Rainy rodeo still a hit with fans and tour operator, but costly for local farm

Christian Gammon-Roy

Tribune

The Verner RAM Rodeo attracted an estimated 1300 people to Caroline Marx and Serge Lafrenière’s family farm on September 8 and 9, and despite the weather clearly affecting turnout, organizers are thinking of bringing the event back again next year and possibly even making Verner a permanent stop on the RAM Rodeo tour. The 2-day event featured plenty of thrills to see, from bull and bronc riding to barrel racing, pole bending, rescue racing, and non-competitive performances as well. The contest was one of many stops on the competitive RAM Rodeo circuit, which will conclude with the championships in Ancaster in October. Now the question is, will Verner remain a permanent fixture on this circuit?

The first day of the Verner RAM Rodeo was a cold and overcast day, which quickly turned into a heavy downpour. However, none of that seemed to dampen the spirits of a crowd determined to enjoy the event. “Obviously if the weather would’ve cooperated, I’m sure the attendance would have been a lot better, but it was absolutely amazing to see the show of support, even with the weather that was happening,” says Caroline Marx, lead organiser alongside her husband, Serge Lafrenière. The bleachers around the rodeo arena were full of undoubtedly cold people, but they were full, nonetheless. Marx comments that had the weather been ideal, she suspects people would have complained about a lack of space to sit!

Local enthusiasm for the rodeo isn’t something that surprises Marx, looking back. “People said they wanted a rodeo. When we first started advertising, people really responded well to what we were bringing,” she describes.

While she admits there were some “hiccups,” she says that was to be expected for a first event, and chalks it up to lessons learned – perhaps for next year. What did surprise her, and also the RAM Rodeo tour members, was the level of understanding that the crowd had for those hiccups during the live event. “The most gratifying thing was being able to pull it off, because for the first time ever, I didn’t think we would. The arena was floating this morning!” exclaimed Ross Millar after the second show on Sunday.

Millar is the President of Ross Millar Entertainment Group, who puts on the RAM Rodeo. Due to the weather, an intermission was called on Saturday to pack the sand in the arena, as the ground underneath had turned to slippery, wet clay. On Sunday, the show, which was supposed to start at 1pm, was delayed to do more work on draining the grounds from the heavy rainfall from the night before. Furthermore, the pace of the events were slowed down, to ensure that the animals didn’t hurt themselves riding at full-speed. “We’ve done this for 27 years, and this is as bad of weather as we’ve ever had,” Millar pointed out. Despite all this, the crowd applauded in support of the Saturday intermission after Millar explained that they needed to consider the safety of their riders and their animals, and once again on Sunday, the crowd offered no protest to the delay.

“We own horses, and animals are our number one concern. Yes, they’re there to do a job, and they’re very well taken care of by Ross and their team, but I also have to provide that safety. It needs to be safe for the animals, because they cannot make that conscious choice that a human can. We can be conscious and decide to not step in here because it’s dangerous, but we ask the animals to perform, and we have to be the voice for them,” describes Marx, when questioned about the measures taken to ensure safety. That level of understanding from Marx is something that Millar says many of the crowd in Verner also clearly shared, and one of the reasons he and his team love this region. “We go places down in the cities, and we’re a novelty. People don’t really understand what we do. Up here, it’s an agricultural community, they understand livestock and the animals. I think they can truly appreciate it,” he said about the love of animals and the love of rodeo.

Millar says he had been itching to return to Verner since the 2019 International Plowing Match, and no amount of bad weather was going to dampen his enthusiasm. Marx was impressed with the professionalism of the tour in dealing with the challenges and putting on the show for Verner. “Despite the hiccups with the weather and the ring being what the ring became, people were happy that Ross and his team just bared down and pulled everything out of their realm of knowledge and put a show on for these people,” she lauds.

The high regard was mutual. “Caroline and Serge, they are great people. Other than the weather, and that was totally out of their control, they did a hell of a job organizing this, and prepping the area,” said Alex Van Every, the RAM Rodeo Arena Director. He is the man in charge of making sure the show goes on. “I am the ringmaster to the circus, I guess,” he joked. Millar also piled on some praise of his own, commending the couple’s dedication. “There’s no shortage of enthusiasm and energy with them. They came to different rodeos to see how it was done and learn how to do it,” he acknowledged.

At the end of it all, things went well enough for the tour company to be eager to return once again if Marx and Lafrenière decide to host. “I love it up here, it’s peaceful. This property is great. It is ideal for the rodeo, and even with the rain it’s been a good weekend. A little stressful for us to make sure everything went, but it’s been a great weekend,” expressed Van Every. Millar echoed the sentiment, citing the appeal of West Nipissing. “Once you’re north of Barrie, it’s a beautiful drive. A lot of the guys are saying we should come up a day or two early because there’s cottages up here, and just to hang out!”

Learning lessons, and moving forward

The question remains as to whether the Lafrenière farm will host again. “We’re still discussing the possibility of a second year. We’re at an 85% that we’re having it next year. We still have a few things to discuss, because I want to make sure that my team [is behind us], because if I don’t have this team, we don’t have a rodeo,” explains Marx, adding that the volunteers put in a tremendous amount of work.

Another part of the debrief is sifting through the lessons and the feedback from this year. The weather significantly affected the rodeo, and Marx is already thinking of ways to mitigate the impacts of rain. “I can’t put a tent on 14 acres, that’s not a possibility, but how can I mitigate if it does rain? So, the ring is getting completely redone. It’s getting stripped down, it’s getting redone to be safer for the animals, and more drainage so that if we do have that same rain again, it’s going to drain and dry a lot quicker,” she describes. Marx is making an effort to stay positive and focus on solutions, even going so far as calling the rain “almost a blessing, because if it would have been nice and sunny weather, everything would have went a lot differently, but we wouldn’t have seen the worst of it.” Marx asserts that if they’ve seen the worst, then it can only get better from there.

When it comes to the financial burden of the rodeo, Marx insists on keeping part of it under wraps in that same effort to maintain a positive outlook. “I want to keep spirits high, and I don’t want people to think it was a flop,” she explains, admitting that the event did amount to a financial loss for her and her husband. “We knew that it was a possibility, we had the discussion, me and my husband, but we needed to try it. I was not retiring with the thought that we should have tried this. So, yes, it was a six-figure bill to put everything on. Did we make six-figures? No, we did not, and that’s okay,” she philosophizes.

When asked to specify the amount lost, she only hints that it was a “5-figure number, under $50,000.” Marx justifies the loss as a gamble that she and Lafrenière took, but adds that at least their gamble benefited the community. She adds that rumours are likely to spread about the financials, but that she isn’t bothered by that, wanting to focus instead on how to get things on the right path for next year. “Some people will understand, and some people will be very critical about it,” she says, adding that anyone who has put on large events, or who has started their own business is likely to “get it” when it comes to taking a loss early on.

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