Jonathan Moore from Great Falls leads off the bull riding.
Sarai Berg from Deer Lodge competes in Ladies Breakaway Roping
Brittney Kelly from Seeley Lake studiously guides the family horse in the 11-16 year olds local barrel race event.
Sheep rider Maya Mannix, with Taylor Ophus at the gate, Helmville.
Wyatt Hotz, from Phillipsburg, in the Saddle Broncs.
Eli Ostler, Drummond, bringing it home in the 10 and Under local barrel race. "I had fun, just wished my horse went faster," Eli said. He has barrel raced in Helmville for a few years.
The whispers of "Heads up, something special is going to happen at the beginning of the rodeo," floated around the grandstands, building suspense for the opening of the 59th Helmville Rodeo.
Following the presentation of the Montana and Armed Forces flags, Bonnie Weaver, rodeo club secretary and Bill Baker, Rodeo Club president carried the American Flag to the center of the freshly groomed arena.
Lily Boyd, a Seeley-Swan High School student from Condon climbed onto a barrel and prepared to interpret the National Anthem by sign language.
Then a helicopter from Deer Lodge Heli-Works appeared, circling the arena with a large American Flag dangling on a weighted cable while the National Anthem was sung over the loudspeaker.
"I've seen this at the Calgary Stampede," boomed rodeo announcer Joe Warner. "And now in Helmville, USA the American Flag is being presented by helicopter!"
This year more than 300 competitors flocked to the Helmville rodeo for the nine regular events plus the six special events Helmville is known for; steer riding, sheep riding, mini-broncs, locals barrel racing, wild cow milking and stock saddle broncs.
The main performances featured the top six NRA saddle bronc riders on Sunday and the top six NRA steer wrestlers on Monday. Some lucky few presented their skills in the rodeo performances. The remainder competed during the "slack" or overflow times between the two performances Sept. 3 and Sept. 4.
"This rodeo must be something unique because the rodeo is getting bigger every year," said Randy Mannix, Helmville.
Mannix competed for several years in Wild Cow Milking, which he says has changed over the years.
"Now they mix in a few steers with the cows," he said.
The Rodeo Club completed building and installing two new bucking chutes just in time for this year's rodeo, for a total of eight chutes.
The Helmville Rodeo is the last chance on the 29 rodeo Northern Rodeo Association (NRA) circuit for top competitors to earn one of the coveted top 10 places in order to compete at the NRA finals in Kalispell Oct. 26-28 at Majestic Valley Arena. The NRA is a Montana-based rodeo association founded in 1973.
The top six saddle bronc riders in the NRA standings were selected for a Cowboy Calcutta Sunday. Cowboys drew the name of the horse they would ride from a hat. The crowd bid on them individually and the winning cowboy and his bidder split the $11,680 pot, the largest pot to date at the Helmville Rodeo. Then the cowboys rode the horse that they drew in the event.
Red Eye Rodeo Company provided the rodeo stock and saved the top bucking horses for the top six saddle bronc riders event. Bucking horses are nominated for top horse of the year and two of the horses were NRA Finals horses.
A 1940 Helmville Rodeo program in the Ovando Museum shows that the rodeo tradition in Helmville is much older than 59 years celebrated at this year's event. The antique program states that the rodeo was hosted by the Catholic Church and church ladies provided lunch in those days.
Today the rodeo is a joint effort between the Helmville Rodeo Club and Community Club. The town of 97, according to Ovando 2021 census data, turns out in force to prepare the ground, run the concession stand and clean up after the 1,000's of people that attend the rodeo.
The Geary Brothers Ranch generously provides the rodeo grounds for the hundreds of competitors and thousands of fans.
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