The fourth annual Logan Parent Memorial Bulls and Barrels is coming to 100 Mile House in mid-June.
The memorial amateur rodeo, which features bull riding and barrel racing, is held each year in memory of Logan Parent, a 100 Mile House bull rider who tragically took his own life after complications with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, better known as CTE. It's a degenerative brain disease typically found in athletes who receive multiple hits to the head, such as bull riders like Logan.
For the last four years, his friends and family, including his mother Cindy Parent and his sister Sienna Parent, have come together to organize the Logan Parent Memorial Bulls and Barrels in his honour. The event serves to both raise awareness about concussions in sports and raise money for the Logan Parent Foundation, which is dedicated to supporting student athletes and changing how they view concussion recovery.
"We hold this event to raise money to try and fund awareness towards CTE, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, and mental health. Our focus is bull riding, but it expands into any part of life," Cindy said.
This year, the fourth Logan Parent Memorial Bulls and Barrels is set to take place at the 100 Mile Outriders Arena on June 13 and 14. Sienna said, as in previous years, the rodeo will get underway with two rounds of bull riding, broken up by barrel racing both days.
Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. with the event starting at 6:30 p.m. and running until the sun sets. Tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for seniors and students for a day pass and $35 and $25, respectively, for a weekend pass. Children five and under get in for free.
"We don't have a clown this year so we're going to get a bunch of husbands (of the barrel racers) to get on their wives' horses and go for it. The horses will probably know the race better than the husbands," Sienna said. "That will kind of be the halftime in between sections."
One of the changes this year is the stock for the rodeo. With C+ Rodeo retiring last year, Cindy said they have switched to Quesnel's Wacey Mulvahill of Mulvahill Rodeos. Cindy noted that Mulvahill Rodeos is new to the industry and she enjoyed supporting people who are starting out.
The rodeo will also not have a dance this year and will instead just extend the hours of its beer garden after the rodeo ends. Cindy said they will also have several food trucks on site, including GBR Burgers, a hot dog food truck and Freezing Point Ice Cream.
"I think it's just a really good weekend. It brings the population we're focusing on together. I feel the rodeo community has a lot of the 'cowboy up and get back on' mindset, so it's great to gather that population and bring the awareness right to that population," Sienna explained. "We're not trying to stop the sport, we're just trying to make it as safe as possible. You have one brain, so take care of it, type of thing."
To continue to promote concussion awareness, this year the Logan Parent Foundation is inviting Samantha Bureau, a doctor who is an executive director with International Research for Concussion Legacy Foundation Canada, to do an education session on concussions and CTE. This will take place around 1 p.m. at the South Cariboo Rec Centre. Cindy noted the CLF aligns with her and Sienna's values and primarily focus on research into concussions and their impacts on the brain.
"Last year, it was a little bit of a last-minute thing, but we really want to make sure this is the educational part of it. Samantha knows what she's speaking about, so we'll definitely ask for a little bit of registration, no cost, of course, just so we have an idea of who is coming," Cindy said.
To register for the education session, Cindy requests people contact her at either 250-706-9380 or loganparentfoundation@gmail.com.
