Tarp auction down about 20% from last year
Celebrated canvas auction is a barometer for Calgary’s economy, writes Valerie Fortney
He wore his checkerboard shoes, while his wife carried a checkerboard purse and their two young kids sported checkerboard jackets.
In the minutes before the start of the 2015 Rangeland Derby canvas auction on Thursday evening, Brienne and Jason Glass were their usual good- natured selves, all smiles as they strolled in to the annual event’s pre- reception bearing the four- generation chuckwagon family’s insignia.
“It’s nothing we haven’t seen before,” said Brienne, a former broadcast journalist who now spends half the year on the road with her cowboy husband.
“This is going to be interesting for us, and interesting for the city,” said Jason.
Families like the famed Glass clan are always a little apprehensive before the auction, which not only signals the start of pre-Stampede festivities in this city a good three months before parade day, but also lets the chuckwagon drivers know how much financial support they’ll have to get through another season of racing.
Still, this season brings a level of nail biting the drivers haven’t seen in years. With the price of oil threatening to drop below $ 40 a barrel and a recession looming, the past few weeks have been miserable. Many of the job cuts are from companies that normally shell out big bucks to advertise on the tarps of the chuckwagons.
Many predicted this year’s auction could make the $ 1.7 million take of 2009 — a drop of about $ 800,000 from 2008 and less than half of the 2004 record of $ 4 million — seem pretty attractive.
Even some of the more popular drivers, like Glass, didn’t know this time around who might bid on them, something they’re definitely not accustomed to: the top guys usually have that nailed down long before the auctioneer begins his calling, with several corporate sponsors courting them.
Kurt Bensmiller, winner of last year’s Calgary Stampede Rangeland Derby, was equally cautious before the main event got underway.
“I’m feeling OK, I’d rather be in my spot than the last guy,” said the charismatic driver. “But yeah, we’re all a little bit worried.”
If the good folks at the Calgary Stampede were having similar doubts, they were putting on a brave face, Stampede style. They welcomed guests to the event with a marching band playing the hit song Happy; they mingled with cowboys, sponsors and other supporters and served up a buffet of beefy entrees. In all, there were 36 Rangeland Derby drivers in the auction.
“We can’t mask the reality of what’s going on out there,” said Bob Thompson, who’s just finished his tenure as Stampede president. Thompson knows a thing or two about tough years, having overseen the 2013 postflood cleanup of the grounds. “But we have to stay positive and support the drivers. They depend on us.”
The bidding got off to a promising start with Bensmiller, winner of the 2014 Stampede Rangeland Derby, fetching $ 170,000 from Tsuu T’ina Nation. But it became crystal clear, pretty darn fast, the final tally wouldn’t come close to last year’s $ 3.54 million.
While a handful of riders enjoyed a jump in their numbers, the lion’s share had to be content with less money in their back pockets. Eight of the top 10 money earners from last year saw a cut in pay.
Still, it was a heck of a lot better than what Kirk Sutherland’s experienced in some of his more than three decades of attending the canvas auction.
“You gotta take the good with the bad,” said Sutherland, who remembers years when his takehome at the end of the auction was less than $ 30,000. “It’s tough for a company to buy a tarp at the same time they’re laying people off. We understand that and we have to roll with it.”
Sutherland was expecting much worse than the final total of $ 2.782 million, a good million higher than 2009, the last time the economic sky was falling.
“To be honest, that’s a lot higher than I thought it would be, so we’re pretty happy,” he said, adding with a mischievous grin: “Hey, I’m just happy to still be here.”
That was a sentiment shared by Jason Glass, whose ear- toear smile — a joyful expression shared by his wife Brienne — wasn’t just for show.
“You look around Calgary and people are having tough times,” said Glass, whose tarp was bought by Paul Vickers’ Cowboy posse for $ 90,000. “We’ve seen good times, we’ve seen bad times.”
Throughout all those times, he said, the show must go on.
“We have to stay positive. We’re going to the Calgary Stampede.”