Back in the saddle: Grand Coulee holds its biggest rodeo yet
Blake Knowles of Heppner, Oregon riding a bronc at the 64th Colorama Rodeo in Grand Coulee Saturday.
Sam Fletcher/Columbia Basin Herald
Whistle-Nut the clown straddles the fence at the 64th Colorama Rodeo in Grand Coulee Saturday.
Riley Hanson of Idaho ropes a calf at the 64th Colorama Rodeo in Grand Coulee Saturday.
Jack Bentz of Oregon scored 59 points bronc riding at the 64th Colorama Rodeo in Grand Coulee Saturday.
Whistle-Nut the clown dances "YMCA" with the crowd at the 64th Colorama Rodeo in Grand Coulee Saturday.
Whistle-Nut the clown dances "YMCA" with the crowd at the 64th Colorama Rodeo in Grand Coulee Saturday.
Fans edge their seat as Duddy Hall of Montana takes to a bronc at the 64th Colorama Rodeo in Grand Coulee Saturday.
Fans cheer at the 64th Colorama Rodeo in Grand Coulee Saturday.
After a full year with no events whatsoever, the Colorama PRCA (Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association) Grand Coulee Rodeo returned Friday and Saturday for its 64th year and its biggest show yet, with several hundred spectators.
As the event recently joined the PRCA, Aces Wild Pro Rodeo company added Colorama to its list of eight rodeos so it, too, could be recognized by the PRCA.
This meant, for the first time, 2011 world champion bull rider Shane Proctor and his wife, premiere trick rider Haley Proctor, made an appearance Friday night.
They weren’t the only celebrities on the rodeo floor, either. World-renowned clown Whistle-Nut and his trained bull, Ole, entertained the masses.
Otherwise known as bull rider, barrel man, comedian, stuntman and auctioneer, Jason Dent, or Whistle-Nut, engaged the crowd between events, playing games, telling jokes and throwing sugar cubes.
A year without maintenance, the rodeo grounds took quite a bit of extra preparation, said rodeo president George Kohout. The extra work was well worth it, though, for the biggest rodeo Grand Coulee has ever seen.
“Our motel rooms are filling up,” he said. “We got 219 contestants all together. (It’s) a hell of a rodeo.”
The contestants came from all over. While the majority reigned from the Pacific Northwest, some came from as far as Texas, Ontario and even Hawaii.
Oregon prospered the most, sending winners for bareback riding, steer wrestling, team roping, ladies breakaway roping and ladies barrel racing.
Taking the cake for bull riding, however, as well as more than $2,000, was Weston Grant from Toppenish.
The weekend ended a year-long silence along the river bed, filling the canyon walls with cheers, music and buzzers.
According to Kohout, it was one for the books.
“It’s a first for a lot of us,” he said. “First time we’ve had a big name clown, first time we’ve had a big name trick rider. We’ve had world champions here before, but Shane Proctor, this is his hometown. So that makes it extra special.”
Sam Fletcher can be reached via email at sfletcher@columbiabasinherald.com.
