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A lot goes into a successful kick-off of a rodeo with hundreds of contestants and even more goes into maintaining that success throughout the week and into the finals.
That work is divided up between a multitude of volunteers, who are then led by committees designed for the specific areas those groups will cover. Some of those committees include volunteers for stalling, check-in, camping, youth directors and the message center.
In all, there are more than 500 volunteers on any given day at the International Finals Youth Rodeo, while the Heart of Oklahoma Exposition Center has a permanent, full-time staff of seven. In addition to the regular staff and volunteers, temporary, part-time laborers are brought in to help with setting up, judging, timing and other tasks, which brings the total of paid employees to about 30.
“Some volunteers work 24 hours, around the clock, during check-in,” Mike Jackson, Expo operations manager, said. “They’ll put in about 40 to 50 or more hours in the week they’re here. Some won’t but most do.”
Volunteers are an essential part of the rodeo and in some areas, many of the faces are the same as they were the first year of the IFYR, Jackson said.
“Some of them have been doing this since Day 1,” he said. “They take vacation for it and put in a lot of hours out here. They are pretty important to us. We have to have them.”
Among the regulars at the Message Center — the information hub for contestants — are Horace Mann Elementary teacher Anna Looper, Shawnee; Judy Harrell, a retired OG&E coordinator for community relations, Tecumseh; and MaryAnn Jones, Shawnee, who retired after 41 years as an administrative officer for the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center. But some come from other states, including Michigan, each year to help ensure everything runs smoothly.
Jones, a member of Epsilon Sigma Alpha, said she first learned of the rodeo’s need for volunteers through a newspaper ad, while Looper said she began her volunteer tenure as a member of the Junior Service League.
“I did it as one of our service projects and it just kind of took,” she said.
Both Jones and Looper, along with Harrell, first volunteered at the Expo when the National High School Rodeo was in Shawnee and stayed on when the IFYR was started — in part through the efforts of George and Jan Webster and Ken Etchieson.
Harrell’s volunteerism began as a part of her responsibilities with OG&E but was something she enjoyed so much that she couldn’t pull away from it even after retiring.
In the Message Center, the volunteers deliver messages to contestants, post the rotations and standings for each event, keep books of the contestants and provide additional information. They also ensure each of the contestants receives a welcome bag, coordinated through the Greater Shawnee Area Chamber of Commerce and the Convention and Visitors Bureau, that includes brochures, coupons, samples and more.
The women said the Message Center doesn’t require as many volunteers as it once did, although the number of contestants has dramatically risen since they first began volunteering for the rodeo. That is because cordless phones and the IFYR website — www.ifyr.com — have made it easier to provide information without having eight or more volunteers sitting in one chair all day near a corded phone.
Jackson said although the volunteer base for the Message Center is consistent each year, there is a need for additional volunteers in other areas.
“Stalling always needs volunteers,” he said. “There are a lot who were younger kids who grew up with their parents volunteering but it’s a busy slot and there’s a lot needed there.”
Volunteer committee chairs meet once per month, year round and then discuss the needs of each committee after the first of the year, Jackson said.
Although planning for the IFYR doesn’t begin until January each year, he said potential volunteers are welcome and encouraged to call and be put on a list any time during the year. He said those who might be considering volunteering at the rodeo should visit the IFYR this week and if they like what they see, they can inquire about how to become a volunteer.
“We have teenagers to senior citizens and everyone in between,” he said. “Anyone who is considering it should go ahead and volunteer.”
———
Johnna Ray may be reached at 214-3934.
A lot goes into a successful kick-off of a rodeo with hundreds of contestants and even more goes into maintaining that success throughout the week and into the finals.
That work is divided up between a multitude of volunteers, who are then led by committees designed for the specific areas those groups will cover. Some of those committees include volunteers for stalling, check-in, camping, youth directors and the message center.
In all, there are more than 500 volunteers on any given day at the International Finals Youth Rodeo, while the Heart of Oklahoma Exposition Center has a permanent, full-time staff of seven. In addition to the regular staff and volunteers, temporary, part-time laborers are brought in to help with setting up, judging, timing and other tasks, which brings the total of paid employees to about 30.
“Some volunteers work 24 hours, around the clock, during check-in,” Mike Jackson, Expo operations manager, said. “They’ll put in about 40 to 50 or more hours in the week they’re here. Some won’t but most do.”
Volunteers are an essential part of the rodeo and in some areas, many of the faces are the same as they were the first year of the IFYR, Jackson said.
“Some of them have been doing this since Day 1,” he said. “They take vacation for it and put in a lot of hours out here. They are pretty important to us. We have to have them.”
Among the regulars at the Message Center — the information hub for contestants — are Horace Mann Elementary teacher Anna Looper, Shawnee; Judy Harrell, a retired OG&E coordinator for community relations, Tecumseh; and MaryAnn Jones, Shawnee, who retired after 41 years as an administrative officer for the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center. But some come from other states, including Michigan, each year to help ensure everything runs smoothly.
Jones, a member of Epsilon Sigma Alpha, said she first learned of the rodeo’s need for volunteers through a newspaper ad, while Looper said she began her volunteer tenure as a member of the Junior Service League.
“I did it as one of our service projects and it just kind of took,” she said.
Both Jones and Looper, along with Harrell, first volunteered at the Expo when the National High School Rodeo was in Shawnee and stayed on when the IFYR was started — in part through the efforts of George and Jan Webster and Ken Etchieson.
Harrell’s volunteerism began as a part of her responsibilities with OG&E but was something she enjoyed so much that she couldn’t pull away from it even after retiring.
In the Message Center, the volunteers deliver messages to contestants, post the rotations and standings for each event, keep books of the contestants and provide additional information. They also ensure each of the contestants receives a welcome bag, coordinated through the Greater Shawnee Area Chamber of Commerce and the Convention and Visitors Bureau, that includes brochures, coupons, samples and more.
The women said the Message Center doesn’t require as many volunteers as it once did, although the number of contestants has dramatically risen since they first began volunteering for the rodeo. That is because cordless phones and the IFYR website — www.ifyr.com — have made it easier to provide information without having eight or more volunteers sitting in one chair all day near a corded phone.
Jackson said although the volunteer base for the Message Center is consistent each year, there is a need for additional volunteers in other areas.
“Stalling always needs volunteers,” he said. “There are a lot who were younger kids who grew up with their parents volunteering but it’s a busy slot and there’s a lot needed there.”
Volunteer committee chairs meet once per month, year round and then discuss the needs of each committee after the first of the year, Jackson said.
Although planning for the IFYR doesn’t begin until January each year, he said potential volunteers are welcome and encouraged to call and be put on a list any time during the year. He said those who might be considering volunteering at the rodeo should visit the IFYR this week and if they like what they see, they can inquire about how to become a volunteer.
“We have teenagers to senior citizens and everyone in between,” he said. “Anyone who is considering it should go ahead and volunteer.”
———
Johnna Ray may be reached at 214-3934.
