The Cochrane Lions nailed another fantastic rodeo long weekend in Cochrane.

Close to record crowds were seen on both Saturday and Sunday and despite a rainy, chilly start to Labour Day Monday, crowds that afternoon turned out well, too. 

While the Lions were still busy doing the teardown on the rodeo grounds as of yesterday (September 6), Kevin Firkus, Rodeo Co-Chair shares his thoughts on the 52nd annual event.  "It was very successful; everything went without a hitch, it was a great community event as far as we're concerned that we put on, and hopefully we will continue to do so in the future years."

The production of the rodeo ran very smoothly, shares Firkus, who credits his amazing crews for keeping the action on schedule and limited to a few hours a day."We base our production on a three-hour movie because people can only sit there so long. We have very professional people in the arena plus in our production crew and we spend about an hour and a half every morning in a meeting making sure we can knock it off in that time frame and making sure we can keep everyone entertained for the day. "

This year the rodeo attracted a lot of newcomers to the ring as well, and Firkus believes it could be due to a new initiative. "This was the first year we got four associations (Foothills Cowboys Association, Lakeland Rodeo Association, Wildrose Rodeo Association, Chinook Rodeo Association) all together to come to our rodeo. Our entrance fees were 36% higher than in previous years and some of the contestants had never been to the Cochrane rodeo before. They said this is on their list from here on in and couldn't believe how professionally it ran, how it worked, and how well they were treated. They were very happy and in turn, we were very happy with how everything went on on our end and with the associations."

 Another highlight for Firkus was the fanbase which travelled from all over. "There were people from all over the world. I met people from Switzerland, Ireland, Australia, California it was such a mishmash with how many people where this was their first time, how many were from out of the country and out of province and thoroughly enjoyed it."

To bring a rodeo of this caliber to town costs the Cochrane Lions over $150,000, including in-kind donations. While Firkus was unable to comment on final numbers, as of yet, he does predict they will come out ahead. "Even if we break even as a Lions Club we're happy to be able to do something like this to bring the community together and showcase the town of Cochrane."

"We always say, any money we can make at it goes right back into the community but in the same token it's always amazing how the community comes together and people step up to the plate."

If you would like to know how all the cowboys and cowgirls did from the September 1st to 3rd event, go HERE.