Photo by Scott Buttigieg.
The Yass River Co Yass Rodeo was held at the Yass Showgrounds on 22 November from 8:00 am until 9:00 pm, filling that time with an unforgettable show.
It was a full program of heart-pounding rough stock and action-packed timed events. It was all the thrills of rodeo in a family-friendly atmosphere, complete with amusements, delicious food, and western-style vendors.
Alex Tyson of the Yass Rodeo said the committee was very happy with it.
“That was our biggest one yet. We had just over 3,400 people through the gate. We had, I think, 463 competitors in the final count,” she said.
“All round, I think everyone was pretty happy with it. Our vendors had a good trade. Amusements did well. It’s definitely the most all-round, successful one we’ve had so far.
“It was mental. We had a lot more hands on deck this year. Now that we’re financial, everything’s been from the ground up. We had no starting balance, but now we’ve been able to out-source a lot of it and get the people who are good at their job to do exactly that. We had a really comprehensive office team. We had the backyard appropriately staffed. It was much better this time around and a lot more sustainable for the committee.
“We are all feeling pretty accomplished in all honesty. The general sentiment is that we have really hit our stride and are just feeling quite good about the sustainability of it all.
“We are really thrilled with the partnership with 42 Casts. We are happy to keep giving back to them and supporting them because they’ve been instrumental to us.
“We had three memorial events this year. Two were already perpetual; we just reinvigorated them, and we had buckles attributed to the Tim Darmody Rope and Tie Memorial one. Then we had the Pat Condon Memorial Bull Ride, and their families were able to come and present that. Then we had the all-round George Hempenstall champion, and that actually went to one of the cowgirls, which I reckon is pretty cool. We also had a minute’s silence for Mark Livermore, who was one of the pivotal community people who passed last week, and his family was in attendance as well, so that was really nice.
“We also held the under-8s barrel race, which is just a bit like a local gesture, but there were quite a lot of kids who entered up in that and just got to be part of the action, where most rodeos they wouldn’t be able to.
“We will keep going with all that momentum. That formula works really well, and we’ve got a really good team across all the different areas. Everyone seems really happy; they know what they’re doing now, and they know how to work together.
“We’ve hit our stride now, but we will just keep improving those little things and always trying to head bigger and better, of course, but I feel pretty good about what we put forward this year.”
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