They don't call them “bullseyes” in field target archery (just 10s) – so a cutesy connection to the eye of an angry rodeo bull and the centre target of a world’s best archery competition can’t be used to link Friday’s Lac La Biche rodeo to the week-long world archery competition taking over the northeastern community at the same time.
Instead, organizers of both events say they scored perfect 10s.
The community rodeo drew hundreds to the Lac La Biche Agricultural Grounds, including most of the 250 archery athletes from around the world competing in the 2024 World Field Archery Championships. While community members were treated to a free admission event, thanks to sponsorship from Lac La Biche County, the athletes were offered a complimentary steak dinner in the Lakeland Agricom before heading to their seats and mixing in with the local rodeo fans.
Aurel Langevin, the president of the Lac La Biche Agricultural Society, said the steak dinner and rodeo were put on to provide the international archers with a good perspective on Western Canadian rural life, as well as the local culture and hospitality.
“Rodeo is synonymous with Western Canada, so we thought it was just an ideal venue to put on for them so that they can see and experience what an amateur rodeo is all about…so they can take back some memories to Europe and wherever they’re from, and hopefully have a lasting memory of what Lac La Biche offers in terms of its hospitality,” he told Lakeland This Week.
The 2024 World Archery Field Championships, Langevin continued, are a significant boost for the Lac La Biche region, not only economically, but also because the major international archery competition puts the area on the world map and promotes it as a very welcoming community, one that these archers and their families will hopefully return to as tourists in the not-so-distant future.
“It kind of puts our little community on the international map,” he stated. “Not very often do you get to host an international event.”
The rodeo was just one of several social events that took place over the week of competition, offering the athletes from around the world a sample of the area’s culture and history. Other events included a cultural night of food and dance, hands-on demonstrations and history from the local Alberta Trappers Association and tours of local attractions like the Lac La Biche Mission and Sir Winston Churchill Provincial Park
Friday’s rodeo, hosted by the Billy McDonald Rodeo Company and the Lac La Biche Agricultural Society was also another opportunity to honour the memory of Billy McDonald. The local rodeo contractor passed away earlier this year.
• with files from Rob McKinley