Pioneer Days brings Ronan together
Nicole Tavenner
Megan Strickland
Little cowboys eye sheep before the Kiddie Slicker Rodeo.
Megan Strickland
Show Me Your Tips Nail Salon parade float was proudly ridden by ladies who dressed for every decade the City of Ronan has been in existence.
Megan Strickland
Boys try to dress a sheep and drag it across the finish line in the Kiddie Slicker Rodeo.
Nicole Tavenner
Bullfighter
Megan Strickland
Sheep rider Brennan Harris
Megan Strickland
Bison Rider RoN Couture
Nicole Tavenner
Spurs
Nicole Tavenner
Tug of war
Megan Strickland
Young love blossoms at Pistol Creek Rodeo in Ronan.
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The mayor usually dresses in jeans, Jasmine Bocksnick is usually just another girl and kids Kian Phillips, Sadie LaPlant and Jodiah LaPlant are content being run of the mill children. But Pioneer Days gives everyone the chance to be something different if they want to in the name of fun and community spirit, and none of the aforementioned folks held anything back as they had some wacky adventures over the weekend.
For Mayor Kim Aipperspach, the weekend included walking all over town under the hot sun with cowboy chaps and a vest, plus a bright costume meant to look like an orange fruit. It played homage to this year’s parade theme “Orange you glad we did this again?” Aipperspach, the town’s ultimate mascot, pulled no punches as he tried to get folks to take place in the 50-50 raffle.
“This one feels lucky,” he said alluringly to the crowd just before a winner was announced.
For Kian Phillips, 10, Sadie LaPlant,10 and Jodiah LaPlant,10, lady luck was elusive. The trio had signed up for the sheep dressing that was held as part of the Kiddie Slicker Rodeo, but they didn’t place despite having a strategizing session beforehand. Phillips is a Ronan native who has competed in the rodeo before, but Sadie and Jodiah were first-timers from Missoula and Browning.
“When dressing a sheep, you start from the butt and go up,” Phillips said. “If I’m catching a calf (in the calf scramble), I go for one that’s got money on the tail.”
Phillips said he felt good about the competition, but that he would not be sore about it if he lost.
“It’s all about having fun and kids getting to do stuff you don’t usually get to do,” Phillips said.
And while the Kiddie Slicker Rodeo might only come once per year, there were four tiny cowboys who staked out the arena hours before hand, with equipment in tow that made them look like seasoned professionals.
Wyatt Harris, 6, Brennan Harris, 5, Liam Will, 6, and Kolby Harris, 4, brought bull ropes, chaps, cowboy hats, and boots, ready to master the sheep riding event.
“Your clothes won’t get muddy,” is how Liam described the purpose of chaps.
The boys crawled all over the chutes beforehand, playing with the mechanics of the gates and were all smiles, even after they ate dirt.
What seems like a small animal to grown folks can seem as wild as a bucking bull to a youngster.
“My sheep was so tall!” Brander Christianson, 4, said, smiling, after he face-planted into the ground at the end of his ride. His dad said that the sheep riding was the little boy’s dream.
The adrenaline itch didn’t just hit the boys. Jasmine Bocksnick is a tiny lady, but she wanted to take things to the next level this Pioneer Days by participating in Pistol Creek Rodeo’s wild bison-riding event. Bocksnick was the only woman of the five competitors and boldly entered the Calcutta ring in a yellow bikini before the riding kicked off.
Though her ride was the shortest of six competitors, she said she would do it again.
“It was fun and spontaneous,” Bocksnick said.
Not everything in Pioneer Days is spur-of-the moment. Most happenings are based on the town’s history, and that was on display in Sunday’s huge parade.
The lineup was led by a group of four World War II veterans who got a standing ovation, claps, and whistles as the community showed their respect for the heroes.
Three-year-old Cacee Redman came from Missoula with her mom to drive a tractor in the parade.
“We used to ride in the barrels, so we are passing on tradition,” mom Rachael Redman said of the mother-daughter entry, that was just in front of the barrel-train pulled by a tractor that Redman spoke of.
And nail salon Show Off Your Tips did their part by having ladies dress in costume for every decade the town has been in existence, since 1910. Owner Lorrinda Fimbres took an entire day to recreate the Community Bank clocktower out of cardboard. She said it wasn’t that difficult and that it was worth the time spent.
“It’s for Pioneer Days,” Fimbres said. “We do it every year.”
