Three locals getting rodeo honors

Two local rodeo pros and one local pro rodeo will be honored next month, the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association's Columbia River Circuit announced last week.

The votes are in for rodeos of the year, and of course, the PRCA won't just announce them without holding a rodeo to do it.

The Columbia River Circuit is one of 13 circuits that make up the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, with 65 PRCA rodeos and extreme events all in the Pacific Northwest.

The votes for the Columbia River Circuit Rodeo of the Year awards are cast by a combination of the PRCA and CRC boards of directors, event representatives and rodeo associations within the Columbia River Circuit and all active members/contestants who belong to the circuit. 

This circuit includes some of the nation's top rodeos, among them the Ellensburg Rodeo, the Pendleton Roundup, the Omak Stampede, Horse Heaven Hills Roundup, Coulee City's Last Stand Rodeo, the Moses Lake Roundup and the Colorama Pro Rodeo.

This year awards went to the following rodeos:

Small Rodeo of the Year – Colorama Pro Rodeo, Grand Coulee,

Medium Rodeo of the Year – Chief Joseph Days, Joseph, Oregon,

Large Rodeo of the Year – Farm-City Pro Rodeo, Hermiston, Oregon,

and the Best in the Northwest – the Pendleton Roundup, Pendleton, Oregon.

The winners will be formally recognized during the Columbia River Circuit Finals scheduled for Nov. 5, 6, and 7 at the Deschutes County Fairgrounds in Redmond, Oregon, where the top 12 money winners in each rodeo event will compete for the honors and opportunity to advance to the national circuit finals in Colorado Springs. 

Two of these contestants competing for the "Best in the Northwest" are locals Garrett Jess, of Grand Coulee, and Shelby McDonald, of Coulee City.