Kash Pocha from Helmville participates in the sheep riding event. Sheep come out of the chute with names like, "Twister," "The Flying Squirrel," "Sour Apple" and "Lemon Drop."
The Patriot Parachute Team makes a special appearance for the 60th Helmville Rodeo.
The Helmville rodeo opened its sixtieth rodeo on Sunday with a special appearance by the Patriot Parachute Team skydivers floating into the arena with parachutes and a Betsy Ross flag. In addition there was an appearance by U.S. Congressional Representative Ryan Zinke, who shared an address about Helmville that he will be making in front of Congress soon.
"Sometimes in Washington D.C. people forget about our values. Here our values are pretty simple. We love Montana, we love the great outdoors, we love our Constitution, we love our veterans who serve, and we love America," Rep. Zinke said.
A flag flown over the U.S. Capitol in honor of the 60th anniversary of the Helmville rodeo was displayed at the announcer's stand by Zinke's wife, Lola.
The Helmville Rodeo is commonly called "The Biggest Little Rodeo" in Montana, driving folks from all over the state and internationally to a town of less than 50 people to enjoy the events and festivities.
"We planned our trip to visit our Montana Geary family so we could see the rodeo," Pat McClafferty, who made the trip from Ireland, said. His wife, Marie, added that the rodeo is the "high point" of the family vacation.
For the Helmville performance skydivers jumped from 6,000 feet above the arena and while descending set up a connected dual flag system with smoke signals from their heels. The Patriot Parachute Team is comprised of elite athletes with a passion for skydiving and showmanship. The skydivers come from military backgrounds as Navy Seals and between the four of them have over 30,000 jumps.
A "Folds of Honor" flag marked the landing area. Folds of Honor is a non-profit that supports families and children of fallen service members and first responders. Tommy Applegate from Helmville was the driving force behind getting the skydivers to perform at the rodeo this year.
The top six National Rodeo Association saddle bronc riders, steer wrestlers and ladies breakaway ropers competed in the Helmville rodeo. Helmville is the last of the 53 rodeos of the NRA season. Leading cowboys and cowgirls hope to increase or hold their place in the standings before the finals held Oct. 24-26 in Kalispell.
In the timed events of calf roping, team roping, steer wrestling and breakaway roping the cattle showed their stuff with only a few competitors scoring a time on Sunday. On the rough stock side of the arena, the cowboys fared better with 12 scoring rides. The bucking bulls skunked the cowboys, bucking them all off with hard spins and leaps in the air.
The Red Eye Rodeo from Deer Lodge brought the bucking horses, bulls and roping stock, many of which are from NRA Hall of Fame stock.
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