Message from the President
Welcome to the 25th Anniversary of the Working Ranch Cowboys Association World Championship Ranch Rodeo! For a quarter of a century (and with your help), this event, through the WRCA Foundation has been helping cowboys, cowgirls, and their families during difficult and trying times in their lives, and has helped hundreds of young men and women with their college tuition through the Foundation’s scholarship awards. Let me take the opportunity to sincerely thank y’all for all you have done and ask for your continued support by renewing your membership, becoming a first-tome member and donating to the Foundation. Stop by the WRCA booth located on the concourse to learn more about us and how you can become involved.
As we all know, these are unusual and uncertain times that we are living in. The COVID-19 virus, in many ways, changed the way we live and caused the cancellation of many events across the nation. After many hours of deliberation, prayers and soul searching, and numerous meetings with the Amarillo city leaders, WRCA made the decision to go ahead with this event. It wasn’t an easy decision but in the final analysis it became clear that if anyone was going to “Cowboy Up,” it should be us. After all, 19 of our qualifying rodeos had gone ahead with their rodeos and had teams waiting to compete in the 25th World Championship. Our faithful vendors, who hadn’t been able to sell their wares at hardly any of their regular venues, were counting on us to come through and we didn’t want to let our partners down.
The city of Amarillo has bent over backwards to accommodate our needs while staying within the safety guidelines that are necessary to fight the Corona virus.
Together with your help, we can keep this event exciting and fun. We have added two more performances to the rodeo so everyone who wants to catch the action in person can do so. There will be special events and presentations to celebrate our 25th anniversary and a chance to shop in the greatest, real cowboy tradeshow in the West.
So here is what I would ask you to do. Please adhere to the safety guidelines posted around the Civic Center. Wear your mask where it is appropriate and practice social distancing. Keep that six-foot distance! I know it is inconvenient, but I would ask you to consider it your duty to your fellow man. You don’t want to take this virus back to your grandparents or other people in your home community. Our vendors also shouldn’t be asked to be exposed to thousands of people, some of which might be infected and not even know it. Lastly, we don’t want our actions to cause the city of Amarillo to go back into “lock-down.” They have done too much for us to let that happen.
With all that said, let me close by saying “Welcome” and have a good time. Droughts, floods, fires and market crashes haven’t taken us down and neither will this virus. It is no match for the character and determination of the people gathered here to celebrate a way of life that we all love. I look forward to seeing you all in the coming days.
Now, “Let’er Buck.”
John Welch
WRCA President