Recently the Mandan Rodeo Committee received two awards from the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA), the group that sanctions Mandan Rodeo Days’ competition along with the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA).
One of the awards was for Most Improved Ground in the Badlands Circuit, which includes rodeos in North and South Dakota. Since the rodeo is held on a dirt auto-racing track, preparing the ground to make it worthy of a professional rodeo is a near-miracle each year. In fact, committee members have heard comments wondering why an event with this footing is even allowed to be part of the PRCA.
n 2018 the rodeo committee along with stock contractor Dakota Rodeo and their crew were able to get the footing in great shape for competition. Contestants arrived to competed and were impressed with the ground conditions. The rodeo committee had a moment to be relieved and satisfied with their efforts, but that moment was short-lived.
Rodeo chairman Jason Mittlestadt said, “During our first performance a storm started brewing, and it was not a little storm! Throughout the night this storm dumped three inches of rain and blew with hurricane-force winds. I was afraid of what I would find when I stepped from my camper and walked toward the arena the next morning.”
The place was a disaster, he recalled. “The arena looked more suited for boat racing than a rodeo,” he said. Most of the flag poles were broken, banners were torn and scatters, the hospitality tents were destroyed and there was damage to the video equipment. “How in the world are we going to get fireworks set up in this mud pit!” he thought. Since this had been a surprise thunderstorm, no precautions had been taken in advance to limit damage.
Mittlestadt called Del Wetsch, executive director of the Mandan Progress Organization (MPO) to give him an update. Wetsch was dealing with many of the same issues at Art in the Park, the two-day arts and crafts festival held in conjunction with Mandan Rodeo Days which was scheduled to open at 9 a.m. that morning.
The high winds and heavy rains had wreaked havoc on many of the vendors, ruining tents and merchandise.
The rodeo is run strictly by volunteers and everyone has a day job, Mittlestadt said. There were only a small handful of committee members available to tackle the problem. Mittlestadt called Dakota Rodeo for help and gathered as many committee members as possible. The group picked things up, relocated the hospitality area, repaired flags and banners. Nightlife Music worked to repair their video equipment. Things were looking much better, except for one major problem – what to do with the mud and standing water in the arena.
The City of Mandan got word to Mittlestadt offering help with whatever the committee needed. That’s when inspiration struck. What if they could push out all the mud and haul dry dirt into the area, if there was any dry dirt to be had or enough time to do so?
Mittlestadt and Dakota Rodeo’s Chad Berger discussed the idea and decided to go for it. The city sent trucks and drivers within minutes and dry dirt was located from Knife River in Bismarck. The committee and stock contractor crew were busy pushing mud from the arena with the equipment provided by sponsors Butler Machinery and Bobcat of Mandan.
What started out as a couple of guys looking at a disaster was finishing with a huge collaboration of volunteers, neighbors, sponsor and city employees working together to pull off a minor miracle.
By rodeo time the place looked great! Mittlestadt said he had many people congratulating the committee on a huge success and many comments from rodeo contestants that “nobody ever does this”.
Then the unthinkable happened. The rodeo grounds was hit with another storm, but at least this time there was advance warning. The committee was able to take some precautions as soon as the performance ended and had just finished when the storm hit.
According to Mittlestadt, the next morning felt like the movie Groundhog Day. “Here we go again,” he recalled. “We did it all over again and were successful.
A few months after the 2018 rodeo, Mittlestadt was notified that Mandan Rodeo Days was going to be named Rodeo of the Year in the medium category from the WPRA at their Star Celebration during the PRCA Convention in Las Vegas before the National Finals Rodeo.
Mittlestadt said he was blown away. “Wow, this is a national award! I couldn’t imagine with the large number of rodeos that happen throughout the year that were being recognized for efforts above and beyond. Surely we aren’t the only ones that have had to go through this and do what we did to save the arena?” In fact, the committee’s efforts were both unusual and greatly appreciated, earning the recognition by the WPRA.
“The bottom line is – this community is amazing,” Mittlestadt said. “With just a few phone calls we had a small army ready to do what was necessary.”
A small group of committee members traveled to Las Vegas to accept the award and then the entire committee was presented with the award in January at the annual MPO dinner
He singled out several groups for special thanks:
- The City of Mandan Parks and Recreation Department for their hard work setting up the arena year after year.
- The City of Mandan for their support when the chips were down.
- Stock contractor Chad Berger of Dakota Rodeo for being there and offering his resources.
- The Lions Club for running the contestant hospitality tents and keeping everyone fed.
- The Mandan Progress Organization executive director Del Wetsch and his assistant Kristin Haug for all their efforts throughout the year in contacting sponsors and helping to organize the rodeo
- Last, but not least, the wonderful members of the rodeo committee who work hard all year to make Mandan Rodeo Days a success.
“This award belongs to so many people,” Mittlestadt said at the MPO dinner. “Thanks to everyone from Bismarck and Mandan! Here’s to never saying ‘It can’t happen!”
Pam Minick interviews rodeo chairman Jason Mittlestadt during the WPRA award ceremony in Las Vegas as Heather Jacobson-Bauer holds the WPRA Medium Rodeo of the Year award for 2018. Photo by Jackie Jensen