By JEFF NAGEL
E’S DEAD. Every-
body knows he’s
. dead. The audience ..
. falls silent. Out in the
arena, cowboy Clint Ellis lies‘on
his back, his legs convulsing. .; _
The bull, PJ, roams the far side
of the arena snorting menacingly
as the paramedics move in to take .

away Ellis. -

The announcer sounds shaken
and shocked murmuts are heard

in the stands. a "
Mat Hee dee ui Bai aaiilonis

Suddenly, Elis slowly, -sises;;to
his- feet and .refuses-;.the ‘back-
board. Propped up. by. two. other
cowboys, he hobbles.to the wait-
ing ambulance. The: buil rider
from Courtenay is lucky; what
could have been a carcer-ending
spinal injury is only. a concussion,’

Welcome to the Kispiox Valley
Rodeo.

The element of danger dn this
rough-edged, rawhide ‘brand - of
sport attracts fans in the same
way that stock car racing does.
They don’t come for the crashes,
but if there weren’t. any, they
probably wouldn’t come.

The city slickers flock ‘here
from Terrace, Prince Rupert and

LEATHER AND L

The bucks and spills

of life with

‘Smithers: to don. cheap “Stetscns
for a weekend of fun and thrills,
~ But ‘on the other side of the
fence it’s another World,
kkk woe

For most people, eight seconds
isn’t.a very long. time. ;

But for the riders inthe, gaiidle. 5: gf

brong;; | bareback ; ding, and sbull
riding events 2 ite can seem. like’ an.

“this rodeo. al
‘He's: the pu “who distracts the “

Lee Ss

the rodeo

Keremeos’ is ; the bull-ighter

bull and draws’ him away while

the aptly-named “clean-up men”’

— and: paramedics, as. the. case
a Dull, the rider autot the

brs. neo!

Lmuck

“yea

“You just got to have iti in your + blow to ‘do it You don't

have iki in in your blood, yous don ‘t get aiyiohere. a

eternity. b wer
Eight seconds: is how long they
have to. stay. on their bucking.

mounts: —. Clinging to control ©.

* With. single. flat-braided : rope
wrapped in a *‘suicide knot’? —
to count any points. :

Out there on the field with each
rider is Rick Gibson. :

The 27-year-old from

needed : a. bullet phter | and. ‘asked.
_bim to. lend a hand as a favour, .
One section of bull-riding over,
Gibson. leans up. against the fence,:
a farawa' ‘gaze- on his sombre,::
"painted :lown’s face.’ Something «
_ safer is going on in the arena now

—. wild .cow:-milking or: goat-
tying or barrel-racing. It’s break
time.

- ¥ou just got to love it,”’ Gib.

ols ‘(theres fronitth i

Terrace Standard, Wednesday, June 17, 1992 — Page AS

HARD ACTION rules the
rodeo and the riders that .
aren't ready end up on
the turf quickly. ‘The
photos (clackwise from
bottom) are as follows:
Kamloops cowboy
Schaan Perry hangs on
as bad-time bull Little -
‘Texas aggressively.
charges rodeo dummy
‘Mabel’; Bull-fighter Rick

Gibson hastily gets outof =

the way of Colonel North;
Nine-year-old Lance Arm-
strong, of Terrace, gives °
his new yo-yo a spin;
Bucking horse Hooters .
Tooters tries to unseat ;
Kelowna bareback rider
Brad Chapko; Fraser -
Lake’s'‘Jay Hartman:
hangs on as African .
Watutsi bull Wattie goes -
into “the spin": Bull-
fighter Rick Gibson eyes .
the gata, ready for action.

son says, “If you don't love it
you just won't be able to do it,”
Gibson puts on the makeup and
squares off with the-2 ,000-paund
monsters ‘at rodeos’ across the Pa:
cific: Northwest every weekend
from late‘ March to into October.
en: sucky sO far. -He’s

- beet: ‘in tricky situations, but he’s
‘had no serious injuries.
anit" he sire the hell don’t A

: sidekick. Wayne Tey" ine “is ‘out

x ‘
oe ~‘do whatever he needs to do to
_get him‘away. :
” Then, he says, ‘you j ist get out
of the way and Jet "im Bo into the
. Spin?’

ae

», Insanity? .,
: “You: just got to have it it in your
‘blood.’ to *do® it,” Gibson

tI ‘maintains;: “You don't have It in
your’ blood, you: don’t get any-

Valley. Rodeo is
over for another year, but. city
slickers out to catch a little action
can still-make the Bulkley Valley
Rodeo in Smithers ths weekend.

tte

a%

Growing

The person in the photo
is Gillian Campbell.

She works at the library.”
She is holding leaves

made out of paper.

_. Each leaf means people
are in favour of adding on
to the library...

The leaves fit the slogan
“Our: support is . Brow:

97

ing,”

A big vote

The library is too small.
And the building needs to
be fixed up.

The library board wants

to add on to the building.
This’ will. cost money,
about $1.7 million.:

This Saturday there wil .
be a vote, People will be
asked If they want to bor-

row the money.

People | who. live. in 1 the

city will vote at Clarence
Michiel school.

People who live in the
tural area can also vote at
Clarence Michiel school.’ |
Or they. can’ vote at
Thornhill Elementary.

You have to be 19 years. -
old: to vote, You have to ’
live in the area.” -

The. vote ‘takes’ place
from 8 a.m..to 8. p.m.