Cowboy Breakfast draws big crowd
Cheryl Schweizer/Columbia Basin Herald Madison Vang rounds the turn during the barrel racing at the Cowboy Breakfast.
Cheryl Schweizer/Columbia Basin Herald Colt Staples gives it his all in the roping contest at the Cowboy Breakfast Friday.
Cheryl Schweizer/Columbia Basin Herald Katherine Roberson was crowned queen of the Pee Wee Rodeo at the annual Cowboy Breakfast Friday.
MOSES LAKE — Katherine Roberson reigned as queen of the Pee Wee Rodeo and attendance apparently came close to 2016 levels at the annual Cowboy Breakfast Friday.
The breakfast is the traditional kickoff for the Grant County Fair and Moses Lake Roundup. The fair opens Tuesday; the first rodeo performance is Thursday.
The Cowboy Breakfast is sponsored by the Moses Lake Kiwanis chapter, and event organizer Ted DeWitt estimated the crowd was close to last year’s, about 450 people. “A lot of people come out to support this,” DeWitt said.
The Pee Wee Rodeo games for kids have become part of the tradition; kids ride stick horse bucking broncos, run stick horse barrel races, rope a steer head. And of course every rodeo has to have a queen, which means a queen contest.
(Kids have to be age 9 or younger to compete, so some of the kids who were a little older pulled out a deck of cards and started playing card games.)
Queen contestants ride their stick horses around the arena (the stage at Sinkiuse Square), waving to the crowd. Katherine won the crown, the flowers and the sash, presented by Moses Lake Roundup queen Emma Gunderson. Tessa Carlyle was the runner-up.
Wearing his Spiderman cowboy boots, 5-year-old Clay Staples won the steer roping. Clay’s technique might have looked a little unorthodox, and it was apparently a little tricky to manage his rope with that big loop. But he got his rope around both horns twice during the rope-off. John Rainey took home second place. Deejay Dale Roth provided appropriate music for the rodeo (and throughout the morning).
Demajae Gardner was the best stick horse bronc rider in the competition; Jackson Smith finished second. Being a stick horse rodeo, both boys and girls ran the barrels and competed in the riding and roping. Mark Cramer had the top time among the barrel racers.
The Kiwanis have sponsored the cowboy breakfast for almost three decades. Kiwanians were out in force, flipping pancakes and scrambling eggs. They even brought along some helpers, including Anthony Matzen, who will be in seventh grade this fall. His partner at the grill said Anthony was a pretty good flapjack cook.
All proceeds from the breakfast go to Kiwanis projects, DeWitt said. Michael’s on the Lake provides the pancake batter, eggs and sausage. Other sponsors include the Moses Lake Roundup Association and the Moses Lake Business Association.
Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at education@columbiabasinherald.com.