Three years ago, several students interested in launching a rodeo team at Grayson County High School approached social studies teacher Melinda Baum about being a team sponsor.
The students, Karah Monroe, Avery Meredith and Hootie Hayse, chose Baum because of their familiarity with her as a teacher, and her well-known horse-riding background.
“I’ve never rodeoed other than a little bit at home, probably when I was younger than them,” Baum said. “But they came to my room and asked me. And I’ve had all these kids but a couple in class and Karah, Avery and Hootie and a couple of other kids came and asked me one day in class if I would be the teacher sponsor. They asked me because I ride. I don’t rodeo unless the horse wants to; it’s not intentional.”
Initially, the team had no place to practice or hold competitions, but the Grayson County Fair Board told Baum this year that if the team wanted to rehabilitate the rodeo arena behind the grandstand at the fairgrounds, they would be welcome to use the facility.
Thus began a de-rocking of the dirt in the rodeo arena by team members.
“We spent most of July picking up rocks, discing it down and plowing it up,” Baum said. “I brought my tractor and tiller box … thanks to my husband and my son, they did a lot of the work … we picked up a lot of rocks.”
Showing a true commitment to the Rodeo Team, former team members who graduated from GCHS in 2022, Tanny Finley and Rhea Stillwell, also chipped in with a rock rake.
Although the team members, their families and Baum’s family spent countless hours preparing the rodeo arena, Baum not once doubted the team’s endeavor or her passion for the project.
“I figured out pretty quick that I really enjoy it,” she said. “These kids are hard workers.”
While the rodeo arena was being rid of rocks, weeds and other debris, the bleachers at the arena were littered with rotten wood, leaving nowhere for spectators to enjoy the show. But with the generous assistance in the form of donations of 16-foot 2x10s by Future Designs Building Materials, Caneyville Builders and Mid-South Lumber, Baum and her crew replaced the inadequate, rotten bleacher wood.
Through hard work and determination, the team now has a respectable venue which to hold practice, competitions and Fun Shows, where anyone, not just high school rodeo teams, is allowed to compete.
The next Fun Show is Saturday at 1:00 p.m. at the Grayson County Fairgrounds where the team will host barrel racing, an egg and spoon race and a rescue race (where a horse and rider circles the barrels, with a person standing on the barrel jumping onto the horse as it circles).
Attendees pay only $3 per carload and anyone who wants to perform pays $5.
“It’s not restricted to our school and team members. We use it as a fundraiser to buy what we need,” Baum said.
There will be concessions available at the event, with the Rodeo Team receiving a portion of the profits.
What the team most needs at the moment are rodeo timing lights and goats … yes goats. A good set of timing lights cost in the neighborhood of $1,200, Baum estimated. Goats, instead of calves, are what burgeoning rodeo teams use in roping competitions.
“You work your way up from a goat to a steer,” Baum said.
With Fun Shows, bake sales, a generous community, and other fundraisers on the horizon, the team hopes to, at some point, have timing lights and maybe a few goats to rope in.
Baum, who clearly loves her team members and their focus, offered a shout-out to the team’s parents for their contributions to the team.
“If it weren’t for the parents, this team wouldn’t exist. The parents are the ones that do a lot of the work,” she said. “We usually do a bake sale each time we do a Fun Show and the parents pitch in and give us items for that.”
But it’s the team’s love of rodeoing that keeps the squad afloat, and laser focused on what the future could bring. Growing up around horses, and riding horses from a young age, has instilled a love of rodeoing that only grows stronger.
“I’ve always rodeoed and barrel raced. I’ve always had horses. When I grew up … I was riding before I walked,” Meredith, vice president of the team, said.
The GCHS Rodeo Team members are — President Karah Monroe, Meredith, Hayse, Braylynn Snyder, Shannon Matthews, Nolan Bradley, Lacey Laslie, Bradley Bradley, Jacob Carnes, Wyatt Clemons, and Bryce Yaden.
Follow the team’s activities by visiting the GCHS Rodeo Facebook page.
Besides Saturday’s Fun Show, upcoming events include:
- A Fun Show Costume Contest where riders and horses will dress up in Halloween costumes. The event is scheduled for Saturday, October 28 at 1:00 p.m. at the fairgrounds.
- Pending approval from the Grayson County Board of Education, the Rodeo Team will host a Chili Luncheon in the commons area of the high school on Sunday, November 12. You’ll receive a bowl of chili, drink and dessert for $10.
(Headline photo l-f: Karah Monroe on Supe, Lacey Laslie, Nolan Bradley, Melinda Baum, Shannon Matthews, Braylynn Snyder, Hootie Hayse, Avery Meredith on Chase)
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
