Cowdeo, 47th Annual kids rodeo in Madras, Oregon

If you have not been to a Cowdeo in Madras, Oregon you should come. Next year is October 15, 2016.  Get your kids signed up early if you want to be able to get in as it is a very popular event from all over Central Oregon.

 Signups for the 2016 Cowdeo will beginning on September 26, 2016. Contact the Jefferson County Fair office:

by mail at: PO Box 237, Madras, Oregon 97741.
by phone: 541-325-5050
by Fax: 541-475-2586
by email: sandy.forman@co.jefferson.or.us
web site: www.jcfairgrounds.org

All around champion wins a saddle and a buckle.

For years DMJ Automotive

of Warm Springs 

owned by Delford and Marita Johnson

donate the saddle

Every event wins a buckle

This gal won the barrel racing

The all around champion this year was a 

young native boy who won I believe 3 classes.

I was so proud of him. His mom is one of my kids off my school bus.

Part of the Johnson family 

and the 2015 and 2016 Fair and Rodeo courts

ready to present the saddle this year.

One proud little boy gets his saddle and all around buckle presented to him.

One of the favorite events and is open to all kids 5 and under. This is the last event of the night before awards and it works great as everyone is doing this the judges and crew add up all the scores for the all around. No one gets bored waiting for them to finish paperwork and they aren't rushed where they make mistakes.

A favorite of course is the cow riding

A kid coming off his cow.

Jefferson County Sheriff's Deputy chasing down a cow and rider. Our Sheriff's office has worked the arena for the kids for the last two years and do an amazing job. This time the Captain was dressed as superman and he flies after a child.

Even our 2015 Jefferson County fair and rodeo queen took a turn on the cow.

Maezy Wills

Jefferson County Rodeo Queen 2015

Even our 2015 Jefferson County Princess took a turn.

Emylia Breckel 

Our Jefferson County Fair and Rodeo court did an amazing job of representing our county this year and always had time for the kids and were good sports about everything. They even rode a long horn steer and a camel at fair time.

Another fun event for the little ones is the horseless roping. They try to rope or even put the rope around a cow and then run for the finish line. A favorite event too.

The Keyhole race the child has to go enter a key hole shaped chalk line, turn around and come back out without stepping on a line. This might not sound hard but it is and many horses hate the white line. It takes skill to keep the horse straight going in, turn around right and come out fast without hitting a line.

The scurry race a lot of kids have never seen before but love trying. They must jump over two jumps, circle a barrel and come back over the two jumps. The event is a timed event and you get seconds added for knocking a jump down or for knocking the barrel down. This little gal had never even heard of a scurry race but she sure had fun as you can tell from the big smile on her face.

Break a way roping is just like regular roping except they don't get off the horse. Their rope is tied with a string to the saddle horn. They catch the calf and stop and the calf breaks the string and the timer stops.

The stick horse race is another event for the little ones and they love it. Everyone gets a prize

Local business donate to the prizes for this event. Each kid receives a small backpack full of goodies.

The Jefferson County 4H, TS&S Ford, City of Madras Police Dept., Columbia State Bank, Crook County Chamber of Commerce, Crook County Fairgrounds, Smokey the bear from the Forest Service, Hometown Drug, Indian Head Casino, Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, McDonalds, Relay for Life and the Sisters Rodeo all contribute to the contestants bags.

The goat un-decorating, a goat has a ribbon tied around its tail, the child has to run down and get the ribbon off the tail and put their hands in the air. The goats this year were pretty tame but some years it is a riot.

Barrel racing is one of the gymkhana events that everyone knows and they have it every year. The Keyhole and scurry races are not always every year. A lot of people this is their favorite event they ride in and the public likes to watch.

I found out as a kid that riding a sheep was harder then riding a cow but it is not near as far to fall and doesn't hurt near as bad when they step on you. The little kids and their muttin bustin is always a blast.

A big thank you to the Jefferson County Sheriff's office in Madras, Oregon for always coming down and being our rodeo bullfighters. They do an excellent  job and so good for the kids to see them in a fun way and realize that cops are the good guys and will protect them.

Identity Zone is always a big sponsor or the Cowdeo and many other events in Madras for the kids. They do so much for our community and the owners Kelly Simmelink, pictured here and JR Brooks are amazing and always willing to help the kids throughout the year.

Saying goodbye as this is the last event for our Jefferson County Fair and Rodeo court as far as I know this year is hard. They both had been outstanding but this gal Emylia Breckel is going to the new 2016 Deschutes County Queen.

