Raymond Stampede going back to its roots

While the Raymond Stampede, all full of history and tradition, will have a few new twists like a rank bucking bull from Duane Kesler Championship Rodeo stock.

Besides getting back in action after being interrupted by the pandemic, the July 1-12 Raymond Stampede will be going back to its roots at the Stampede grounds.

The Stampede will be going back to being a pro rodeo. The Stampede will be a Canadian Professional Rodeo Association-sanctioned event and will be part of the Maple Leaf Circuit, Kenton Randle Series, and Winston Bruce Series. Raymond is one of three “new” rodeos for 2022.

As being an integral part of the 2022 Heritage Days celebrations, there is a lot of excitement in both the region and rodeo community.

Robert Heggie, chairperson for the Raymond Stampede Committee, is looking forward to the event. He says the rodeo was a pro one for over seventy years until it took a hiatus and went amateur for a few decades. Heggie says while the amateur circuit was good to Raymond, they believed it was time for a change. The Raymond Stampede became an amateur event in in the late seventies.

“Maybe pro rodeo was maybe a sliding a little bit at that time. With the amateur, a lot of other cowboys were sticking around closer to home at that time and there was a lot of amateur cowboys around in 1979 and in the 80s and early 90s and that has continued on too. The amateur rodeos have been really good to us,” explains Heggie. “But, we felt like we needed to do something a little bit bigger and a little bit better. So we applied for this about 15 years ago, and were turned down at that time, because there’s quite a few rodeos on the July 1 weekend and since then, a couple of them have fallen by the wayside. So, we felt the timing was right to maybe try it again, try to do a little bigger and a little better show. We were approved by the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association. So then we just started to move forward with that.”

Years ago Heggie took over the chairmanship duties from his father Alan who was also a long time member of the Raymond Stampede Committee. Heggie says he came part of the board in the 1970s and when Alan passed away in 2015, he took over the rodeo reins in 2016.

Raymond’s rodeo is steeped in tradition as been the first Stampede in Canada when the Stampede first started in 1902. Raymond Knight financed the first one and is referred to as the “Father of Canadian Stampedes” and the “Father if Canadian Calf Roping.” It went professional a year later and Heggie said it stayed that way until late 1970s.

Heggie says there was some question about how it would go from a perception point of view going from amateur to progressional. He said the committee carefully weighed the positives and negatives for switching. Because they are coming into a time frame where pandemic restrictions were getting lifted

“We were the first first rodeo in Canada and were the first professional rodeo in Canada in 1903. It was declared a professional rodeo in 1903. Tradition is big out here. We just wanted to try it again and see if it works. We’re hoping we… have two good days,” stated Heggie. “We feel we’re gonna draw more people from the surrounding areas with going this way…this coincides with everybody itching to get out of their homes and kind of break free of the pandemic stuff and come out so this is a good time to get time to do it, too…”

This year’s Stampede will feature stock from Duane Kesler Championship Rodeo as both the main stock contact and the steer riding contractor. Timed event stock contract will be courtesy Shaw Timed Event. According to the CPRA website, the purse for major events is $2,500 and $1,250 each for header and healer in team roping.

Heggie points out being part of this year’s pro circuit means that the top competitors will be making Raymond a priority spot as they compete for the opportunity to not only go to the CPRA finals but to qualify for points to go to the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas.

The change from amateur to professional has gone over well according to Heggie. Residents seem happy and so does those who provide sponsorship. Heggie says the major of sponsors are local.

“Our sponsors have really come to the table for us and really surprised us to be honest with you. We’ve got such an overwhelming support right here in town,” says Heggie. “I’m just thinking off the top of my head. I think we only got probably three or four sponsors outside of the town of Raymond right now.”

The rodeo has always been a major part of the kick off to summer for the community as it was a major part of the community’s Heritage Days.