The successful return of the Toppenish Fourth of July rodeo has the Rodeo board already planning for next year’s event, according to board president Barb Moses.
Moses said as part of the planning process, the board will distribute a survey to solicit community comments and suggestions for future rodeos.
She said distribution of the surveys could begin as early as this week.
“It’s the community’s event,” Moses said. She and the board want community members to contribute their ideas to improve the event.
One improvement the board is already agreed on is to incorporate the Pow Wow in future rodeos.
“It is our intention to bring the Pow Wow back,” Moses said. “We would like to have (Pow Wow officials) talk to us.”
The board would also like input regarding the inclusion of a carnival on the rodeo grounds during the rodeo.
She said the board is also considering changing the date of the event, and that will be one of the questions on the survey.
Community response to this year’s rodeo was positive.
The events went off “without a hitch,” she said.
The board will be focusing on building up attendance to higher levels.
The switch from the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association sanction to Pro West worked out well, and resulted in the addition of an event to the competition.
“We had top competitors,” Moses said. “There’s no difference between PRCA and Pro West.”
She also attributed the success of the rodeo’s return to the many volunteers and the support of sponsors.
“If it wasn’t for the volunteers and the sponsors, it wouldn’t have been so successful,” she said.
According to Moses, decisions about changes to next year’s rodeo will need to be made by sometime in August, so that the necessary arrangements can be made.
Rodeo board meetings are on the second Wednesday of every month. There are two openings on the board that Moses would like to fill.
A new e-mail address has been established for the rodeo, at Topprodeo@gmail.com.
Those interested in serving on the board or in other volunteer positions can communicate by e-mail or by contacting Moses at (509) 949-5957.
Moses encourages those interested in attending the regularly scheduled monthly board meetings to contact her to be put on the meeting agenda.