The 96th Williams Lake Stampede opened Friday, June 28, by honouring two groups of horse and wagon riders into the arena.
Sammy Stump's Every Child Matters Country Wagon Ride with riders from Tl'esqox First Nation arrived all dressed in orange.
An elder from Tl'etinqox, Stump's wagon had an Every Child Matters banner on it, representing the children that never came home from residential school. Orange Shirt Society founder Phyllis Webstad was riding in the wagon as well.
Speaking on behalf of the group, Violet Fuller said the riders were from the age of five and up and as the days passed more riders joined them.
After their group, the Xeni Gwet'in Youth Horse and Wagon riders entered the arena, most wearing blue shirts. They had just arrived into Williams Lake from Highway 20 moments before.
Jimmy Lulua, one of the ride's founders, said they had covered 300 km give or take to travel from Xeni Gwet'in to the Stampede.
"We are trying to better our language and our culture by being out on the land," Lulua said.
A traditional welcome was given by Williams Lake First Nation elder Tom Alphonse who recognized the Williams Lake Stampede, the stock contractors and all the rodeo fans.
He encouraged everyone to turn to the person next to them, shake hands and say "welcome to the Williams Lake Stampede."
The welcome also included a drum song, led by David Archie.
In rodeo action, five of nine bull riders qualified.
Wyatt Gleeson of Sundre, Alta. scored 88, Cody Fraser, also of Sundre, scored 85, Jacob Gardner of Fort St. John, B.C. rode for an 84, Bo Vocu of Ashland, MT scored 79.5 and Cauy Schmidt of Coronation, Alta got 59.
The Wild Cowgirl race saw Kaitlyn McClure of Riske Creek, B.C. ride for first, followed by Miranda Beedle of Prince George, B.C. for second and Mackenzie Hannas of Williams Lake for third.
Darren Sulin of Nimpo Lake placed first in the Mountain Race and William Smithers of Merritt placed second.
Originally the Mountain Race was scheduled to be in the first half of the rodeo, but ended up being run at the end of the evening after the bull riding had finished.
This is the first year the Williams Lake Stampede is using C-5 Rodeo from Alberta as the stock contractor so there are some new people working near the chutes and assisting the athletes in the arena.
Full Throttle Trick Riders Shelby Pierson and Bella Da Costa are performing during the intermission, sharing some daring stunts.
Audiences are reminded on Saturday and Sunday, the rodeo performances start at 3:45 p.m., which is different than in previous years, while on Monday the performance begins at 1:45 p.m.
