Local named to St. Paul Rodeo hall of fame

A Sisters-area resident has been named to the St. Paul Rodeo Hall of Fame.

Norm Berhorst is one of five new honorees being recognized this year by the rodeo's board of directors.The award recognizes Berhorst's long association with the St. Paul Rodeo, both as a participant and as a volunteer as well as his rodeo career at many of other Oregon rodeos including the Sisters Rodeo.

On June 29, Norm and his wife, Jan, will attend the Hall of Fame presentation steak dinner at St. Paul the night before the five-day 81st annual St. Paul Rodeo begins.

Norm was born in Newberg, but spent all of his school years in St. Paul. His first contact with the St. Paul Rodeo came after he finished high school. There he helped the pickup men control bucking broncos after the cowboy's ride.

"In those days the pickup men would grab the rein of the horse and lead him over to me," Berhorst recalls. "It was my job then to lead the horse out of the arena while trying to keep it from biting or kicking me."

Norm signed up for events at many of the small-town rodeos throughout Oregon. In one event named the Pony Express, he raced other contestants as each made three trips around the arena, changing a horse for each turn. He also was introduced to the wild horse event where a three-man team holds a horse while a saddle is placed on the horse. One team member then rides the horse down the arena.

As a high school junior in 1955 he won the bucking bronco event at the V.F.W. Junior Rodeo at Molalla and took home a $50 prize.

He remembers participating at the Sisters Rodeo when it was held where Hoyt's Hardware is now located. He and other participants camped close to the grounds, providing food and beverage for visiting friends.

In 1962 Norm and two others made the long trip to the Pendleton Roundup to enter the wild horse race, one of 12 three-man teams in the event. Norm's two partners held and saddled a wild horse and then helped Norm into the saddle.

When the dust cleared Norm had made the required ride and his team had won first prize that included a silver engraved belt buckle and a cash prize.

"I don't recall how much we won because the big thing for us was to win that buckle," Norm recalled.

Shortly after that Norm decided to end his days as a rodeo participant. He worked for several decades for garbage companies in Harrisburg and Wilsonville before having the opportunity to buy the company at Harrisburg. He ran that company for 10 years before selling it in 2003. Norm and his wife moved to a new home in Crossroads, west of Sisters. He has kept his interest in rodeo active through volunteer work with his wife at the Sisters Rodeo for 12 years.

He will join four other new inductees, including one of his Pendleton Roundup wild horse team, Tex Irwin. The third man of that team, Bob Hagameure, is deceased.

By the end of the evening Norm will join 94 other Hall-of-Famers honored for their contributions to the rodeo profession as participants, volunteers and organizers. Besides many local St. Paul volunteers, the Hall of Fame list reads like a who's who of the rodeo world. It includes rodeo announcer Mel Lambert, top performers Larry Mahan and Jim Shoulders, million-dollar barrel-race winner Charmayne James, popular rodeo clown Flint Rasmussen, and champion bullfighter Rob Smets.