Fun for Families at the Great Northern Classic Rodeo

Hundreds of fans filled the stands watching cattle roping and other events

SUPERIOR, Wis. – Cattle roping, bull riding and more exciting events brought hundreds out to the rodeo in Superior.

Horses, cattle, cowboys, and rodeo clowns are all part of the spectacle at the annual Great Northern Classic Rodeo.

“It’s the best family entertainment you can find,” said Great Northern Classic Board Member Wayne Lehr. “Good clean fun.”

Stands full of rodeo fans applauding their favorite competitors in the arena.

“People watching, cheering you on, that’s always kind of an adrenaline rush,” said Tim Schmieg, a calf roping competitor.

Schmieg has been calf roping for about four years.

He competes in rodeos every weekend in the summer.

“Everybody’s got their own little thing that they do and this is mine,” said Schmieg. “You get into this and you enjoy it and it’s a great bunch of people. It’s kind of like family. You just find it at the next rodeo, the next town every single week.”

Cattle roping started as a way for ranchers to doctor calves to give them vaccines and other care.

Now, ropers like Schmieg make a sport of it.

“So that’s what we do here,” explained Schmieg. “We run the calf down, rope him, you’ve go to flank it and then tie it while our horse works the rope and you get a time and whoever does it the fastest wins.”

He and the other competitors performed in front of an excited, standing room crowd on Saturday night.

“If you sit there and get to watch the people, especially the kids when they’re playing out here and having fun, it makes the whole thing worth while,” said Wayne Lehr.

Lehr has been part of the rodeo for more than fourteen years.

He says the family-friendly event is a way to go back to an earlier time.

“Well, if you really stop and think about it, you’re going to go back the way the country started,” said Lehr. Everything was done with horses and cattle and this really is still part of it. Say, you take roping, they still do on ranches, but it’s really the way the country got started.”

Now in its twenty-seventh year, the Great Northern Classic does everything possible to help the community.

Friday night’s show was in support of breast cancer victims with performers and fans wearing pink for awareness.