By Kyra Gillespie
This years’ Bunyip Rodeo was the biggest to date.
Held on Saturday 23 February at the Bunyip Recreation Reserve, the event saw the footfall of over 2000 people, as committee president Alan Wright explains.
“This year we changed the date to ensure we weren’t competing against other shows on the day and it has proved to have been beneficial with us having the biggest crowd ever at the Rodeo,” he said.
“We estimate that we had a crowd of 2500 people which is 800 up on previous years.”
The action-packed day included live entertainment and amusements for the kids, including a mechanical bull, animal farm and pony rides.
“This year we had Joel Spence entertain the crowd for two hours prior to the rodeo action kicking off and the crowd loved him,” Mr Wright continued.
“Harleigh Doyle sang the national anthem again and she did a great job and received a huge ovation from the crowd.
“We also once again had rides for the kids and over a dozen vendors selling food, clothing, belt buckles and t-shirts. The kids also get to have a bit of fun with the Rodeo clowns when they have their intermission with the clowns throwing lollies into the arena and spraying the kids with water with assistance from the local fire brigade.”
Just ten people are behind the hugely popular event, with the help of local community, business, and sporting groups.
“We have a small committee of 10 people that set up the event but we have a great number support groups that assist us on the day, including the Bunyip Football Club, Bunyip Netball Club, Bunyip Men’s Shed, Bunyip CFA, the ladies from the Bunyip Community Bank and the Bunyip Football Club Ladies Committee.”
All the proceeds from the event go straight back into the Bunyip community.
“Once we have determined the overall profit of the Rodeo we then disperse the funds across the many user groups that help us on the day and we also look at other groups within the community that may have projects going that we can assist them with.
“This is a community event and it is very important that everyone knows that the funds go straight back to the community that support the event.”
The rodeo, which kicked off at 2pm, was hotly contested with 85 riders from as far as Western Australia and Far North Queensland travelling to Bunyip to compete for the top prize.
“There was over $12,000 given out in prize money. There were a lot of Victorian and NSW riders and some locals took part in the event on the day as well, which just goes to show how great an event it is and how many riders want a piece of the prize money.
“The event would not be possible without the support of the sponsors.”
