We raise our hats – cowboy and otherwise – to the St. Albert Kinsmen for pulling off yet another successful Rainmaker Rodeo last weekend.
Unfortunately, the rodeo lived up to its name for the first two days. As the rain fell on Friday, the winds reached such high speeds that the midway had to be shut down. Saturday was also a wet affair, but the rodeo gods smiled upon the pancake breakfast and the parade, which saw nary a drop of rain. In fact, the St. Albert Gazette’s free pancake breakfast served more than 1,100 hardy rodeo-goers, who also took in the hour-long parade. The afternoon weather was less kind, but organizers and volunteers remained undaunted and proceeded to roll out the well-run event with great enthusiasm. And those spectators who did turn up were in fine rodeo spirit.
When the sun came out on Sunday the stands were filled, which went some distance toward salvaging the weekend for the local Kinsmen.
The Kinsmen Club of St. Albert has been organizing the rodeo for 49 years. It’s a huge undertaking for an organization of just 23 members. Many of these members take holiday time so they can devote hours to making the rodeo happen. They also call upon their spouses and children to pitch in over the weekend.
But the cast of helpers extends beyond that. The Kinsmen get lots of help from their alumni – K40 – and the Kinette Club of St. Albert. Rainmaker organizers assemble about 200 volunteers to mount the event. Several local clubs offer up volunteers in exchange for a cash donation. Even in down years, these groups receive compensation.
The rodeo brings hundreds of visitors to St. Albert and puts the city on the map. Most importantly, the event is a generator of funds, which the Kinsmen put into the local community. The club supports many worthy groups and events, including Stop Abuse in Families (SAIF), the St. Albert Youth Community Centre, the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the St. Albert Kinette food hamper campaign and the Canada Day fireworks display.
Revenues at the Rainmaker have a direct impact on these local groups. Every year the Kinsmen budget how much the club would like to donate to its various benefactors. These donations are impacted by the success of the rodeo weekend.
Even though attendance at the 2013 edition was lower than last year, rodeo chair Patrick Dower thinks the club will be able to donate its budgeted amounts to local groups. He said the rodeo is a labour of love for the club and had nothing but thanks for members for all their hard work.
“Everybody just pitched in and put on a great event,” he said.
That’s how it looked from here as well.
