Rodeo clown delights students

Rodeo clown Burt Davis paid a visit to Sisters Elementary School with his performing dogs. The visit delighted the children who also got a quick history lesson about their hometown rodeo. photo by Jim Mitchell Students at Sisters Elementary School were treated to a rodeo performance of their very own on Thursday, June 10. Burt Davis, a rodeo clown here to work the Sisters Rodeo, paid the school a visit with his trained dogs.

To set the mood, Jenny Gregory, this year's Sisters Rodeo Queen, dressed Principal Tim Comfort in a sequined rodeo blazer and cowboy hat. Comfort replied with a jig and several macho poses, much to the delight of the students.

As Bonnie Malone of the Sisters Rodeo Association related some of the history of the Sisters Rodeo, she asked when the rodeo started. The immediate response was "Saturday!"

Malone came back with, "Oh, no. I mean the beginning of Rodeo Sisters; it began in 1940 where Hoyt's Lumber is now located." After two moves it ended up at the current rodeo grounds in 1980. Early events included wild cow milking, bull roping, and horse racing. Early on, only Sisters area residents were allowed to compete. Now it's an official Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association rodeo.

When she asked for questions, one youngster raised his hand and said, "I know you." She replied, "Oh, good." Another question, "Is the rodeo really the biggest little show in the world?" Her reply: "Our rodeo gives more prize money than any other rodeo its size. Another important thing -- Our rodeo is run completely by volunteers."

Next, clown Davis established a rapport with the students and explained some of the aspects of being a rodeo clown. He told how he started performing at age 15 and became a professional rodeo clown at 16. He is now 46.

"This is a little emotional for me. I wasn't supposed to be here. Last year I took a serious injury, a neck injury, and they told me my career would be shortened. I was supposed to have neck surgery but they said, 'You work on it. You might be on that little borderline.' So I worked on it all during the year. This year I feel great," he said.

Regarding his role as a rodeo clown, Davis offered, "Your parents buy a new car, keep it shined, and when they go to Wal-Mart they park it away from other cars to keep it from being damaged. That's how we feel about the stock we use in rodeos. The stock owners pay $75,000 to $100,000 for an animal; they want to keep it in good shape. We do everything we can to protect the stock and the cowboys."

A little-known aspect of rodeo bull-riding, according to Davis, is that the clown actually irritates the bull with his antics to increase the cowboy's score, which is based on the difficulty of the ride. When the cowboy is thrown, the clown's responsibility is then to help the bull fighters protect the cowboy from the bull. One of the clowns rolls a barrel toward the bull, then jumps in the barrel when he has the bull's attention "so the barrel will give that second or two distraction, to let the cowboy reach safety," Davis said.

"There's someone here I'd like you to meet who shouldn't be here," Davis said. "She was rescued from a pound in Oklahoma. She is a 10-year-old dog that was supposed to be dead seven years ago. This is Kelsey."

A few tricks by the Australian Shepherd captured the hearts of students and staff.

When asked where Australian Shepherds came from, the unanimous response was, "Australia!" Davis told how he had been in Australia and asked where the Australian Shepherds were.

Nobody had one. Then he found out that the name originated in America, not in Australia.

Later Davis related, "I travel with nine dogs. All came from the pound."

Davis concluded, "If you guys have a dream, chase your dream, guys. If you want to be something go out and do it. The only person who is going to do it is yourself. Don't ask your teachers to do it. Don't ask your parents to do it. Do it yourself and have fun."

After the performance Davis talked about his travel schedule, which recently included California, Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Georgia, then back to Sisters.

In Oklahoma two performances were interrupted by tornado watches. He left Georgia at 2 a.m. Sunday, arriving in Sisters on Wednesday afternoon.

Despite a heavy driving schedule, he is grateful that he has seen parts of the country "that people dream about seeing."

He picked out New England in the fall, Mt. Rushmore, The Everglades, Niagara Falls and the Great Smoky Mountains as highlights of his travels.

He finished by complimenting the students at Sisters Elementary School for their courtesy and attentiveness.