort, launched last week, garnered 80 donations of $100, shortly after last weekend, and another 70 are needed to mark the goal with a group photo of the donors.
Quick thoughts
An interesting connection, MLA Drew Barnes spoke at this week’s grand opening of the $2.6-million expansion and renovation of the old Co-op hardware building into modern admin space on 10th Avenue. Barnes’ father worked at the outlet on 10th Avenue SW for 20 years selling hardware. South Country also opened its new Bow Island cardlock on Friday. Surprisingly, its the first-ever cardlock offering from Co-op in that area.
A look ahead
City administrators will discuss safety codes for secondary suites in the coming week.
100 years ago
The conscription of men for the war effort was being hotly debated in Ottawa and would likely be tied to a new income tax system — dubbed “conscription of capital” by its supporters, the
News reported on June 21, 1917. Inflation sat at 25 per cent for the year, the department of labour announced, driven largely by increased food costs.
A regional reporter harshly criticized the Manyberries boys after a 12-3 loss to a baseball squad from Pendant d’Oreville: “A small disgusted crowd of rooters (found it) ... a disgrace that such a team exists and wears a uniform.”
In Medicine Hat, Jas. Fleming was elected president of the local auto club.
In world affairs, civil war loomed in China and Finnish autonomy from Russia was debated.