Pioneer Days: A celebration of community spirit

Ronan Pioneer Days brought plenty of family fun to town last weekend, beginning Friday morning at 8 a.m. with the Kids’ Fishing Derby and wrapping up Sunday afternoon with its third open rodeo and the wild buffalo ride.

Youngsters with a can of worms, their fishing poles and a parent accompanying them lined the banks of Spring Creek in Bockman Park Friday. The Creston Fish Hatchery donated more than 300 fish to stock the creek, with some stocked for younger kids in the pools in the pavilion in Bockman Park.

Lucky Larson was overseeing the fun and the flailing fishing poles at the kids’ pools.

“The time to be here is 8 a.m,” he said, grinning. “Fish were hooked, and nets were flying.”

The fishing derby was sponsored by Creston Fish Hatchery, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, and the City of Ronan crew.

Bulls and Broncs Open Rodeo

Rodeo enthusiasts flocked to the Broncs and Bulls open rodeo, held at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoon at the Ronan Fairgrounds arena.

Though a little short of bronc riders and ranch bronc riders, Friday’s event was helped along by the excellent barrelman, Eddie, who had teams lined up for “arena skiing,” and his take on “barrel racing,” which involved one partner getting into Eddie’s barrel, tipped over, and the other partner rolling it around a cone and back over the finish line. The Kittson broncs bucked and bawled, and Elmo and Niki McDonald’s bulls brought their best game.

The younger contestants, who’ll be the next generation of rodeo performers, competed in steer riding.

3-on-3 “JAM”boree

The Pioneer Days 3-on-3 “JAM”boree began at 8 a.m. on Saturday morning, with 117 teams lacing up their basketball shoes and checking the brackets. The Ronan High School parking lot was packed with basketball hoops, pint-sized to extra-large players, coaches, basketballs, and loyal fans.

The teams were from all over Montana, with some teams from Washington, according to Heather Currie at the information table.

Games went for 25 minutes or to 21 points, she said. Boys ages 7 to 8 and men had the most registrations.

Volleyball, softball and a 5K run were also part of festivities.

Pioneer Days Car Show

Rain showers probably didn’t please the car owners, but more than 20 entries parked along Main Street Saturday, many with canopies to cover their prize vehicles. Car show fans showed up to view the autos and grill the owners.

The free car show was sponsored by Ronan Body Shop, Towing, and Repair.

Kiddie/ Slicker Rodeo

For everyone but the chickens, Saturday’s Kiddie Slicker Rodeo is one of the highlights of Pioneer Days. Kids participate in stick-horse races, three-legged races, foosball, the kiddie roundup, and the chicken chase.

While the older kids competed for cash and rodeo or concession tickets in the foosball tournament, the toddler-aged kids ran their stick-horses around, patted the arena mud into pies, raced their moms, took their shoes off, practiced jumping in the three-legged race sacks, made up games, and ran as far and as fast as they could.

The Big Parade

“Ronan loves a parade,” said Ronan councilwoman Julie Moore as crowds lined Main Street for Sunday’s parade.

Winners were:

Community Float: 1. Ronan Wrestling, 2. Farm Bureau, 3. Smokey the Bear

Commercial Float: 1. Second Chance, 2. Valley Bank, 3. Little Critters Daycare

Best Overall: Ronan Wrestling Club

Best Class Float: Class of ’73

Best Antique Tractor: Issac Cantlon

Best Native American Dressed: Jesse White

Best Horse Mount: Hazel White

People’s Choice: The Hunt Family’s Jeep Trippin’ Bus

Classic Auto: 1. Kevin Detwiller (1967 Oldsmobile), 2. JoAnne Shaw (’59 Apache), 3. Jerry Emerson (2007 Mustang)

Antique Auto: 1. Richard Tobel (1941 Zephyr), 2. Bob Shaw (1946 Ford), 3. Jon Lindburg (1929 Model A)