Our queen Maezy Wills is going to be missed as she is our local gal who has been one of the best rodeo queens our little community has ever had.  She did not try out for court anywhere else this year as she will be starting college to be an elementary teacher. She is so fantastic with the kids that she will do as amazing job as a teacher that she did representing our county all over the state.

Remember to come to Cowdeo next year.

In ending I say "God Bless America"

Whatever happened to the simple family life

Where did the simple family life go?  To work and making money instead of making memories. It costs so much to live that both parents have to work anymore just to keep their family fed and clothed but is it worth it?

May Pole
Do you remember dancing the May pole?  I understand that is a Russian event but we sure had fun doing it when I was a child. Dressing up in our pretty clothes and everyone getting a different strand of colored crape paper and getting in a circle and going in and out like a square dancer wrapping the flag pole in all our pretty colors.

Gunny Sack Races.
Do you remember the sack races. All the farm kids had feed sacks or better known as gunny sacks. They think the "gunny" came from an old English word meaning spinning.  Gunny means coarse heavy fabric.

We used to have gunny sack races on the farm, at school and at social events.  Before they flooded the cove a lot of businesses would have a social event in the fall at The Cove and gunny sack races were always there along with a few others.

Three legged race.
In the three legged race you found a partner and took off you belts and put one belt around your ankles, one belt just above your knee. Then you placed your inside arm around your partners shoulder and waited for them to yell "go".  Off you ran trying to keep together where you would not fall and that is really hard to do when you have the giggles.  It was best to find a partner near your size and stride. My girlfriend Dianna and myself were really good at the 3 legged race but then we practiced a lot on the farm.  The memories flow or how good it felt when we had our team work going good and how funny when we didn't. It is even hard to get off the ground once you fall when your legs are tied together but oh what fun we had.


Horse Shoes
When you are broke and don't have a lot of money anything becomes a toy to play with.  With horse shoes (everyone had some as they used work horses in the old days but when we were young we had to buy them at the farm store) you drive a metal pole into the ground at each end of your horse shoe pit. You each get two horse shoes and you try to get as close to the metal pole as possible and if you are really good you can get what is called a ringer where your horse shoe goes right around the metal pole.  Then the team at the other end throws them back towards the metal pole at your end.  Lots of laughter and jokes around for everyone.

Bobbing for Apples
During the fall harvest there were apples everywhere and being kids they became a toy. You take the old wash tub and fill it with apples and put your arms behind your back and try to get an apple in the slowest amount of time.

Sheep, Pig riding
When you went out to feed the pigs or the sheep it was always fun to climb aboard and see how far you could stay one. Many PeeWee rodeos to this day have sheep bustin in them.  Riding a sheep sounds like it is easy but I assure you it is closer to the ground when you fall off so you don't hurt as bad but it is 4 times as hard as riding a calf.  Half the time you are on the ground and still have the same grip on the wool you had when you were on top the sheep.

Farming
We did not play farming like on the Facebook game, we went out under the tree and divided the tree into sections that were your farm. Your got your little plastic toys, cows, tractors etc and you built a farm, you planted stuff, you made fences. I must admit I got in trouble once for getting into my dad's nails to use for fence posts and his fishing line for my wire and I had one great big huge fenced areas for my horses which were my life in those days. I had a lot of fence to remove and wash and dry good and put back for when dad needed them they would not be rusted.

Bull Fights
We used to go out with the young cattle and take our gunny sacks and pretend we were bull fighters, that was a blast until the cattle got bigger and then it was not so much fun to get hit by them. It really wasn't fun when dad went out to feed and turned his back on the bigger one and was shaking the feed sack to get all the feed out when the steer hit him right square in the butt and knocked him into the feeder.  Now tell me why when he got up he immediately yelled "Linda!"  I mean it could have been my brother or my neighbor kid or my cousin, now couldn't it?  Dad knew me way to well.

Electric Fence fights.
We used to unhook the electric fence from the fence and put a make us a sword out of wire wrapped tight and stand and have a sword fight. Now there was not doubt in anyone's mind when you got stabbed with that sword, yep no fights at all of I wasn't hit, yes you were...as you were to busy picking yourself off the ground shaking your head. I hate electric fences and shocks to this day. I almost did not get my EMT III because you had to shock people and I was terrified of getting shocked.  I did it anyway and I lived through the years of being an EMT III.

