In the Corral
Apr-May 2004
The Willow Valley Trophy Club
55 years of Hunting, Conservation and Crowd Control
The Willow Valley Trophy Club’s annual show has been going strong since 1949. It has become a cultural landmark in southern Alberta and is noted for its conservation commitment.
Held each January, the show attracts hunters, fishermen and photographers from all over the province and with paid attendance of over 1,200 this year, it is one of the biggest in North America. Past trophies from the show have included the world’s record bighorn sheep and more than one hundred entries in the Boone & Crocket records.
The show is a community event, and many volunteers have made the club’s record book by serving for decades on the committees.
30/30 Crowd Control
 With the community hall packed with spectators and exhibitors each year, keeping order can sometimes be a problem. According to the club’s 50th Anniversary Book Of Records, 1960 was a particularly noisy year. To settle down the crowd, president John Sekella asked Terry Webber for some help. Terry fired his 30/30 and Russel Rowledge, standing at the back dropped ‘like a sack of potatoes,’ ketchup dripping from his chest. Two friends rushed in with a stretcher and packed him out. The hall was quiet for the rest of the show.
For more information on the club’s activities, contact Wayne Lowry, chairman, (403) 627-2885.
High River Ranch Rodeo
 Like many other Ranch Rodeos across the country, the High River Ranch Rodeo (1993) was started to preserve the heritage and skills of the working ranch cowboy. The working cowboy has a strong history in the foothills area and the High River Ranch Rodeo honours this history.
Radically transformed by the onslaught of technology, other callings associated with settling the west – lumberjacking and railroading, for example – have faded in the nation’s consciousness. Cowboying however, has endured little change. As a cultural agent, the cowboy has enriched our civilization and the contribution to our folkways is truly remarkable. In large measure, this explains the enduring appeal of ranch rodeos.
High River Ranch Rodeo features six events; team sorting, team branding, wild horse race, wild cow milking, bronc riding and team doctoring.
This year, High River Ranch Rodeo will be held at the Nanton Agricultural Grounds (just 16 km. south of High River), July 23 & 24th, 2004. Friday starts with an Open Ranch Roping Competition followed by the Working Ranch Horse competition in the afternoon. The Ranch Rodeo will kick off on Saturday. Throughout the day you will be able to watch a horseshoeing competition and peruse the Western Trade Show. At the day’s end, enjoy supper (provided on-site) and bring an instrument to join in, or just sit back and listen to some great country tunes. Visit their website for updated information: www.highriverranchrodeo.ca
Russell & Remington At Glenbow Museum in Calgary
 Travel back to the nostalgic days of the West with Capturing Western Legends: Russell and Remington’s Canadian Frontier. From June 19 to October 11, 2004, retrace the legendary history through the eyes of two great western American artists, Charles M. Russell and Frederic Remington. For the first time ever in a major museum, this exhibition will feature works that reflect the Canadian West as Russell and Remington imagined in the late 1880s including works that have not been exhibited for over 75 years. Explore the era when Blackfoot people roamed the landscape, the fur trade was a dominant industry, and when ranching straddled the borders between Alberta and Montana, creating the north-west frontier.
See how western movies grew directly out of the romanticized paintings of these artists, and discover the fascinating connections Charles Russell had with the Calgary Stampede from its earliest days. Learn the local legends of how these events have shaped the West as we know it today. Call (403) 268-4100 for information on hours, prices, and programming.
Dick Threlkeld 1923 -2004
By Mike Puhallo
 We were in Elko when we got the word that Dick Threlkeld had passed over the divide, January 30.
Dick’s big smile and banjo-picking style won him a lot of friends and fans at cowboy gatherings throughout the West.
Dick grew up on the T-Bar Ranch in Deadman’s Creek, learning to shoe and train horses at an early age and began playing music at local dances while still in his teens. While he could play the guitar and mandolin, the banjo was his favorite.
He entered quite a few rodeos, cowboyed at several of the larger ranches in the Thompson Valley, and finished his working days as Herdsman at Tranquille Farm. Upon retirement, he and wife Eunice built a home at 108 Mile. The couple often travelled Western Canada, performing at cowboy gatherings and concerts. Dick’s idea of retirement would leave most younger folks choking in his dust. He took up Team Penning, winning several trophies and buckles. Inducted into the BC Cowboy Hall of Fame in 2002, Dick endured back surgery, a major stroke and a triple bypass, but he kept on bouncing back and kept on grinning. Whenever cowboys get together to share their rhymes and tunes, I’ll remember that big grin and hear that banjo somewhere in the background!
Canadian Cowboy Poets attend National Gathering
 The National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, NV, celebrated their twentieth anniversary this year. When this event was first organized in 1985 no one was sure how many poets or fans would bother to show up The organizers had no idea what kind of forces they were putting in motion. In the last twenty years the renaissance of Western Folklife Culture that began in Elko has spread across the World, and come back again. There are now several hundred cowboy gatherings in Canada and the US; Australia has seen a huge rebirth in “Bush Poetry,” and country music radio stations in Europe are playing Cowboy Poetry!
Not only does Elko showcase Cowboy Poets and Western Entertainers, but it provides an international forum for stockmen from all over the world to explore common challenges and other cultures. This year there was a group of Mongolian horsemen sharing elements of their ancient equestrian culture.
The gathering at Elko attracts many, with total attendance estimated at more than 8,000, making it a city-wide festival, complete with trade shows and concerts. The National Cowboy Poetry Gathering held the last week of January, hosts an outstanding variety of entertainment, educational conferences, cowboy craftsmanship, and workshops.
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