The Estevan Rodeo weekend is one of the busiest of the year.
It offers two nights of action at the Estevan Exhibition grounds. And there are lots of activities each year to go along with it; this year’s highlights included a parade, a kids rodeo and a cabaret.
There have been other attractions associated with rodeo in the past as well, creating a fun weekend with lots to offer the public. It’s not just a weekend for enthusiasts of western-themed activities.
But even if the rodeo wasn’t your thing, you still had lots to choose from in the Estevan area.
You also had the Estevan Police Service’s open house, a softball tournament, a youth hockey tournament, the annual Glow Paddle event down the Souris River, the Estevan Motor Speedway’s season championship night, a couple of golf tournaments and the Heretics Motorcycle Club’s annual motorcycle ride.
Now that’s a weekend.
Those who say there’s nothing to do in Estevan hopefully attended these events, but only after they removed a foot from their mouth.
It’s also incredible that all of these events happened, due to the weather conditions that hit the southeast that weekend. But the thunderstorms cleared long enough for them to happen.
(In the case of the Estevan Motor Speedway, they finished their program in the nick of time. Heavy rains started at the end of the post-race interviews from victory lane. In an unintentionally funny moment, the thunder roared right after Leevi Runge was announced as the track champion for the hobby stock class. It seems even Mother Nature was glad to see Runge win).
Yes, it might be nice if the organizers of some of these events paid a little closer attention to the calendar, and spread their activities out over the course of a few weekends. (It’s not like the rodeo events and the speedway program were set recently; they were established months ago). The organizers of some of these events might have been able to attract a few more people.
But it also creates a buzz in the community, with something happening for people of all ages and interests. If the rodeo wasn’t your thing, or you weren’t keen on the speedway, you could check out the Glow Paddle event on the Souris River. If you have a family, then maybe you’d want to go to the police open house. If riding a motorcycle and supporting a good cause is up your alley, then the Heretics ride might have been for you.
We don’t get many weekends like this in Estevan, where there’s seemingly one event after another.
But there’s usually a few exciting or entertaining events happening each weekend, and enough events to cover all demographics.
The Labour Day long weekend marks a transition point for events in the city. It’s the beginning of the end for the summer activities and the start of the fall activities. Sure, there will be beautiful weekends and fun outdoor events in September and even October, but we’ll start seeing events move indoors, and the annual ice sports season begin.
The days are getting shorter. The evenings are cooler. It’s hard to have those outdoor evening activities that many of us enjoy so much.
You’ll start to see more fundraisers and banquets once fall begins. And we’ll talk about what a great city we live in because of how generous we are with these events, and how even on the coldest nights, there’s something constructive to do in Estevan.
