High School Rodeo is back at Lee-Mar Ranch

High School Rodeo is back at Lee-Mar Ranch.

You couldn’t tell by just looking around Lee-Mar Ranch Monday night, but you could sense it. The oversized diesel pick-ups could have belonged to any well mounted coffee club. But sitting at picnic tables and reclaimed school chairs with barn cats lolling in the setting dusk gathered volunteers from Lee-Mar Ranch Equine Center and the local consortium of rodeo parents: Jon and Rae Ann Aus and Bruce and Karen Gustafson.

Then someone said it—and it would have past unnoticed at any other meeting, but not here, here it was a sign of how far things have come in the last couple years. “Maybe, that’s an idea for next year,” someone said innocently. That’s it. And then the 15 people that had gathered at Lee-Mar Ranch gave a nervous chuckle. “Isn’t it amazing how we’re already planning for next year,” said Karen Gustafson, rodeo mom and Minnesota High School Rodeo Junior High National Secretary.

With that, the generational pendulum swing that is High School Rodeo in the Granite Falls area, began to swing past center. After more than a 20 year absence, High School Rodeo is back at Lee-Mar Ranch.

Those kids that stirred up the arena dust at Lee-Mar 20 years ago, have grown-up. They’ve had kids. And rodeo, it seems, is a heredity disease.

“Us three competed here in high school,” said Rae Ann Aus as she swung her hand to implicate her husband John and sister Karen Gustafson. “And it’s still fun to come around the curve and see Lee-Mar. Now we have our next generation in it. I’ll tell you what; there’s a lot of people in the state that are really excited it’s back here. It’s such a nice location.”

Lee-Mar Ranch is the perfect stage for the cowboy arts. And this year, after last year’s state run and sponsored rodeo, the rodeo parents in the region have taken over the stage production.
“It now falls to the parents and the students in the region to produce the rodeo and pay for it and hopefully reap the benefits,” said rodeo dad and Minnesota High School Rodeo President, John Aus.

 And from Christmas plays to summer pageants, there’s one thing people in this area know how to do. And that’s put on a show.

“A lot of the rodeos are glorified ‘slack’ sessions and we wanted to get away from that here,” continued John. “We have the facilities to put on a nice performance and hopefully have a crowd. And that’s what we’re trying to do.”

Then Bruce Gustafson says, “There’s some of those Junior High events that are pretty ‘entertaining’.” He raises his eyebrows and gives a little chuckle to convey images of adolescent boys and girls being flung into the firmament before being drug screaming through an indiscriminate mire.

But Karen clarifies the appeal, “These are sixth graders through high school age kids. They’re not doing it for money or anything like that. They just love it. And it’s entertaining to watch.”
“The kids rope the same calfs the PRCA (Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association) guys do. They wrestle the same steers,” says Bruce, now serious. “When those little kids rope a calf the whole place goes wild. These kids work very hard at it.”

On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, hopefully, a new crowd at Lee-Mar Ranch will go wild for one of the 100 or so contestants who will bring abilities ranging from greenhorn to National Champion.

Yes, High School Rodeo is back at Lee-Mar, the only thing that’s changed it seems is the generation.