WILLISTON Williston State College's agriculture department will host its first Christmas Rodeo Friday in The Wall.
"Beau (Anderson, WSC Ag Instructor) and I had been tossing around ideas of ways to involve the community in on some of the things that the agriculture department is doing, especially our Carcass Challenge he had seen something like this in a magazine," said ag instructor Kim Murphy. "I thought it sounded a lot like the Cowboy Christmas event they have in Las Vegas during the National Finals Rodeo, and we have our annual NFR pool, so we decided to try and combine all the ideas into one fun event."
The day will kick off at 10 a.m. with shopping in The Well. Vendors, including The Lucky Buckle out of Sidney, Mont., The GalleRay, Norwick, Pink by Tracy, AVON, Patty's Natural, Lia Sophia, and many more, will be on hand to help with Christmas shopping. There is no charge for the shopping.
A social hour, with a no-host cash bar provided by the American Legion Club, will begin at 6 p.m., with a prime rib dinner, catered by the El Rancho, at 6:30 p.m. The winners from the first annual Carcass Challenge will be recognized and prizes awarded at 7 p.m.
D.W. Groethe, cowboy poet from Bainville, Mont., will entertain at 7:30 p.m., followed at 8 p.m. by an auction of items donated by the vendors who will set up during the day. At 9 p.m., attendees can choose to watch the National Finals Rodeo on the big screen, or dance to Dudley and the Deadbeats, a band from Glasgow, Mont.
Proceeds from the auction, and any profit made from the evening's activities, will go to the college's Ag Ambassador program, which will train students to promote agriculture by speaking in elementary classrooms, to church groups, etc., Murphy said.
Tickets for the dinner are $30 per person and will be sold at the Christmas Rodeo booth, which will be set up in The Well during the day, or can be purchased in advance by contacting Murphy at 774-6226 or send e-mail to her at kim.murphy@willistonstate. edu. The event is open to the public.