|
|
|
HEPLER —
At the annual Hepler Ruritan Rodeo, the kids get mutton busting and the riders get to show off in the arena. On Wednesday, everyone else got to compete in the popular Hillbilly Games, an event with races inspired by implements that can be found around a farm.
Eight teams of four players — the Buffaloes, Wooly Mammoths, Honey Badgers, Wild Wombats, Horses, Ligers, Cougars and Ducks — participated in timed races such as the hillbilly hurdles, where they jumped over a series of circular hay bales; the water bucket chariot race, in which team members pulled one member in a plastic watering bucket down and back; and the hillbilly laundry, in which the team members had to pull on overalls, jump into a stock tank full of water and run to a hay circle, attach the overalls and bring the circle back as a team.
The games were conceived by Doug Harris about 15 years ago.
“We needed something new and exciting, and we wanted to keep everything fun,” Harris said, adding that sometimes, even in a fun contest, rivalries can become heated. “If it gets too serious, we stop it. We just have a good time.”
Each year Harris tries to add a new game to the event. This time it was the hillbilly laundry.
This year’s winner was team Wild Wombats, which was made up of members of the C.R. McKellips Rodeo Company, which puts on the rodeo each year. That’s just fine, said Ruritan Club treasurer and scorekeeper Karla Tersinar, because the company is very supportive of Hepler when it comes.
“They buy 4-H baked goods and they eat at our concession stand,” she said. “They could go up the road each night (toward Uniontown) but they stay.”
That’s just the McKellip way, said owner Chuck McKellip, who started the company about 15 years ago.
“I’ve rodeo’d all my life, it’s a family thing,” McKellip said. “My son is the announcer and my daughter carries the American flag at the openings. Every time we go some place we try to do everything there.”
The family aspect, and the fact that they can count on the rodeo each year, is why many of the participants come back each year.
“It’s a tradition and it’s fun,” said Kord Curran, whose team, the Ligers — combination of a lion and a tiger — took second place in the games.
There’s another reason, too.
“I get to show off,” he said, grinning.
Hillbilly Games winners
First place
• Wild Wombats — Matthew Jordan, Weston, Mo.; Jesse Pope, Garnett; Cody Lunceford, Bates City, Mo.; Derek Search, Linneus, Mo.
Second place
• Ligers — Tucker Johnston, Kord Curran, Nicholas and Nathan George, all of Girard.
Third place
• Wooly Mammoths — Taylor Lewis, Kevin Rowe, Braden Johnson and Caleb Egbert, all of Girard.
At the annual Hepler Ruritan Rodeo, the kids get mutton busting and the riders get to show off in the arena. On Wednesday, everyone else got to compete in the popular Hillbilly Games, an event with races inspired by implements that can be found around a farm.
Eight teams of four players — the Buffaloes, Wooly Mammoths, Honey Badgers, Wild Wombats, Horses, Ligers, Cougars and Ducks — participated in timed races such as the hillbilly hurdles, where they jumped over a series of circular hay bales; the water bucket chariot race, in which team members pulled one member in a plastic watering bucket down and back; and the hillbilly laundry, in which the team members had to pull on overalls, jump into a stock tank full of water and run to a hay circle, attach the overalls and bring the circle back as a team.
The games were conceived by Doug Harris about 15 years ago.
“We needed something new and exciting, and we wanted to keep everything fun,” Harris said, adding that sometimes, even in a fun contest, rivalries can become heated. “If it gets too serious, we stop it. We just have a good time.”
Each year Harris tries to add a new game to the event. This time it was the hillbilly laundry.
This year’s winner was team Wild Wombats, which was made up of members of the C.R. McKellips Rodeo Company, which puts on the rodeo each year. That’s just fine, said Ruritan Club treasurer and scorekeeper Karla Tersinar, because the company is very supportive of Hepler when it comes.
“They buy 4-H baked goods and they eat at our concession stand,” she said. “They could go up the road each night (toward Uniontown) but they stay.”
That’s just the McKellip way, said owner Chuck McKellip, who started the company about 15 years ago.
“I’ve rodeo’d all my life, it’s a family thing,” McKellip said. “My son is the announcer and my daughter carries the American flag at the openings. Every time we go some place we try to do everything there.”
The family aspect, and the fact that they can count on the rodeo each year, is why many of the participants come back each year.
“It’s a tradition and it’s fun,” said Kord Curran, whose team, the Ligers — combination of a lion and a tiger — took second place in the games.
There’s another reason, too.
“I get to show off,” he said, grinning.
Hillbilly Games winners
First place
• Wild Wombats — Matthew Jordan, Weston, Mo.; Jesse Pope, Garnett; Cody Lunceford, Bates City, Mo.; Derek Search, Linneus, Mo.
Second place
• Ligers — Tucker Johnston, Kord Curran, Nicholas and Nathan George, all of Girard.
Third place
• Wooly Mammoths — Taylor Lewis, Kevin Rowe, Braden Johnson and Caleb Egbert, all of Girard.
