If you have been around Rodeo you know what a vital part the rodeo secretary plays. If you’re unfamiliar let me put it like this….you know that saying when something really bad happens and the people in charge need to keep everything moving, they might say “the show must go on.” Well at the rodeo the show isn’t going anywhere if there is not a rodeo secretary there. She is the heart and soul of the rodeo and what people don’t always remember is she has ALWAYS looked FABULOUS at her job.
From the days in OKC to the big move to the bight lights of Vegas where the NFR became the most glamours time of the year, that rodeo secretary she’s stayed in style. From furs, to velvet, and all the turquoise, diamonds or even pearls in between she’s a woman with a job to do, too busy to be seen by the public roaming the corridors. She is often forgotten about as a trendsetter, but way back when in rooms full of only men, there she was taking names, writing checks, timing, and doing everything else that might need done….including watching a cowboys kid, she was dressed to the nines and she was standing right where “rodeo fashion” got it’s name.
She has stood the test of time. From those hot summer performances at Pecos to the 10 nights of outfit changes in “sin city” she comes dressed for it all. Kept her job, even when technology took over. Her fashion game never faulting. She has even been in the movies!
Submitter Darcy Good who has been featured here on my blog comes from a long line of rodeo and is aware of the legacy her the rodeo secretaries of her family have left in western fashion. She credits them for much of her style inspiration not only personally but in what she picks for her boutique “Hazels Fashion Wagon.”
Family members pictured and history: My great Aunt Percy was a PRCA secretary, worked for lots of different rodeo companies but worked for Hall the longest. My grandma Lydia was WPRA secretary for 30 years and several time PRCA timer of the year as well as my mom (also at NFSR, I’ll have to get year) last pic is a screen shot from “my heroes have always been cowboys” movie with Ben Johnson. My mom and Percy were timers at the start of the movie. Our feature photo for this blog is her favorite picture of her grandma Lydia, in 1975 at San Antonio.
LaTasha Wiefrerich submitted her Mom Cathy Wiefrerich in 1994 timing at the NFR in a long leather dress coat. Cathy has been a member of the PRCA since 1989, she was a longtime secretary and occasional timer!
Rodeo secretary Sherry Sheldon Gibson submitted many shots from the NFR to St. Paul.
Ladies pictured: Sherry Rice Gibson, Roberta Sankey (timers) Tami Braden, Kim Sutton, (timers) Jackie Higlin, Sunni Deb Backstrom, Vicki Shireman, Shawn Davis, Debbie Davis, Diana Alexander, Sherry Marlo Ward, Greta Hasler, Deb Northcott, Haley Bridwell, Marlo Ward, Natalie Lundell, Tiada Wise, Jessi Franzen.