24/11/2021
On the 11th November 1944 a public meeting was held in the Council Chambers at Tumbarumba. 💭💭
• The purpose of the meeting was to organise a rodeo to be held in Tumbarumba, to aid the construction of the Tumbarumba Hospital. The Rodeo was to be held on New Years Day •
Now, this was not going to be an easy feat, a committee was formed but funds were needed to put the show on.
Of course, we needed some horses and bullocks that would buck and put the cowboys and cowgirls to the test! 💯
It was decided to call a meeting the following Saturday, and in the mean time all committee members were to make a list of the stock they could find that we could use on the day! 🐮🐴
Insurance was a little different in the 40’s and a “rain cover” was taken out and there was 100 pounds put against ten points of rain between 9am and 1pm. ☔️
Mr Bergin offered to donate 2 pound towards the wood chop, an event that drew the crowds and workers from the local logging districts. 🪵
We arranged a crew to run the Publicans Booth 🍻 and a motion was moved to host a ball to celebrate our achievements 💃🏼
And lastly. The prize money. 💰💰💰
We agreed that the prize money should not exceed 70 pounds.
We didn’t have cases of 🍺 back then, but you sure could fill your 1 Gallon Jug up a few times with that prize money!
And there you have it, our very first Tumbarumba Rodeo was organised. All we had to do was wait for the crowds and the riders to turn up ⬆️ 🙏🏽 💯
Things run a little differently these days. 2022 will be our 75th Anniversary and we have in excess of 💲4️⃣0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ in prize money. We do a few things the same though, we have a bar open until late, we have some of the BEST bucking stock in the country attend and we still donate a large sum to charity each year!
To celebrate 75 successful years, we'd like to invite you to our reunion. Come along, reminisce and enjoy the history of where it all began.
