Alexander Lynch of Portland lassos a roping dummy at the Little Buckaroo Rodeo on Wednesday, July 26, 2023. 

JOSEPH — The Little Buckaroo Rodeo offered special needs kids and adults a chance to participate on Wednesday, July 26 in the excitement and flurry of activity that marks Chief Joseph Days.

The Little Buckaroo Rodeo now is an established part of the Chief Joseph Days scene. But it didn’t exist before 2015, and its origins are thanks to Debbie Scudder, who pitched the idea to the CJD board and now has built the event to a point where another community is looking to duplicate it.

“I have a degree in special education, and I worked in the Special Olympics,” Scudder said.

After going to the Chief Joseph Days board to see about creating a rodeo for special needs people, Scudder founded the Little Buckaroo Rodeo with the help of her husband, Chris. She said she couldn’t have done the work without Chris’ help.

And now, the Scudders will be going to Lewiston, Idaho, in September to help start a similar event, Scudder said. While it is in the very early stages of planning, Scudder couldn’t be more excited about it.

“Special needs people just touch my heart,” she said. “I think that a certain percentage of society looks down on them… they need an opportunity to experience some things, too.”

Volunteers help

The Little Buckaroo Rodeo in Joseph relies on the help of many volunteers, but no volunteer stands out more than Erin Freels, who is co-chair of the event alongside the Scudders.

After volunteering at the rodeo for the first time, Freels decided she needed to be much more involved than that.

“I really got started in this because my mom ran a DD (developmentally disabled) house. When I moved to Wallowa County in 2018, I needed to find my niche again, and I did,” Freels said.

Freels loves to connect with the special needs kids and adults so she can encourage them to join in on the fun the Little Buckaroo Rodeo offers.

“I guess I just know how to handle DD people,” Freels said. … “I just get on their level and make them feel comfortable. They tend to get very embarrassed or nervous to start, so I just get them comfortable with me first, and then I take them around to each activity.”

“Sometimes they don’t want to do (an activity) the first time, but if I kind of stand around and show them that other people are doing it, or if I do it, they will eventually jump in. I like the joy of it.”

Fun and feedback

The Little Buckaroo Rodeo on Wednesday offered an activity for everyone.

The stick horse barrel race was one of the most popular activities, and Chief Joseph Days volunteers raced around barrels on stick horses alongside the kids.

A roping activity in which the little cowboys and cowgirls could try their hand in lassoing a dummy also was popular, as was the bull-riding activity, where two volunteers gently rocked a fake bull back and forth to mimic the eight-second ride on a real bull.

But no activity was more popular than riding in the Chief Joseph Days stagecoach.

“The stagecoach is always the favorite,” Scudder said.

Dozens of parents and their children lined up to ride in the stagecoach, including Hannah and Holger Stephens of Portland, and their daughter, Sophia.

“We came for the rodeo, of course, but this (the Little Buckaroo Rodeo) just happened to be going, too,” Hannah said.

Bryan Crosby of Joseph was more torn than most on which activity was his favorite.

“It’s hard to say what my favorite was,” he said. “I liked them all. The time went by fast, and I am now drained.”

Trophies

Each special needs child or adult who attended the Little Buckaroo Rodeo was given a T-shirt, cowboy hat, belt buckle, lariat, a bandana and a free ticket to the rodeo Wednesday night for themselves and a caregiver.

Those who needed a larger cowboy hat than the smaller ones on hand at the event were given a voucher to Sports Corral for a hat that would fit them properly, Scudder said.

Major sponsors of the Little Buckaroo Rodeo include Sports Corral, Wheatland Insurance, and Chief Joseph Days, which provides money toward the event each year.

There’s more Chief Joseph Days coverage inside this edition and online at wallowa.com:

• Derek Kolbaba wows the crowd again at the Chief Joseph Days Rodeo: Page A10

• Spectators pack Joseph’s Main Street for the Grand Parade: Page A5

• Miles for Mammograms walk draws a record turnout. Page A7

• Go online to wallowa.com for more photos from the Buckaroo Rodeo, the Grand Parade and Saturday night’s action at the PRCA Rodeo.