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Labour Day long weekend rodeo planned for St. Paul

LRA and Wildrose sanctioned rodeo will take place in St. Paul over the September long weekend
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A rodeo and parade will take place in St. Paul over the Labour Day long weekend.

ST. PAUL - It may not be the large rodeo affair that the community has become accustomed to, but a scaled back rodeo will take place in St. Paul over the Labour Day long weekend.

According to Doug Drolet, president of the St. Paul Ag Society, the rodeo events will begin on Thursday with a horse challenge at 7 p.m. On Friday, a Bull Riders of Canada Bull-a-Rama will kick up the action at 7 p.m.

The Lakeland Rodeo Association (LRA) and Wildrose Rodeo Association sanctioned rodeo will then fill up the weekend with performances at 2 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday. 

One big change for this year's rodeo will be the fact that all rodeo events will take place at the Ag Corral, which has a seating capacity of 360 people. Normally, the LRA finals are hosted in St. Paul at the Clancy Richard Arena. 

The CAP Arena will be used throughout the weekend also, and will house beer gardens along with a livestream of the rodeo action. A beer fest will also take place at the CAP Arena on Saturday, with tickets being available in the near future. 

So while there is still some familiarity with a rodeo taking place in St. Paul over the September long weekend, Drolet admits "it's a whole different year."

The LRA opted out of having any finals for 2021 due to the fact that there simply weren't enough rodeos happening this season. All points received by competitors this year will be carried forward to the 2022 season. 

News of a rodeo taking place in St. Paul has been well-received, says Drolet. "The buzz is there." He noted that the Ag Society has been pretty quiet over the past 16 months, but did help host a successful High School Rodeo this spring. He describes the Ag Society members as a "fairly active group," and says "it was time for us to step up to the plate and do something."

Of course, all Alberta Health Services guidelines will be followed, and organizers have been in contact with the necessary channels.

“I just think it is time for people to get together," says Drolet. September long weekend is a weekend that typically sees the community come together, and "it's time for our community to come together."

Parade

A Saturday morning parade will be part of the rodeo weekend, as per tradition.

Diane Ellis, executive director with the St. Paul & District Chamber of Commerce, is this year's parade marshal and has stepped forward to help organize the event.

"The parade will go at 10 a.m., Saturday, Sept. 4, and will use the same route as 2019." 

As for candy, Ellis affirms that candy cannot be thrown from floats, but people walking on foot can pass out candy. 

Businesses and individuals can register for the parade by contact the Chamber of Commerce at 780-645-5820, or they can pick up a registration form at the Community Futures office on main street.

This year's theme is "Celebrating Hometown Businesses and our Farming Community." A prize will be handed out to the best themed float. 

"We are hoping to make this the largest parade for many years to show how resilient we are after such a year of confinement," says Ellis. "We are looking for marching bands, floats, musical floats, horses, rodeo people, decorated kids' bikes and all things that go in a fun parade."

Ellis is also inviting students from the graduating classes of 2020 and 2021 to get together to build floats and decorate cars, and be part of the parade. She encourages them to dress up in their graduation attire for the whole community to see.

As for other events that generally run alongside the parade, Drolet said he wasn't sure what exactly would be going to go ahead. Often, there are pancake breakfasts and other meals that take place during rodeo week, but those pieces have yet to be determined.

The Town of St. Paul is expected to discuss the rodeo weekend at its July 26 council meeting. A previous motion at the July 12 meeting was carried, approving fireworks to take place over the Labour Day long weekend, coinciding with the rodeo events. 


Janice Huser

About the Author: Janice Huser

Janice Huser has been with the St. Paul Journal since 2006. She is a graduate of the SAIT print media journalism program, is originally from St. Paul and has a passion for photography.
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