Meet Our Rodeo Pioneers

The Elizabeth Stampede Pioneer Award honors an individual or couple who truly embodies the spirit of the West and the heart of the Elizabeth Stampede Rodeo. These remarkable contributors have played a pivotal role in shaping the success of the rodeo as we know it today. Through their unwavering dedication and countless years of service, they have left an enduring legacy that reflects passion, commitment, and the Stampede spirit.

  • “I enjoy the Stampede Family, All of the volunteers really try their best to put on the best rodeo for all of the fans and contestants! Every year keeps improving with hospitality or with the ground and it makes it a better experience! Every year it gets better.”

  • "I thought working as a volunteer would be as much fun as competing. It’s hard work volunteering. A lot of walking and cowboys never walk if they can ride. But we always had a real good time." –Tom

  • "To put on a great Rodeo is what we’re trying to do and be the best small market rodeo. You set up a good program and get good people, and we have a lot of good people here. We do this because the rodeo is important to us and our community." –Norm

  • "There were thirteen of us and we started from scratch with the PRCA. We were committed. We had to perform." –Ed & Donna

  • “We worked on the rodeo because we wanted to serve a greater cause, and because it was very gratifying. It’s the motivation that all the volunteers have and we can’t forget that as the rodeo moves ahead.”

  • "I still work as a volunteer because I like being around the rodeo. It gets in your blood." - Guy

  • "It was a lot of hard work but I remember a few years after we went pro in 1988, I was back of the bucking chutes with Pete Burns and it was a glorious night and seats were full and I thought, ‘Look how far we have come.’" - Roger

  • “The focus of the rodeo was always on what was going on in the arena. Taking the focus beyond the contestants and the events was the key to the future of the Stampede. –Leanna

  • “It is so important to us that we remember that the rodeo was put together by all kinds of wonderful people. This is the heart of it.”

  • "Over the years Chamber members worked many hours and used their own tools and equipment to make improvements. We often wondered why we did this, pay dues to work, but it was fun, and when you saw fans enjoying the rodeo it was worth it." – June