The 51st annual Winner Elks Rodeo benefit for children’s outreach services at LifeScape in Rapid City and Sioux Falls is Friday, July 24 through Sunday, July 26. The competition starts at 7:30 CDT each night—Friday through Sunday.
Over 300 contestants will compete for over $35,000 in prize money in all the standard competitions: bareback riding, saddle bronc, tie-down roping, barrel racing, ranch bronc riding, and of course—bull riding. Adam “Jelly Bean” Carlson of Brainerd, MN will be the barrel man and funny man, and bullfighters Dusty May and Colton Kovarik will help keep the bull riders safe. Announcer will be Alan Odden of Miller, SD. Nationally known performer, Tim “Wild Thang” Lepard from Ponotoc, Mississippi, and his Team Ghost Riders will entertain spectators with his cowboy capuchin monkeys riding border collies and herding rams into a pen. Rodeo stock is provided this year (and every year since 1969) by Hollenbeck Rodeo Company.
The BPO Does lunch stand will have delicious grilled hamburgers and hot dogs for sale.
Admission at the gate is $12; advance tickets are $10 each at the Winner Elks Club, BankWest, and Zip Trip. Kids 10 and under attend for free.
All profits go to LifeScape’s children’s outreach programs, which provides physical therapy, speech therapy, and occupational therapy to rural South Dakota children in their own homes, daycare centers, and schools.
The rodeo began in 1969, under the leadership of four Winner Elks members—Bill Dillon, Vince Hollenbeck, Dick Kazda, and Harold Jans. LifeScape, (then Crippled Children’s Hospital & School) had a traveling rehab unit that visited communities across the state providing clinics for children with physical disabilities. In Winner, the clinics were held at the Elks Lodge. The four men were touched by the plight of the children and their families, and decided to start a fundraising rodeo to help out. The event has been held each year since, raising over $100,000 for the kids.
The rodeo is sanctioned by South Dakota Rodeo Association, Mid-States Rodeo Association, Northwest Ranch Cowboys Association, and the Nebraska State Rodeo Association.
LifeScape is a South Dakota-based non-profit organization serving children and adults, statewide and beyond. With centers in Sioux Falls, Rapid City and Sioux City, it provides healthcare, educational, and residential services to 4,000-plus people each year.