Outside Circle by Jan Swan Wood: Storm, Tom Casteel benefit, rodeo smoker, barrels barrels barrels, richest breakaway

That was quite a storm that went through, wasn’t it? I was sure glad to be on the edge of it with not much snow. The wind, however, was hurricane force and made things rattle around here that weren’t even loose before. March is off to a normal start. There’s water dripping off the eaves as I write and the sun is shining brightly with hardly a breeze. It’s sure giving the stock and wildlife a rest from those several days of storm.

First of all, I want to tell you about a wonderful fundraiser and get-together going on for a longtime friend of mine, Tom Casteel. He’s been through cancer treatment at Mayo and is home now. There’s going to be a shindig in his honor to help them out a bit. It’s called a Celebration of Hope, and will be March 24, 5 p.m. at Dave’s Neighborhood Pub in Vale, S.D. There will be a spaghetti and potluck supper, silent and live auction, plus a live band and dance from 7:30 to midnight. Donations are being accepted for the auctions and you can leave them off at the pub in Vale or call Meghan Foos at 605-645-7556.

The Annual New Underwood High School Rodeo Smoker will be March 16 with a steak or fish dinner, live and silent auction and live band and dance to follow. It will be at the New Underwood Community Center and tickets are on sale now.

There’s been a change of date for the Cloverleaf NBHA Buckle Series. It will be March 17 at Graham Arena, Baker, Mont., March 24 at J & A Arena, Glendive, Mont., and March 31 at Thornton Arena, Sidney, Mont. They are double headers, $100 minimum added per race. Time onlies will run from 10-11:15 a.m., open arena from 11:15 to 11:45 and the first race starts at noon. The second race will start 30 minutes after the first round is completed. For further info, call Karli at 406-570-3361.

The National High Stakes Barrel Racing Series starts soon. March 23-25 will be at Wright, Wyo., then Bowman, N.D. On April 6-8, Wright, Wyo. April 27-29, Rock Springs, Wyo. Mary 31-June 2, Wheatland, Wyo. July 21, Riverton, Wyo. August 23-25, Rock Springs Sept. 28-30, Casper, Wyo. October 19-21 and the finals at Rapid City, S.D. on November 9-11. There’s an 80/20 payout, $150 entry fee. Call Erin at 307-340-8186 or Shonda at 307-331-2678.

The Northern Hills Little Britches Rodeo will be March 30-April 1 at the Event Center, Rapid City, S.D. It will start at 8 each morning. This is a great rodeo to watch as it has kids of all ages. Always a good time.

There will be a horsemanship and barrel clinic with Sam Sheppick and Jill Moody at the Stanley County Fairgrounds, Ft. Pierre, S.D. on April 13 and 14 and April 27 and 28. It’s $300 for the first day with one horse, $50 for each additional horse that day. On the second day, it’s $150 with $25 for each additional horse. It starts at 10 a.m. Each day and there’s no charge to watch. You do need to reserve your spot in the clinic though, so private message Jill Moody on Facebook to get your name on the list.

The World’s Richest Breakaway, Big Man’s Bonus Steer Wrestling and the Ote Berry Jr., Jackpot and World Championship qualifier are coming up in Silesia, Mont. At the Cottonwood Equestrian Center. May 9th starts it off with the Ote Berry Jr. where you can enter twice and it’s limited to 35 entries. It will have two long goes and the top 12 come back for the short go. Pre-entries are due April 23 and you can text only to 406-670-9286 or email mmurphy051719@gmail.com.

The World’s Richest Breakaway will be May 10 at 10 a.m. With $7,500 added, two rounds, top 30 to a short go. To enter go to http://www.worldsrichestbreakaway.com. Entries are open now and will close May 4. Call Jacey at 406-855-2765 for info on that. For the Big Man’s Bonus Steer Wrestling at 5 p.m. on May 10, there will be 35 entries taken with the top 10 in the short go. It has $3,500 added. You can call Ron at 701-897-1418, Kyle at 307-751-9358 or Martin at 406-670-9286.

That’s it for another week. Hopefully by next week the snow will be going away and the signs of spring will be popping up here and there. Have a great week and be careful out there.