EFFIE- Like most summer activities this year, higher prices for everything from gas to food have affected the rodeo circuit, but the chance to compete in the 67th Annual North Star Stampede in Effie the weekend of July 29-31 is evidently a priceless experience for a whole lot of cowboys.
“We’ve got a full slate,” said Cimarron Pitzen, whose family has run the popular open rodeo there in the same place for over six decades. “I was nervous with the way the economy is. There’ve been rodeos short on cowboys, because when you have all your money going into your gas tank and the dinner table, the first thing you’ve got to cut out is your entertainment. But we ended up with a pile of entries and some very good cowboys coming. One of the cowboys coming on Sunday in Andy Gingerich. He’s like number two on the Badlands Circuit.”
All the familiar fan favorites like saddle and bareback bronc riding, bull riding, steer wrestling, calf roping, and barrel racing will be on display at the country’s longest-running family-operated rodeo held continuously in the same arena. But this year’s rodeo features a new event, ranch bronc riding, which Pitzen believes fans will find an exciting addition.
“This event goes back to the early days of rodeo where there really were no rules,” he said. “You’re riding with a ranch bronc saddle with a horn on it. They are wild broncs, and you just get on and hang on any way you can. It’s going to be a great added event for the spectators.”
Keeping the cowboys safe and entertaining the crowd between competitors this year will be pro rodeo clown Allan Dessel.
Holding the line
The North Star Rodeo has always been a family-oriented affair, and this year Pitzen is taking an extra step to keep it that way. Getting into the 67th edition of the rodeo won’t cost folks any more than getting into the 66th edition did.
“We didn’t raise our prices due to the economy this year because we want people to be able to afford to come here and bring their families, bring their children and enjoy the weekend,” Pitzen said.
Single session tickets for performances at 5 p.m. Friday, July 29 and 2 p.m. on Saturday, July 30 and Sunday, July 31 are $18 for adults and $10 for children ages 6-13, and three-day passes are available at discounted prices of $45 for adults and $20 for children.
Folks with three-day passes also have the option of grabbing a spot in the campground, provided each person occupying a campsite has one.
“Right now they’re shaping up pretty good,” Pitzen said. “I got all the hay put up and it’s not real wet here. Hopefully it dries up here just a little more for rodeo time, and if it stays like it is, we won’t have any problems.”
Those who can’t make the main event on the weekend can still enjoy timed events like roping and barrel racing by attending slack day on Thursday, July 28.
“We get so many timed event contestants that it’s impossible to run them all during the main performance,” Pitzen said. “So we’ll run a lot of slack at noon on Thursday, probably 50-60 barrel racers and ropers. There have been winning times for the entire rodeo coming in Thursday during the slack. It’s one way of helping them out by getting them out of here, so they can get to another rodeo.”
Preparations for the rodeo have been underway for a couple of weeks, and while some of the faces may change from year to year, Pitzen never fails to come up with enough family, friends, paid help and volunteers to pull off an event just as successful as all those that have come before.
“It’s that way every year,” he said. “It’s a community-oriented event. It’s a great economic impact for this community and people love to see it. It’s just good old family entertainment, and we encourage people to come up here and have a good time.”