Everyone
who lives in Calgary has an opinion on the Calgary Stampede, and most of them
are more than happy to share it with you if you ask! Half of the city leaves; seeing it as a good
chance to get out of town, the kids are fresh out of school, long weekend is over and
work slows down. The other half stays here - enjoying ten days of paid vacation!
Unless
you are directly involved with the Stampede your work life is going to slow
down! It is a time to socialize, have some fun and stroke some of those
business relationships that you have. Whether your company sponsors a day at
the rodeo, hosts a barbeque at your business or takes a barbeque out on the
road to spread some Stampede cheer, it is a great opportunity to solidify those
work relationships and make some new ones!
I did
not grow up in Calgary but I have been here long enough to have both loved and
loathed the Stampede.
I do
really enjoy and appreciate the rodeo at the Stampede, the bull riding, the barrel
racing, roping, team penning, and the chuck wagons – all of it! All of that talent and skill in one place! One
of my friends is a professional bull rider, a girl I grew up with makes a living as a professional
barrel racer, even I have been on a horse a time or two and was actually pretty
good at team penning (might have been the horse but we will never know for
sure)! I also like the bbq’s, the breakfasts,
the visiting, everyone dressed up in their cowboy gear, hay bales all over the place and the overall feeling
of goodwill the city has.
What
I loathe, are the crowds, the heat, the traffic, the drunks, the line-ups, the shortage of
taxis, the fights that break out, the jam packed c-trains and the lack of
morals. I used to be one of the crazy people down there when I was younger! I
drank too much, spent too much, ate too much and paid for it the next day! These days I do everything I can to avoid the Stampede
grounds, although the Super Dogs show is tempting, I just can’t do it! I can
handle the rodeo and chucks, but the rest of it turns me off enough to not even
make the trek!
I think all
Calgarians eventually get there, we have had our fill, we put our foot (or
boot) down and stop going to the grounds. That will last for a few years and then we have kids OR we
get old enough to forget about all the reasons we stopped going.
Either
way, you’ll be back!
Happy 100 years Calgary Stampede.
I will see you at the
grounds in another 30 years or so - until then I will continue watching the fireworks from the bed of my truck far away from all of your craziness!
