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Shane Proctor, a 2003 graduate of Lake Roosevelt High School and longtime resident of Grand Coulee, showed his toughness, again, last Saturday, by winning the “Iron Cowboy” award at Arlington, Texas.

It was another feather in Proctor’s cowboy hat, and a little jingle to boot, as the win gave him prize money of $115,625, and vaulted him from eighth to first in the Professional Bull Riding world standings.

Now it’s on to the next PBR major, the third of four, this time in Las Vegas, Nevada.

He won it all Saturday before some 35,000 fans cheering him on.

He proved his toughness. Proctor had been sidelined because of a serious shoulder injury, but systematically moved forward.

“People had written me off after my shoulder surgeries a couple of years ago, and they didn’t know how I would come back,” Proctor said. “But I have been working really hard, and while I don’t think I’m 100 percent, I’m working toward that, and when I get to 100 percent, who knows what can happen.”

Who knows indeed.

People who remember Proctor in his high school days here know how tough he is. He was always up and ready to go, despite injuries or other difficulties.

Proctor, who now lives in South Carolina, won the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association’s world bull riding title back in 2011. A monument sign was placed at the south end of Midway Avenue to remind local people that one of our own is making his way to bull riding history.

Shane is the son of Gordon and Kathy Proctor, of Grand Coulee.