Neals are grand marshals

Becki and Jim Neal are the grand marshals for the 59th Sisters Rodeo.

Both of the Neals have been active in the Sisters Rodeo Association for the past 20 years. Becki's primary role was serving as parade chairperson for 15 of those years, ending with the 1997 parade.

Jim was part of the work crew that helped build the present--day rodeo grounds. He has led the parade for most of those years on his horse, Cricket, carrying the American flag .

However, his big job has been working the "out gate" and "stripping chute" at the rodeo with his hand--picked crew, making sure that all broncos and bulls leave the area quickly and safely.

Becki is a third--generation Oregonian, raised on a dairy farm in Tillamook.

"Even though we had only dairy cows, we still had horses," Becki remembers.

She began her hairdressing career in 1964, first in Tillamook and then in Portland. In 1978, she wanted to escape the wet climate and associated allergy problems. Right away, she considered Sisters, since she and her family had come to the area each fall for two weeks of deer hunting and camping at Indian Ford Campground.

Becki and her sister, Judy, opened B--J and Friends family hair care salon. Judy has since married and now lives in Canada.

Jim was born in Missouri, but grew up in the Burns and Silvies Valley area of eastern Oregon, working as a cowboy even as a youngster. After graduating from high school, he joined the U.S. Air Force and was trained in air traffic control.

"I spent time in the Spokane area, helping to train our pilots to get together with 'enemy' planes," he recalled. "My last year, I supervised a radar site near Yakima. After I retired from the service, I went to work as an air traffic controller at Los Angeles, trying to keep the planes apart."

Jim later became supervisor at the Los Angeles Air Traffic Control Center.

When Jim retired from his civilian career in air traffic, he remembered Sisters as a pretty place that he used to travel through on trips from his home in Burns to the Valley. He met Becki in 1979 and they were married in 1987. They now live on a five--acre ranch just east of Sisters.

Jim's rodeo experiences have included some adventures.

Several years ago at the Sisters Rodeo grounds, a bull named "Cuddles" jumped the fence and came after rodeo official John Morris. Then the bull turned on Jim who had attracted the bull's attention with a well--placed kick.

"Cuddles" charged Jim who jumped up on the fence, but not before the bull broke Jim's leg.

"Jim also had a lot of years of lessons with 'Satan,' a really wild bull who visited Sisters many times," Becki said.

At a rodeo in southern Deschutes County, Jim was working the "out gate" of a temporary setup when "Satan" jumped over the gate into the chute with him. Jim jumped over the fence into an open field, only to be followed closely by the bull. Jim jumped back into the chute and "Satan" gave up.

During an average rodeo, Jim and his hand--picked crew face down and safely guide some 27 bulls each weighing as much as a ton and many horses weighing some 1,200 pounds each for each show.

"The rodeo only works as fast and slick as the stripping crew lets it, and I worked with a great group of guys," Jim said.

These days, the Neals enjoy hunting and fishing, plus trips with their travel trailer to Alaska and throughout the west.

On June 12, parade viewers will see Becki riding in a wagon with Jim's grandniece and grandnephew. Jim will be riding beside the wagon on "Cricket."

"We need to share this honor with her too," Neal said.