PETER STERLING 2026 Letter from the President
Howdy Rodeo Fans,
We welcome you to your Santa Maria Elks 83rd Annual Rodeo. Rodeo is a unique sport that grew out of the old west. The cattle ranchers used horses to work their stock, and they developed techniques to separate their cattle to rope, tie and brand the calves. Much of what we see today is still being used at branding time on our local ranches. Rodeo is not only enjoyable to watch, but it also plays a very important role in carrying on the Western Lifestyle promoting love for God, Family and Country. We are always looking for ways to bring even more excitement to our
program. Last years Rodeo was a smashing success. Many of our fans recall a “bull riders only” event we had a few years ago. Many of our fans since then have expressed an interest in bringing that back to our rodeo, and last year we added an additional PRCA “Xtreme Bulls” performance on Wednesday. It was such a success that we added it to our schedule once again this year. Our Board of Directors are privileged to bring this rodeo experience to you. The rodeo performances that you are enjoying did not happen by themselves. A top-quality rodeo requires planning and requires a committed staff and volunteers who commit literally thousands of hours to bring you this first-class event. The rails are painted, weeds cleared, welding, digging, cleaning and maintaining landscaping and much, much more all done by selfless volunteers. Rodeo not only plays an important role in providing our community entertainment, it also is instrumental in providing funds to charities through our Rodeo Queen Contest. It brings total funds raised to date of over $18 million that is distributed back to our local non-profits in our community. These funds are used for youth programs, sports, scholarships and countless other projects in our community.
I would like to thank you for coming out and being a part of the family tradition of rodeo. We promise you an exciting event and a good time for all.
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