Homecoming had many activities going on throughout the week, one was Tribute to Steamboat on Thursday, October 20 at Hansen Arena. This first time event attracted many different people throughout the community giving it a successful turnout.
UW Alumni Association, Union Wireless, Selle Rodeo Productions, Cowboy Country Swing Club, and the Rodeo Team came together to host the very first Tribute to Steamboat event. Coordinators of the event found inspiration by wanting to bring a non-traditional homecoming event for a different audience than what is normally seen.
“When we first started thinking about Homecoming this year, we thought we needed something for the students and the young alum and sort of a different area that the community can promote.” Jack Tennant, the Executive Director of the Alumni Association, said.
“We have an awesome parade and an awesome football game, we got a president’s dinner, honored and distinguished alumni, all these things. But something that’s more and open to the community, that’s really what we wanted to focus on.”
At Tribute to Steamboat, the event started off with a BBQ and a bucking tribute. Event coordinators brought in a bucking horse that looked similar to the historical Steamboat, black with three white socks on his feet. Baby powder was laid on the horse’s back to make a silhouette in Steamboat’s honor.
Following that, they did the ranch saddle bronc riding, student “showdeo” events, and a barn dance put on by the Cowboy Country Swing Club. The student “showdeo” had three events for students and student organizations to participate in: steer riding, calf dressing, and rodeo relay.
Steer riding had three to four people in a team and the goal of the team was to get a steer stopped long enough to put a rider on the steer and ride it bareback for 8 seconds. The first team to achieve that would win the event.
Calf dressing had a group of three to five people on a team. To win, each team had to catch a calf and put a t-shirt over its head and front legs and then take the calf to the middle of the arena in the shortest amount of time.
The rodeo relay had three people on a team. One person had to rope a dummy, then the second person headed to stack a bale of hay onto another hale bale and the last person finished the relay with the stick horse race.
“I think the bucking and riding was incredible. The events with the public like dressing the calf, steer riding with the rodeo team, and the rodeo relay, it was all meant to be a lot of fun.” Tennant said.
The organizations that came together to put this event on hope to make Tribute to Steamboat an annual event during homecoming with the potential to become bigger in the years to come.