Rotten egg fights
Now this one was a gross one as you always took an egg when you gathered them at night and hid them somewhere safe. All the kids had a stash somewhere and while our parents were playing cards we would be having an egg fight..STINKY..we were so lucky we lived on the canal where we could all go wash off when we were done before going in the house. We always wore our bathing suits and the parents just thought we were swimming. Well that was until my brother got a chemistry set and we poked a hole in one of our rotten eggs and started dumping chemicals into it and the dang thing blew up all over the bedroom, yep you guessed it, my bedroom. What a stinky mess to clean up and washing clothes in those days meant you had to iron everything. The only good think that came out of that fight was that all our friends got to stay overnight for a couple of days to help clean up our mess.

Fishing
Dad used to take the tractor and trailer and take all us kids down behind Gateway to Trout Creek to fish. My dad was a hard working man and not only did he do our farm, he did custom haying for others and he worked at the mill so  you know he did not get much sleep. We thought he was taking us fishing...right!  He was babysitting while mom worked and when he got to the point of exhaustion he would take us to Trout Creek. We would run around and play as we had to much energy to fish except for my brother and couple of his friends. Dad would lay down on his back, throw his worm out there (you could fish with worms in those days) and then tie the line around his big toe and go to sleep.  He had us convinced you had to hold real still for a fish to come was what he was doing. But the sound effects of his snoring I am sure did not attract the fish.  In those days you had to have a truck or tractor to get down behind Gateway.  When time was up we would load up on the trailer and back home we would come.  When we would get to the railroad viaduct under the track we thought it was a big tunnel and we would yell and scream.

I could go all day long with the things we did as kids to entertain ourselves and you know what, not once was a video game involved.  Maybe some later date I will do some more memories of a farm kid.

I don't think Video games are bad but I think they need a time limit and kids need to go outside and play with others. I bought my kids a video game and they had TV but once I unhooked the TV and we did not have TV for over a year as everyone was getting where that is what they wanted to do, set in front of the TV to watch or to play games.  Even stats show that kids and parents that play games together the families stay together and are closer.  You can't be close to a TV set or a Video game or a movie. It is a fantasy life not a real one.

I met a man at the RV store once that had a big 40 foot motorhome with a huge trailer on behind it. We were talking about where we were going etc. and I told him I was taking my grandkids camping. He said he had ATV's, Dirt bikes, regular bikes and all this outdoor type stuff and his kids would not get out of the RV where they were watching satellite and playing video games.  He asked me how I got mine out to play.  I told him for the first thing I would turn off their video games and I was the parent I would not give them a choice in them going outside as I would kick them out and lock the door and then I would play and giggle and have fun until they joined in.

Twice, once in Coos Bay and once in Ketchikan I told everyone I was having an old fashioned Halloween party and everyone was welcome. None of the parents wanted to come and thought I was crazy when I told them to just drop the kids off and leave.  They would come to drop off the kids and watch for a few moments to be polite to me and visit and guess what...neither time did the parents leave and before long they were out there playing with the kids and laughing away.  The parents learned a lot that night about having fun. Many of them had never done games like that. I have a ton of games we play and they ended up joining in almost everyone of them. The ones they could not get down on the floor they laughed at the rest of us until tears ran down their cheeks.

Good old fashioned fun is the way to go.  Old fashioned values, old fashion fun and modern medicine makes life great.  Thank you God for giving us everything we need without all the fancy stuff man made.  You know once we were skipping rocks at a lake and my mom asked what we were laughing about, we showed her and here she was 80 and had never skipped a rock. They did not have much water in Kansas where she lived. She had more fun trying to do us in and got really good at it.


 This had a whole lot more exercise, socializing with kids and memories then any video game you set and play with yourself and a machine or one friend.  I just can't imagine years later someone reminiscing about playing a video game.

Madras, Oregon The little town with a big heart

Last night said a lot about the type of kids that are grown in Madras, Oregon. Gus who has  Coffin-Siris syndrome and has gone through the Madras School system his whole life is a senior this year and was elected to run for homecoming.  He not only was elected to run but the kids voted him their Homecoming King for 2015.

He works with all the sports teams and the football team let him suit up and the Molalla, Oregon team let him run for a touch down. There was hardly a dry eye in the stadium.

Gus has a happy personality and more energy then 5 kids. He is a fantastic kid and I don't think many in town don't know who Gus is.  His parents Mike and Linda adopted him when he was 3 years old and have done an amazing job of raising him. 

Mike and Linda have adopted many special needs kids through the years. Mike said the think about adopting is that they are easy to love and the thing they want more then anything in life is a last name and that is easy to give.  If you knew Mike and Linda you would know how Gus turned out to be so loving and confident.

