Rodeo crowd fills camp sites

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It is the biggest rodeo in rural Alberta, and it keeps getting bigger and better.

The eleventh annual Silver Birch Rodeo, running Aug. 10 to 13 at the Kikino Metis Settlement, offered $17,500 in prize money, plus entry fees, to 135 participants from the Lakeland and Foothills Rodeo Association.

"It's the biggest rodeo on the circuit for prize money," said settlement administrator Rodger Littltchilds. "We're only able to accomplish that through donations from local bussiness sponsors."

One of the big attractions for the rodeo fans is the on-site camping at Silver Birch Resort on the shore of Whitefish Lake. Fifty-two regular camping sites and 38 overflow sites were all filled on the Wednesday before the big weekend. With the additional camping area for the rodeo competitors, the resort had a weekend population the size of a small town.

And with an estimated 3,500 people coming through the gates over three days, the grounds were buzzing with people numbering three or four times the total population of the settlement.

As well as the rodeo action and chuckwagon and chariot races, the weekend offered horse races, the A.M. Hope Mile Run foot race, a two-day talent show, panacake breakfasts and steak barbeques, a horseshoe tournament, a rodeo dance, and a parade through the Kikino townsite Saturday morning. The weekend was brought to a close Sunday night with a concert on the beach by Kikino recording artist Pricilla Morin and her band, and a spectacular fireworks display costing $15,000 but looking like it was worth twice as much.

Organizers expect the event to continue to grow in popularity, and announced that they will start taking reservations for the camping spots in early January for people who plan their summer vacation around the event.