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Mar. 7, 2001
By Jim Mimiaga Organizers of the Four Corners Iron Horse Motorcycle Rally will have to negotiate with the Ute Mountain High School Rodeo Club over booking the county fairgrounds on Labor Day weekend, 2002, the county commissioners decided Tuesday. "The rodeo club has had that spot for many, many years and we have to respect that," said Commissioner Gene Story. In a conference call Tuesday afternoon with rally president Warren "Easy" Bernard, the commissioners said that the club has priority because of its commitment over the last 12 years to the holiday weekend. "If you can arrange with them, then more power to you," said commission chairperson Kent Lindsay. "But we can’t just pitch them out of there." The controversial motorcycle rally, which has drawn both praise and criticism for its combination of economic benefits and deafening intrusion, last year brought some 30,000 cyclists to La Plata County. But it will no longer be held at the Sky Ute Downs in Ignacio, the birthplace of the event in 1993. A new industrial park is reportedly being planned for the limited grounds, owned by the Southern Ute tribe. "We just found out that this year will be the last for us there," Bernard said. "We’ll see if we can work out a deal with the club, then." Efforts to bring the rally here are hampered by a no-alcohol policy at the fairgrounds and the fact that the three-day weekend is already scheduled in 2002 for the rodeo, a popular community tradition. The commissioners emphasized that they were not trying to "pass the buck" or put the onus of the decision whether to host the rally on the high-school rodeo club. Even if an agreement is reached, they said, the decision on whether to lift the fairgrounds alcohol ban (required by rally organizers) must ultimately be made by the commission. "If the rodeo club sticks by their date, we’ll stick with them," said Lindsay. "The alcohol issue is a separate deal." But while the "twist of fate" that brought the rally and the high-school rodeo to the same crossroads was perhaps unavoidable, it feels like the buck has been passed, said Carol Haygood, a sponsor for the rodeo club, on Wednesday. She was contacted by Bernard within minutes after his conversation with the commissioners. "I was surprised. It is like the thing is being pushed off on us. Can’t the commission make the decision?" Haygood said. "I told him (Bernard) I was too busy to deal with it right away, especially with the Ag Expo and a rodeo coming up. But I said it would be discussed; at this time it is undecided." Bernard gave incentives for the club to give up the three-day weekend, which he said was the time that would work for the rally. Haygood said that Bernard offered to donate $1,000 for each of the 15 Montezuma-Cortez High School team members for competition costs, plus provide a concessionaire booth at the rally, in exchange for the date. "After it’s split up, the figure is really just chump change," Haygood said of the deal. "And as far as a concession at the rally, that’s not something we want our kids to be exposed to." Haygood expressed numerous concerns and was hesitant to give up the rodeo’s location and time slot for the sake of an out-of-town motorcycle rally. "Is it really worth it?" she asked. "The overall, long-term picture is that the rally would really change what people love about Cortez, that it is a quiet community that wants to stay that way for a reason." To move would mean losing the rodeo event that brings high-school teams and their families from across the state to the well-equipped fairgrounds here, she said. And she worried that accepting money from the Iron Horse rally could jeopardize the $10,000 allocated each year by the Re-1 school district for the rodeo team. The rodeo and its numerous competitions used to be split up between La Plata County’s fairgrounds and Montezuma’s. But in 1996 it was all moved to Montezuma County because the fairgrounds’ two arenas could more efficiently handle the dozens of events and large crowds. Haygood said she would discuss the issue with the school board, the rodeo teams, parents and others, hinting that, while it may not always be popular, sometimes other values trump the lure of money. "Money can’t buy morals, or your standards, or your way of life," she said. "Those things are like your friends, and that is kind of how we stand with this." Their difficult position has already caused at least one business to drop its advertising with the club "because we wouldn’t support the rally. Ether way we lose," Haygood said. On the alcohol question, Bernard said he agreed with others that it is a safety issue, explaining that if participants can buy liquor at the fairgrounds "they are less likely to drive into town, go to the bar, pick up more beer and drive back." He said that the rally will have a booth set up at the Ag Expo, beginning March 15. "Hopefully we won’t be tarred and feathered," Bernard said. "We want people to see for themselves that we are normal folks." |
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