A long time coming: Rodeo entertainment, royalty reflect on returning to the arena

MOSES LAKE — After a long time waiting, rodeo returned to Moses Lake last week with the 2021 Moses Lake Roundup, and none too soon for rodeo fans and participants.

For people like Moses Lake Roundup Queen Mykiah Hollenbeck and rodeo clown J.W. Winklepleck, getting a chance to “strut their stuff” was worth the wait. Hollenbeck and Winklepleck recently discussed stepping in front of the crowd after navigating a year that was extremely limited due to the pandemic.

Mykiah Hollenbeck said her first year as Roundup Queen didn’t really go anywhere as the pandemic put a halt to the majority of major events last summer.

As she wrapped up the final night of the Moses Lake Roundup Saturday night, Hollenbeck said it’s been great getting back into things.

“I’ve been waiting for two whole years for this rodeo and it didn’t disappoint,” Hollenbeck said. “The stands are full. Everyone’s excited to come out, it’s a great rodeo. We’ve had great contestants this weekend.”

She said the Moses Lake Roundup Association did a great job on shows last week.

Hollenbeck said she talked with some of the other rodeo queens over the weekend and almost everyone agreed this year has flown by fast after a slow first year. This year, she said it’s been a rodeo almost every weekend since the beginning of May.

“It’s been great to be out and see all these fans and just see these stands packed, it’s so amazing,” Hollenbeck said. “It’s great to see the sport of rodeo taking off and everyone is just so excited to get out and watch it.”

J.W. Winklepleck said he’s been doing professional rodeos since about 2007, competing as a bareback rider for a lot of years before becoming a rodeo clown.

“My dad said I’ve been a clown all my life,” Winklepleck said.

Winklepleck, of Strasburg, Colorado, said he’s been going to rodeos all over the country this summer. He said it’s been awesome this year after only working maybe five or six shows last summer.

The rodeos he’s worked this year have all been packed, which has been great to see. In his first trip to Moses Lake this summer, he said the crowds were rowdy and having a good time. Winklepleck said the Moses Lake Roundup committee has been great to work with.

As a rodeo clown, he said the funnest part of the job is watching the crowd having a good time, laughing and hollering.

“With what everyone’s been through, for them to be able to come out for two and a half hours and we can entertain them and they can forget about everything that’s going on, have a good time, relax, laugh, holler and shout, that’s the funnest part for me,” Winklepleck said.

More photos from the Moses Lake Roundup may be found here.