ProRodeo Sports News - April 28, 2023

EDITOR’S LETTER TRACY RENCK

Looking back at Command Performance Rodeo James Fain photo President Ronald Reagan addresses the crowd and contestants before the Command Performance Rodeo put on by the PRCA on Sept. 24, 1983, at Landover, Maryland’s Capital Centre.

S ometimes when you least expect it, a gem will fall in your lap. That’s what happened recently at the PRCA. Amy Fast, the Digital Assets Manager at the PRCA saw an email drop in her inbox from Bill Palanuk, the Media Director at the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame in Medora. The email contained video of the Command Performance Rodeo put on by the PRCA on Sept. 24, 1983, at Landover, Maryland’s Capital Centre. Watch the full video on Page 38 of this digital issue. The White House invitation-only rodeo event, included special guests President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan and there were 10,249 government dignitaries, including Ambassadors from 46 foreign countries. Designated as a tribute to America’s government, the special performance featured former and current ProRodeo world champions, along with top 1983 contenders in seven events. “There aren’t too many activities in this land of ours … as purely American as what we have seen here,” Reagan said. At a White House barbecue following the

PRCA President at the time.

“Everything from the White House was totally first class and they seemed to enjoy the western way of life as much as we enjoyed being there,” Davis said. “Malcolm Baldridge, (the United States Secretary of Commerce and former team roper) is how this came about. He came to me and asked me if we would be interested in putting on a performance for President Reagan. It was a great deal for us. I sat with President Reagan, and he was a great guy and very easy to talk to and he was very interested in the sport. It was quite an honor to do all that with him.” The danger of the sport of rodeo became reality when world champion bull rider Charles Sampson was involved in a wreck with Silver Spurs Rodeo Co.’s Kiss Me. Sampson was jerked forward onto the head of the bull, which knocked him out. He was rushed from the arena and underwent six hours of surgery after sustaining multiple facial fractures. What happened to Sampson wasn’t lost on President Reagan. On Sept. 26, Sampson received a personal letter from President Reagan expressing the President’s concern and prayers for his full recovery. The President wrote that “Champions of rodeo are no strangers to pain, but your stamina and courage were extraordinary by any standard.” By all accounts, the Command Performance Rodeo

Tracy Renck is the editor of the ProRodeo

Sports News . He previously served more than seven years as a media coordinator at the PRCA. He has three decades of experience in sports journalism with the last several consumed by ProRodeo.

performance, President Reagan awarded special trophy buckles to event winners – bareback riders T.J. Walter, and J.C. Trujillo, saddle bronc rider Bob W. Brown, bull riders John Davis and Bobby Del Vecchio, calf roper Joe Parsons, steer wrestler Joel Edmondson, team ropers Dick and J.D. Yates and barrel racer Kaki Lybbert. What an immense thrill for the 45 contestants and Shawn Davis, the

was a resounding success. In the times we live in now, it is hard to imagine a rodeo like this would take place at the White House. Fortunately, thanks to this video find from Palanuk, these cherished memories will be available to enjoy forever.

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ProRodeo Sports News 4/28/2023

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