Rodeo boosters planning more events
“a great opportunity to get behind the stampede and our Western heritage in the Yuba Sutter-area, as much as with community involvement.”
This year’s Marysville Stampede is Sept. 16 and 17 at Beckwourth Riverfront Park, moved from its usual Memorial Day weekend because of the earlier high river levels at the park in Marysville.
Due to public response received, the change in date might be permanent, said Cotton Rosser.
The annual Sodbusters dinner and dance at the Cotton Rosser Arena area at Beckwourth, the Marysville Rotary Club’s major fundraiser, was already kicking off the rodeo weekend before the Friends joined in.
Sodbusters continues this year on Sept. 15. Tickets sell out early.
Money raised by the Rotary Club goes back to the community. Through last year’s event, the club purchased a passenger van for Hands of Hope, resources for homeless families.
Since the Friends began, the activities around the annual rodeo have increased.
Other communities already had local groups that did the groundwork for the well-known Flying U Rodeo before it arrived in town. The Marysville-based professional rodeo presents about 60 events a year through- out the western states.
The local activities have changed the stampede for the better, said Cotton Rosser. Previously, the Marysville event was organized by Rosser and Flying U Rodeo alone.
Events in the community leading up to the Stampede, several coordinated by the Friends, also include, on Sept. 13, the YubaSutter Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours and Rodeo Kick-off Party; a cattle drive Sept. 14 starting at Geweke Ford in Yuba City, over the Fifth Street bridge into Marysville and to the park; and on Sept. 15 a kids rodeo, with more than 2,000 students bused from schools in Yuba and Sutter counties to see rodeo riders in action.
New this year is “Cowgirl Soiree” on Sept. 8, a luncheon to celebrate women and honor a woman in agriculture.
“For such a small committee, we get a lot done,” Williams said. The Friends has a core group of about eight volunteers.
The stampede was already an awesome product, Delerio said. “We’ve just done a good job letting the community know about (it). We exposed it to more people.”