In a society that places so much value on looks and money here comes a young man who does not live in a fancy house, is not the best looking young man in the school but yet he won the hearts of the whole town.  Makes you proud to be from Madras when we look at the heart of people and on top of that heart you will find the McCoy family.

Here is his float in the home coming parade. If you look hard you can see him, he is not very tall in stature but he is big in heart.

I did not get to go to the game last night but our news in Central Oregon covered the event with a news cast so if you are interested to to KTVZ.com and you will find video and an interview. 

Pride in Gus and pride in our young people and pride in our parents in the stadium and major pride in the McCoys.

THE LITTLE TOWN WITH THE BIG HEART

That describes Madras, Oregon

Kids and responsibility

One of the neatest things about living in a small town like Madras, Oregon is that families are still families. We have a very active 4H which teaches kids so much.

 A lot of people think 4H is about cows and cooking but it is so much more. Not only do the kids learn how to take care of animals and the responsibility that entails but they learn how to keep records on their animals. They learn out to keep track of expenses on their animals. They learn how to judge the quality of the feed and what difference good feed makes.  They learn how to treat their animals medical needs.

The same goes with cooking, sewing, canning etc.  All have to keep records, all have to learn to judge what is wrong with their items. They learn if they do a good job on something they get a reward and more money for blue ribbons.  They learn hard work pays off.

They learn how to do speeches in front of people. They learn team work. They learn how to get along. They learn how to teach the younger ones and how important it is to pass your skills down just like people have done for them.

In all the years I worked corrections at the jail it was not the 4H kids that were brought into the police department.  After they grew up to teens and adults they were not the ones that came in drunk or driving while drunk or thieves.  In 30 some years we arrested 2 FFA kids that I am aware of and that was at a wedding and they had only had 3 drinks and did not realize that put them over the legal limit and since they were not used to drinking it really affected the way they drove. They were so embarrassed and would only look at their feet. They still were very respectful and cooperative and they never returned again.

We used to joke at the police department that you could tell which kids would be back with how the parents reacted to them being in trouble. The parents that were upset and grounded the kids and the kids were respectful to and sorry you did not see again and again I repeat they were not 4H kids. The kids that come in mouthy and disrespectful come back again and again and when their parents show up they are mad at the cops for mistreating their kids.  If a child does not respect their parent they won't respect anyone.  The kids that aren't taught responsibility are not responsible adults either.

Be a parent to your child as you are the only parents they will ever have. They don't need you to be their friend, they have lots and lots of friends. Kids need guidelines and the knowledge that you are in charge and they don't have to be afraid.  Kids without that run scared of the whole world and turn to drunks and alcohol to ease their fears.

Here are some of the photos of the kids having lots of fun and getting along at the 4H kick off party last night.

    A good old fashioned sack race.  I remember as a child how much fun we had with the feed sacks from our animals even on the farm with the neighborhood kids we would have sack races and you can see by this photo it is still a lot of fun for kids.

Another one that was a lot of fun was the hot potato game. We used this one a lot to learn the parts of a horse. If you got the potato you had 3 seconds to name a part of the horse. Or we would say a part of the horse and if you got the potato you had 3 seconds to say where that part was on the horse.  We also used it for breeds of horses etc.  You can take any game and change it to fit what ever you are learning for the kids. We used to make up jeopardy games for kids too.

The mummy game was a blast for the kids. They had 30 seconds to wrap their partner in toilet paper like a mummy then it was like a sack race usually with toilet paper flying everywhere. Lots of giggles and lots of I am getting dizzy going in circles wrapping them.

Mummy coming right up.

Toilet paper flying everywhere..The one in the blue shirt was not a mummy just encouraging his partner to go faster....

 Being 4H kids they also cleaned up their own messes.

One of the kids favorites of course was going into the pumpkin patch to pick out a pumpkin. The girl in the blue shirt is a junior leader carrying one of the little kids pumpkins that was bigger then she was.

fun 

Then everyone had pizza for the whole family.

And a beautiful Central Oregon Sunset to end the evening.

Join Jefferson County 4H today, call 541-475-7107 and speak to Jon Gandy or Jill Eveland and get signed up for a fun filled learning year in 4H. Call and ask about all the different clubs from guns to cows.

Jefferson County 2016 fair and rodeo court

The time of year we choose who will represent Madras and Jefferson County next year at the rodeos and fairs around our state.

