Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883

Sheyenne Stampede Saturday

The Sheyenne Stampede is back!

On Saturday, August 20, head on over to Hendrickson Park just west of Sheyenne, N.D., for a jam packed day of rodeo events and live music!

The day opens at 10 a.m. with the Miss Sheyenne Stampede Queen Competition, and ends at 10:30 p.m. with live music by multi-platinum recording country band, Little Texas.

Scheduled in between are 3D Jackpot Barrel Racing, Championship Ranch Rodeo and musical guests Bryan Loweree and Mikele Buck. Attendees are also welcome to stay for more live music and fun at the Beer Garden from midnight until closing time at around 1:30 a.m.

Premier sponsors for this year's Sheyenne Stampede, which saw over 1,000 attendees last summer, are Bessette Motors and New Rockford Eagles Club.

3D Jackpot Barrel Racing action will start at 1 p.m. The entry fee is $100 per horse, and riders can enter as many horses as they choose. Entry is capped at 100 horses, and every horse runs once.

With $2,500 added to the purse, payout goes to the horses with the fastest times in each division. Barrel racing is sponsored by Fee Construction, The Glass Shop and Sun Dog Construction.

The Ranch Rodeo gets underway at 5 p.m., with the field capped at 10 teams of four cowboys/girls. In this rodeo, contestants are in a race to complete basic ranch tasks as a team in the least possible time.

There are five events: wild cow milking, steer mugging, range doctoring, trailer loading and trailer relay. If it sounds like a typical day at the ranch, you'd be right!

Entry fee is $400 per four-person teams, with $500 in prize money added to each event. Payout goes to the top four contestants in each event, with buckles awarded to the team with the best "average," based on points earned during the events.

The Ranch Rodeo is sponsored by Farmers Union Insurance, Roughrider Feeds, Rue Ranch Trucking, Nystrom Trucking and Leading Edge Equipment.

Both the Barrel Race and Ranch Rodeo are open class events, with no rodeo association connections required. Contestants should email [email protected] to enter.

New Rockford Eagles Club will open the beer gardens in advance of the evening's concerts. Country music artists Bryan Loweree and Mikele Buck will open at 7:30 and 8:30 p.m., respectively, and will play until the champion buckle presentation for both the barrel racing and ranch rodeo.

Country band Little Texas headlines, with their set to begin at 10:30 p.m. The band first started in 1988 in Nashville, Tennessee, and went on to produce award-winning music and hit country songs in the years that followed.

The leadoff single of their debut album, entitled, Some Guys Have All the Love, reached a peak of No. 8 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts, and they continued to produce hit singles throughout the 1990s, including the No. 1 single, My Love.

The concert is sponsored by Bank Forward, James River Ag, Westad Auction & Appraisal, Top Shelf Energy, Unverferth Manufacturing, Belgarde Trucking, Hefty Seed Company, Community Credit Union, New Rockford Eagles Club, Bessette Motors, ASGROW and RadioWorks.

The evening closes with a Beer Garden Party with live music at midnight sponsored by Topp Angus.

Advanced tickets are on sale now at http://www.sheyennestampede.com. Cost is $40 plus fees and taxes. Tickets will be on sale at the gate for $50. Youth 12 and under get in free. The ticket includes entrance to all the day's events.

The organizers encourage spectators to party responsibly. Primitive camping is available in Hendrickson Park at no cost, as well as at Warsing Dam east of Sheyenne. Spectators can also reserve a room at Open Season Lodge in Sheyenne. Call (701) 996-3020 to reserve.

Hanson's Bar will have a bus that will leave from Hanson's and travel to Hendrickson Park for the concert, and will return shortly after the concert concludes. Follow Hanson's Bar on Facebook for updates on the time of departure and cost of riding the bus.

For more information, call Brent Helseth at (701) 302-8220.