Submitted photo David Grifford serves on the rodeo committee for the Lyon County Fair

MARSHALL — One of the biggest draws to the Lyon County Fair every summer is the two day PRCA rodeo, which packs in about 2,000 a night into the grandstand every year.

David Gifford of Marshall is just one of the committee members who help get this grand event on its feet. 

The rodeo committee, currently made up of 13 members, all volunteers, meet monthly nearly all year round to get things coordinated.

 “It takes quite a bit (of planning). We usually take about a month off or two months off after the rodeo, but then we get right back at it and start planning the next year’s rodeo,” shares Gifford. 

The rodeo has eight different events, including bareback riding, saddle broncs, tie down roping, team roping, steer wresting, breakaway roping, barrel racing, bull riding.

In total, there are about 200 riders who come in for the rodeo, most coming from nearby states, but occasionally coming as far as Texas or Florida as they make their way around the circuit. 

“It’s a big deal for the community…It brings a lot of people in the town, and, you know, you get 35, 40 pickups and horse trailers rolling in per night. Well, 90 of them need gas when they roll into town, so they, you know, they help out the local gas stations and the restaurants.” 

The rodeo will occasionally get money from the county to help cover the costs, but usually the $40,000 needed to put on the rodeo comes solely from sponsorships from local businesses. 

“We’ve got about 150 sponsors that donate money to us…if it weren’t for the sponsors that we get, we would not be able to do the rodeo…the whole community backs it.” 

The rodeo also hosts a Tough Enough to Wear Pink auction on Friday every year, as well as a gun raffle with a donation going towards the local community, particularly the hospice here in town, turning right around and supporting the town that supports the rodeo.

While all committee members pitch in with all aspects of the rodeo, Gifford shares he’s kind of taken over “getting the grounds ready for the rodeo…I go out once or twice a month during the summer…work the grounds, just to keep the weeds down and keep it so it don’t get so hard.”

Originally from the Russell area, he grew up going to the fair.

“I was in 4-H, and I started showing dairy cattle at the fair at probably nine or ten years old.” 

He also loved horses and was part of a saddle club growing up. 

“In summertime, we’d go to horse shows all summer long, and I’ve been around horses most of my life.” 

That experience with horses is what got him interested in helping with the rodeo. He previously served on the Lyon County Fair board, for about 15 years starting in 1980 and was even on that board when the rodeo got its start. 

Eventually, he felt that he was gone too much for his job as a truck driver to continue helping on the fair board. But eight years ago he jumped in again to be on the rodeo committee before retiring from full time work last year. 

Gifford’s son and daughter in law are also both on the committee. And they’re not the only ones who share family ties –several committee members have sons on the committee as well.

“It’s a family oriented group of people” said Gifford.

That close set community extends out past legitimate family ties into the whole rodeo community. 

“You know, it gets people to get together,” says Gifford.

People that he regularly sees each summer, but doesn’t have much chance outside of that. 

“You look forward to (the rodeo) because you know Kelly’s coming back to town. Barnes is coming back in…I’ve watched his kids grow up, you know all their families…Kelly calls us his family up here in Marshall…it’s just a lot of fun.” 

That fun comes with effort though,

“The rodeo just don’t show up,” says Gifford “I mean, without our sponsors and the people in the community helping us, there would not be a rodeo.”  

For Gifford, that effort seems easily worth it.

“All of us on the rodeo committee are pleased that…we got to entertain 4,000 people plus for two nights, you know, so it works out pretty darn nice.”