Ranch Rodeo to be held Saturday

A full day of “old-fashioned family fun with kids’ activities and rodeo competition, just like it’s done every day in the ranch profession,” is set for this Saturday, Sept. 12 at the Northeast Kansas Heritage Complex south of Holton.

The sixth-annual Ranch Rodeo and Old-Fashioned Fun Day, sponsored by the Jackson County Fair Association, will feature a variety of ranch activities for participants of all ages, according to event organizer Deb Dillner of the Fair Association.

The event was the first to be held at the Heritage Complex back in 2010 and, now as it was then, is a fund-raiser for continued construction at the complex, Dillner said. Still, she noted, admission to the event is a free-will donation.

“Ranch competition, starting at noon, will feature four-member ranch teams exhibiting their skills in events similar to work done by cowboys for centuries,” Dillner said.

Ranch Rodeo events are scheduled to include team sorting, steer mugging, steer branding, and trailer loading.

“We have an all-girls team for the first time this year, so the cowboys better be at their best,” Dillner said.

For younger participants — particularly those eight years of age and younger and weighing 60 pounds or less — there will be a “mutton-busting” competition, she said. Sign-up for the event begins at 12:30 p.m. with the competition to begin at 2:30 p.m.

“A stock dog demonstration will be a feature of the sheep riding, too,” Dillner said.

Following the ranch rodeo awards presentation, at approximately 4:30 p.m., there will be an open barrel race, Dillner said. There will also be a silent auction, which she noted will include several homemade items, and successful bidders will be announced at 5 p.m.

Gates open at 10 a.m., along with concessions, and pony rides will be available until mid-afternoon, it was reported.