For these fans, it wasn’t their first rodeo in the rain.
“It’s just a light sprinkle,” Rochelle Roswell said. “Come on. As you need to know, it’s called, ‘Cowboy up.’”
Fans packed Thunderbird Arena for the Kitsap Fair and Stampede Rodeo over the weekend. Most tried to pack into the covered stands, but others resorted to ponchos and umbrellas. Others just flat-out embraced the cool rains on the opposite side of the bleachers.
Cowboys and cowgirls from all over the country competed for prize money in the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association event.
“We’re at a point now where we’re getting recognized as a very, very good rodeo,” fair board president Ken Bagwell said. “Cowboys love to come here, and we’re trying to make this a place that is attractive to the professionals and our community.”
One look around the arena shows its popularity, Bagwell said. The numerous sponsorship signs, the long list of volunteers putting on the show, the nationally ranked talent in the arena and a supportive community that can enjoy a rodeo with or without ever having ridden a horse.
“Not all of them are necessarily rodeo people, but they’re rodeo fans, and that’s a big deal,” Bagwell said.
The slogan “more than an eight-second ride” has been plastered on just about every Kitsap Fair and Stampede poster this year, and those words came to life in the form of shared beers, new leather hats and a few hours every day taken to celebrate the pride contestants and fans shared for their country and faith.
“Rodeo community always seems to be friendly, welcoming, and you get people from all walks of life. Doesn’t matter if you make six digits or not. You’re all welcome to the rodeo,” Roswell said.
Across the street, the 101st annual county fair drew thousands of people to the central parts of Kitsap to see all they could see, eat all they could eat and maybe learn a few things about local agriculture and talents as well. Barns were full of prized animals from goats to horses to chickens, while other facilities held ribbon-winning larger-than-life vegetables and spinning wheels under their roofs.
Kids were thoroughly entertained, popping gigantic bubbles and riding some carnival classics that prompted screams of thrill. Families sat and watched at the main stage as entertainers, some local and some not, sang songs and laughed their laughs.
The sun poked its head out on Sunday, a warming end to another fair weekend in Kitsap.
Rodeo winners
Bareback riding: Tanner Aus, 88 points, $6,275.
Saddle bronc-riding: Brody Cress, 87 points, $6,063.
Barrel racing: Kassie Mowry, 16.84 seconds, $6,039.
Bull riding: Lane Vaughan, 86 points, $5,978.
Team roping: Luke Brown-Travis Graves, 4 seconds, $5,014 each.
Tie-down roping: (tie) Paden Bray and Haven Meged, 8.2 seconds, $4,738 each.
Steer wrestling: Landris White, 3.3 seconds, $4,610.
All-around: Lucinei Nunes Nogueira, $2,100, tie-down roping and team roping.
Deanna Riley entertains a group of kids with her bubble making.
The rodeo clown makes his way into the stands, to the delight of some in the audience.
Fair season means 4-H in Kitsap County, and these young ladies have their chickens ready for evaluation.
Afton Prater brings her passion for music to the main stage at the Kitsap Fair and Stampede.
Walker Miller, 2, cruises along on one of the carnival rides
Riders pull up alongside Clay Jorgeson to help him dismount after his bareback ride at the rodeo.
Aaron Baker of the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office demonstrates the abilities of his K-9 at the Kitsap Fair and Stampede.
