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Rodeo History
In 1945 it was a small-town rodeo held on the fairgrounds at the corner of Pacific Highway and Old McLellan Road.
Today the Cloverdale Rodeo & Exhibition is the second largest community rodeo in Canada, attracting competitors and spectators worldwide.
The idea for it was conceived in 1944 when the late Jack Shannon and Clarke Greenaway, two local horse enthusiasts, were watching a rodeo in Kamloops.
The next year the concept of a local rodeo became the major project of local Kinsmen. It was presented entirely by volunteers and "The West Goes Wilder" proved more popular than anyone's wildest dreams.
In fact, it was so popular that in 1947 it was taken over by the Lower Fraser Valley Agricultural Association. The turnout was so huge that year, that hundreds of spectators had to be turned away.
In 1948, the year Cloverdale Rodeo went professional, the association rebuilt the corrals, constructed new chutes and fences and extended the racetrack (which also served as the rodeo arena) to one half mile. Grandstands were added to provide seating for an additional 3,000 people.
That year the rodeo had to be postponed from May until Labour Day weekend because of the Fraser River floods. Things were still mucky when Frank Putnam, then agriculture minister, opened the event to a record crowd of more than 7,000 spectators.
In 1950, for the first time, points scored at Cloverdale went towards standings for the title of World Champion All-around Cowboy. That same year, Sam Shannon, OBE (Jack's brother) crowned the first Rodeo Queen, Patricia Kronebusch with a white stetson hat.
In 1952 Wilf Hodgson became the Rodeo chairman and built the Cloverdale Rodeo into the number 10 rodeo in Canada and number 40 in the world standings in purse money. Wilf remaining in that position until 1965.
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