CASPER, Wyo. — The Cody Stampede Board said on Friday, May 29 that they are preparing to hold the 101st annual annual Cody Stampede and Xtreme Bulls as originally scheduled.
That is despite the Cody Stampede being among the announcement of the cancellation of six large Wyoming rodeos this summer during Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon’s Wednesday, May 27 press conference.
The full press release from the Cody Stampede Board is as follows:
WE ARE WORKING TOWARD AN EXCEPTION TO STILL HOST THE CODY NITE RODEO AND CODY STAMPEDE. BELOW IS THE STATEMENT FROM THE CODY STAMPEDE BOARD.
PRESS RELEASE: MAY 29, 2020
The Cody Stampede Board is prepared to hold our 101st annual Cody Stampede and Xtreme Bulls as scheduled. The 2020 team we have assembled includes the best in the business including stock contractor Frontier Rodeo, Announcer Boyd Polhamus, Bullfighter Dusty Tuckness and rodeo clown Justin Rumford.The Rodeo Task Force that worked with the Governor made a decision as a group to cancel major rodeos this summer. However, our Board operates independently from that special task force, and their decisions are not reflective of our position.
The Cody Stampede Board has never approved or even voted on any formal positions of the task force, nor has the Cody Stampede made any official Board decision to cancel any of our rodeos. To the contrary, it remains our goal to host our Cody Nite Rodeo and the Cody Stampede in 2020. We have been extremely excited to showcase another top-notch professional rodeo, the first Stampede that we are scheduled to host after being inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in August of 2019.
Even though the Governor announced on May 27, 2020 that there would be small rodeos in Wyoming, our variance request for the Cody Nite Rodeo was denied on the very same day. We are submitting another variance request, and we hope the Governor will stand by his word and approve it.
As we continue to fight for rodeo, we want to thank our dedicated sponsors, our faithful box holders, the numerous volunteers, local merchants and other supporters of our rodeo. We look forward to holding any rodeo events that are allowed to occur on the Stampede Grounds, as we want to do our part to help boost and support all of our local businesses! We hope to see you all out at the rodeo, just as soon as we are permitted to do so!
Thank you to the community for your understanding and ongoing support!
The Cody Stampede Board
This article originally appeared on Oil City News. Used with permission.
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