8/30/2006 – News
Volume 123, Number 30
Warwick girl takes second in nation at high school rodeo
BY RICHARD PETERSON
Laura Waldo of Warwick turned out to be the reserve champion goat tying contestant at the National High School Rodeo Finals held in Springfield, Ill. in July. But she’s not satisfied with being second in the nation. "I’ve got two more chances at the top position," she says.
She’ll be a junior at Devils Lake High School this year and she can compete next summer and the summer after in the national event. If she ends up in one of the top four positions in the state, as she did this year, she’ll be able to go to the nationals again. As a matter of fact, she was in first place in North Dakota this year.
The 17-year-old is the daughter of Steve and Lynn Waldo. They live on a farm three miles north of Warwick.
This is her third summer of competing in goat tying and she’s obviously very good at it. She’s at a rodeo in North Dakota nearly every weekend from the end of April through the end of September.
This summer she’s been west to Bowman and Watford City, north to Pembina and south and east to West Fargo.
In the goat tying event, the contestant comes into the arena mounted on a horse at a gallop. The goat is held on a 10-foot tether and when the contestant and horse come into the arena, the goat is let loose.
The contestant has to ride to the vicinity of the goat, dismount from the moving horse, catch the goat, throw it to the ground and tie three legs, leaving the goat immobile. It takes teamwork between the contestant and the horse.
Laura was a little apprehensive going to the nationals because she didn’t have her horse along. The Waldos decided not to take 16-year-old Jackson, her goat-tying horse, because they felt the long trip to the finals in Illinois would take too much out of him and Laura needs him to compete in rodeos in August and September. So Laura borrowed Pouch, a gelding owned by the Grann family of Sheyenne and Minnewaukan, to ride at the national finals. The Granns also made the trip to the national finals to compete. Pouch must have worked well with Laura because she came home with second place in the nation.
Laura and her dad drove to Springfield in their pickup filled with hay for the Grann horses. The Grann pickup pulled a trailer with five horses. It was a 940-mile one way trip and the big pickups guzzled lots of gas. "I noticed at one stop we made to fill up that gas was $3.11 per gallon," Laura said. "I tried not to pay attention to the cost after that."
The night of July 21 they stayed at the Russ Foss Belgian Farm near Rochester, Minn. The Fosses have a home in Minnewaukan and the Granns got acquainted with them while they were here. Since the Foss farm is set up for horses, this was a natural stop for them. They went on to Springfield the next day.
Now the national finals isn’t like a weekend rodeo at Wing. Nothing against Wing, you understand, but the national finals are much, much bigger. There are thousands of spectators — and thousands of contestants! The national finals began July 24 and ended July 30, so it’s quite a bit more than a weekend. There are about 11 events and from 180 to 200 contestants in each event.
There are two rodeos each day, one at 9 a.m. and one at 7 p.m. Each rodeo features about 30 contestants in each of 11 events, such as bull riding, bareback riding, barrel races, goat tying, etc. Laura was guaranteed two events and because she was in the top 20, she competed a third time, winning the reserve championship — and trailing behind the grand champion by two one-hundredths of a second.
Did you get that? Two one-hundredths of a second! Whoever would have thought such tiny measurements could even be taken.
While in Springfield the temperature was in the 90’s every day with 90 percent humidity. It was stifling. The Granns didn’t finish in the top 20 and they were worried about their horses in the oppressive heat so they left for home July 29. Pouch, however, stayed with Laura for her final round. Pouch caught a ride home with Bud Redding of Velva. Laura’s got her eye on going to the national finals again next year. It appears it would be foolhardy to bet against her.
Laura Waldo, 17, holds the halter of Sam, one of her saddle horses on her farm near Warwick. She recently won second place in the nation in goat tying at the National Finals High School Rodeo in Springfield, Ill. She has two more years of eligible competition in the sport.
She won two belt buckles at the national finals to add to her collection. The one on the left is for being among the top four in goat tying in North Dakota. The one on the right is the reserve champion buckle for goat tying.
Visit with President Bush
Two young men, formerly of Esmond, had their photo taken with President George W. Bush at the Republican Party President’s Dinner in Washington, DC. Corey Hansen, right, is the Fargo team leader for Strategic, a fund-raising organization that was working for the Republican Party. His team had the best improvement rate of all Strategic’s teams. He joined Strategic in April of 2004 as a telephone sales representative and was promoted to team leader in July of 2005. He was accompanied to the dinner by his brother, Casey, left, who is working on a physical therapy degree at NDSU. Both Hansens are graduates of Maddock High School, Corey in 1999 and Casey in 2002. They are the sons of Wanda Braten of Maddock and James Hansen of Esmond. Grandparents are Laura and Walter "Bud" Hansen of Esmond and Helen and Mike Haluzak of Dunseith.
The small grains harvest is wrapping up.
These three combines attacked a small field near Six Mile Bay August 23 and made quick work of it. High temperatures in July hurt the crops.
Gumeringer earns Eagle Scout rank; Esmond roots
Benjamin Gumeringer of Bismarck was honored at an Eagle Court of Honor August 21. He achieved the rank of Eagle Scout on August 2.
He is a freshman at St. Mary’s Central High School in Bismarck and is the son of Ron and Toni Gumeringer of Bismarck. His grandparents are Edmund and Leah Gumeringer of Esmond and Mary A. Bullinger of Mandan.
Ben started his scouting adventure as a Tiger Cub in Pack 16 while a kindergarten student at Cathedral School. As a Wolf, Ben earned one gold and three silver arrow points. He earned one gold and two silver arrow points as a Bear. While a Webelo Scout Ben earned all 21 activity badges and 12 pins for his participation in sports. He participated in camping activities by attending Cub Scout Day Camp, Triangle Y Scout Camp and Wilderness Webelos Camp. Ben earned both the Light of Christ and Parvuli Dei Catholic religious medals. He received Cub Scouting’s highest honor, the Arrow of Light on Feb. 9, 2003.
Ben joined Troop 11, sponsored by the Bismarck Elks Lodge in February 2003. While a member of Troop 11 Ben earned 27 merit badges. He camped a total of 31 nights, including several flag ceremonies at Medora and weeks at Camp Wilderness in Minnesota. He demonstrated leadership by serving as troop librarian, den chief for Pack 16 at Cathedral, patrol leader and assistant patrol leader. He earned the Historic Trails patch in 2004 by working at the Chateau de Mores in Medora. In 2004 he received the Ad Altare Dei Catholic Religious Medal.
Ben’s Eagle Scout project was to remove old vegetation from the front of the Dorothy Moses School, plant a decorative tree and landscape the area with weed barrier and rock. He devoted approximately 50 hours of planning and work to the project. It took 100 volunteer hours by scouts, family and friends to complete the project.
Benjamin Gumeringer
Flag program
The Theo. A. Togstad American Legion Auxiliary Unit 123 of Maddock presented a program on flag presentation at the Maddock Memorial Home. An outside flag for the home was dedicated. Cupcakes decorated with toothpick flags and ice cream were served. Those who took part were, left to right, Carmen Paulson, Lois Johnson, Bernice Aanderud, junior member Brittni Rice and Lucille Westby.