Durdan named Rodeo Grand Marshal

Lei Durdan of Sisters has been selected as the parade grand marshal for the 67th annual Sisters Rodeo, according to Glenn Miller, president of the Sisters Rodeo Association. Durdan will lead the parade on June 9 and will be introduced at all four rodeo performances.

Durdan is a long-time Sisters area resident and former board member of the rodeo association. Her family first visited the area in 1959 and moved here permanently in 1979.

"We were living in Hawaii and friends suggested that we needed to travel with our three children," Durdan said. "We saw an ad in Sunset Magazine for Donna Gill's Guest Ranch out on Indian Ford Road. That looked interesting, so we spent some time there. We liked it so much so we came back a second year. On that trip, we learned that Donna Gill wanted to sell about 200 acres next to the ranch. She quoted us a price at so much an acre. In Hawaii, land was selling at a price a square foot, so I encouraged my husband, Scott, to buy it."

Later, when her family moved to Lake Oswego, they built a small house on the property and eventually built the larger house where she now lives at her Crooked Pine Ranch. Her husband and Fred Arpke bought more of the Indian Ford Ranch, partitioned it for development and sold portions to others who had been guests at the ranch.

"We first went to the Sisters Rodeo even before we had a house here," Durdan recalls. "At the time, the rodeo was held downtown. We stayed at Brownie's Motel, and it was so cold. We would go back to the motel and take the blankets off the bed to wrap up in and watch the rodeo. Once we lived here, we were very active in the parade. We would invite many of the local homeowners to ride into town with us to be in the parade and then ride back home."

Durdan learned of her selection as parade grand marshal through a surprise visit from rodeo association board member Bonnie Malone and Durdan's daughter, Ginger Durdan-Shaw. They burst in on the social hour at a recent Sisters Rotary Club new member initiation gathering, wearing Western outlaw clothing and looking for Durdan.

Durdan still trains driving horses and plans to select one of her several carriages to ride in for the rodeo parade.

Four exciting performances and a weekend of special events are planned for "The Biggest Little Show in the World" scheduled for June 8, 9, and 10.

Performances will be held at the Sisters rodeo grounds on Friday, June 8, 7 p.m.; Saturday, June 9, 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.; and Sunday, June 10, 1 p.m. The traditional rodeo parade will be held in downtown Sisters on Saturday, June 9, starting at 9:30 a.m. On Sunday, June 10, the Kiwanis Buckaroo Breakfast will be served from 7 to 11 a.m., and the Cowboy Church Service will be held at 9 a.m., both at the rodeo grounds.

Ticket prices range from $10 to $15. All seats are unreserved at $10 for the Friday evening performance with children 12 and under admitted free. Seating for all other performances is reserved. Group rates are available for 10 or more for the Sunday afternoon performance. Children six and under are admitted free in some sections on Sunday.

Rodeo tickets may be purchased now by calling the ticket hotline at 549-0121 in Central Oregon or (800) 827-7522 outside the area. Beginning in March, hours will be announced when tickets may be purchased at the rodeo office at 220 W. Cascade Ave. in Sisters. In the meantime, the 2007 Sisters Rodeo poster can be purchased at Leavitt's in Sisters.