Our new Jefferson County Queen is a beautiful gal who has a love of horses that runs deep in her veins.  She loves any event that has to do with a horse and will do a good job of representing us.

Meet Janna Davis our new Queen.

Maezy Wills are outgoing queen crowns Janna, an official coronation  party will occur later as this years queen remains queen until January.

In Jefferson County we also have a princess and here is our new princess, Riann Cornett.

Emylia Breckel crowns the new princess who also will be crowned officially at a later date.

The court goes to different rodeos and helps all different events such as Cowdeo, the air show, fair.  It is not all fun and games as they do work. They also get to meet a lot of people and see lots of Oregon.

I would also like to thank our outgoing court as they were one of the better ones we have ever had. They work hard, they are friendly and they always have time for the kids. They have a willing spirit as they rode a long horned steer, a camel, participated in a stick horse obstacle race and will be riding a steer at the Cowdeo this Saturday, October 17th.

 This is a photo where Queen Maezy was telling a story about an embarrassing moment during their year while Emy laughs at the memory. One of my favorite was when they went to LaPine, Or for the coronation party for the LaPine queen and meet their friend in Redmond at the fairgrounds and left their car parked and rode to LaPine with the friend. When they got back late they found out that they could not get in to get their car as the fairgrounds was locked up tight.

We look forward to next years try outs when we get to hear the embarrassing moments from our new court of Janna and Riann. 

Metolius River

Camp Sherman is a little community just west of Sisters, Oregon. It is noted for the Head of the Metolius River and the fly fishing along the Metolius. It is a very small community with a resident deputy, a small fire dept, several campgrounds and a small store.

The scenery around Camp Sherman is beautiful.

When you get out of town on some of the dirt roads the views of the Cascade Mountain Range is amazing. Take a drive and see Mt. Washington. What a view without even getting out of your car.

You can almost always count on seeing deer if you go out in the early morning. The blend in so well that sometimes they are hard to see but they are out there. So is bear, elk, cougars, turkey and quail or many other animals.

Most of the time they are not that afraid and will stand there while you take photos of them. They know when deer season is and all of a sudden you won't see a deer one.

Even the woods around Camp Sherman have character, many shapes, sizes and colors.

More mountain scenes when driving around Camp Sherman.

Three fingered Jack.

This is the Metolius River, it comes right out of the side of a mountain but I did not hike down to the head of the Metolius even if it is a nice fun walk as I had my 90 year old mom with me.   The two springs that feed the head of the Metolius at the base of Black Butte put out about 50,000 gallons a minute. The river is only approximately 30 miles long but the temperature and flow of the river remain almost always consistent. Makes for a good home for fish and camping.  If you have some time one day drive up to Camp Sherman and it is marked to find the Head of the Melolius and take a hike down to see it.  You can drive down most of the river.  It eventually flows into the Deschutes River at Lake Billy Chinook which is better known as "The Cove".

 
The river is very swift and cold and can be very dangerous.  Several people have lost their lives in the river.

A picturesque quieter section of the river.  There are lots of camp grounds all up and down the river.

 
Even the quieter sections of the river can be quite swift and and remember all of it is cold consistantly even in summer.

Some areas are so shaded from trees and hills that they are almost dark but the difference in colors in the river is pretty. The sound of this river is so peaceful. I could just take my lawn chair and spend the day watching and listening to it and the birds.

Do you notice how many people you are seeing in the photos. A very relaxing place to get away from everything and just relax in God's country.

Look one lone fisherman in miles of the river. Can you just imagine the peace and quiet that he is experiencing while he enjoys his fishing.

An old water wheel. Not sure what it was used for, it was placed between one of the small islands and the shore near "The House on the Metolius". Someday I am going to ask one of the old timers what they used it for.

The House on the Metolius is a 200 acre private retreat that has been in existence for over 100 years. If you are interested in having your wedding there, a meeting or just a get a way for you and your hubby here is a web site to check it out.  http://www.metolius.com/

Check out Camp Sherman and the Metolius area on Google.  Sisters is a tourist town that is not very far away. You can go be a tourist during the day and in the evenings come home to the peace and quiet which is Camp Sherman.  Suttle Lake is just down the road too with a restaurant and a nice lake.  If you really want the city life at night or during the day it is a short approximately 40 mile drive to Bend (the biggest city east of the Cascades) which offers anything you could want plus a very scenic drive included.

I hope you visit the Camp Sherman area some weekend by tent, camper, motorhome or stay in one of the cabins. It is a weekend you won't forget.