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Arena Tracks: Banners

PC | Ruth Wiechmann
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“Always give without remembering and always receive without forgetting.”

Brian Tracy

As we rocket into 2025 and the phone calls, emails and letters of fundraising for sponsorships kick into high gear, I hope we can agree that we need to focus a little more on the banners hung inside the arenas in which we compete.



Yesterday, I spent a couple of long hours cold-calling folks for fundraising. I had my metaphorical hat in one hand and the other outstretched asking for sponsorships for the South Dakota Junior High Rodeo Association, a worthy organization.  Before anyone gets any big ideas to recruit me to help with fundraising for your event, know this:  I’m very bad at it.   Pretty much every single person I spoke to had three things in common: 1.  They were from a small town.  2.  They were friendly, kind and willing to help out. 3.  They owned a business with fewer than five employees.  These weren’t folks with secretaries and a cleaning crew.  They were “open the business in the morning, do the work themselves, close the business at night” kind of folks.  I haven’t checked, but I bet not a one of those businesses was on the Fortune 500 list and the owners aren’t billionaires.  The reason I mention this is that the businesses that we ask for sponsorships are folks from our hometowns who take hard-earned money out of their pocket to put it into your pocket.  And for that, we really should be grateful.

Over Christmas I stopped in a local furniture and gift shop in Mitchell, SD.  The business had started as a furniture refinishing shop and grew to include several other vendors in a shop that now carries gifts and other home decor.  The owner was telling me she was retiring and hoping someone would buy the business as so many others in Mitchell had recently closed their doors.  Off the top of her head she rattled off  three long-term Mitchell establishments that wouldn’t be open come 2025.  Without me even asking, she said it would put a dent in the Mitchell organizational fundraising.  When asked why the businesses were closing she immediately said “Amazon.”  Now, I’m as bad as the next guy for grabbing my phone and ordering something off Amazon when needed.  I just ordered two new furnace filters that I couldn’t find locally.  However, after producing barrel futurities, team ropings and helping with countless youth events, I am especially aware of the need to shop local, and especially, shop the folks that support the things that I hold important.  I make a note to look in the program or at the very least, notice the banners in the arenas in which I compete or attend events.  For the most part, I know those folks and the buying is easy.  Even if you want something you don’t see in the local clothing store, approach the owners.  I bet they can order it and might even save you some shipping.  If you don’t and their business is not supported, the next time the T-Ball team or 4H Rodeo calls for a sponsorship, the phone will go unanswered.  If you see someone that sponsors as an individual, take just a second and thank them.  Most do it out of the goodness of their own heart, but it never hurts to reinforce the fact that it is truly appreciated.  Finally, when writing a thank you for an award you receive, put some thought into it.  If you don’t know what to write, ask an adult or a friend.  A blank thank you with just a scribbled name that is illegible is poor compensation for the support given to you by a business or individual.



As you grow and graduate from youth events and maybe start your own businesses, consider paying back the kindnesses that were given to you when you competed.  That’s the only way we can keep the western and rodeo world humming along; one generation supporting the next which will support the next.  It’s the western way of life and we should all be proud of and appreciate what it has given to us, not just in awards or payouts, but in the lessons learned and friendships made.  Write the thank you.  Shop locally.  Neither is a difficult thing to do.

PC | Ruth Wiechmann
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