Most cowboys, especially bull riders, have long stopped competing when they pass 70 years of age. Ron Snoddy just can’t get the adrenalin out and proved it a few years ago when he entered the bull riding at Club Rodeo in Wichita. Snoddy, 76, will mount another bucking bull at the 48th annual Burlingame Rodeo, May 18-19, in honor and memory of Burlingame Saddle Club members.

By Frank J. Buchman

It’s just impossible to take the boy out of a cowboy.

Living proof is lifetime cowboy Ron Snoddy, active member of the Burlingame Saddle Club.

He’ll be 77 years old in just a few weeks, but age is no detriment for a real cowboy.

Snoddy is entered in the bull riding in the first performance of the 48th annual Burlingame Rodeo Friday evening, May 18, 2018, at Burlingame.

“I’m doing it in memory and honor of the Burlingame Saddle Club members who started and have continued sponsoring the rodeo,” Snoddy said.

“Ron was one of the saddle club members when the Burlingame Rodeo began,” said Pat Rusher, active club leader now.

“I can’t begin to name everybody who has helped through the years,” Rusher admitted. “Ron along with Pete Stout and John Pickett are the only ones left from when the rodeo started. Paul Lang had been heavily involved from the beginning, but he passed away about a year ago.”

“I competed in lots of rodeos in the late ’50s and early ‘60s,” Snoddy reflected. “Just the bull riding, no other events, always loved the bull riding.”

Collecting a number of payback checks, Snoddy claimed, “I paid for lots of gas for the other cowboys, but I had as much fun as anybody going up and down the road. There’s nothing like being a rodeo bull rider.”

Like many, after getting married and starting a family, Snoddy was forced to step away from rodeo. “I had to make a living and wasn’t able to do that with rodeo. I became a carpenter as my profession,” Snoddy said.

Living in Topeka, Snoddy was always in the bleachers at rodeos in driving distance throughout the years. “Watching those other cowboys ride just doesn’t compare to getting down on the bull and nodding for the gate yourself,” he insisted.

The 2018 graduating class of Marais des Cygnes Valley High School. Photo by Jerry Kramer, Kramer Photos.

Springtime marks the beginning of new life, but also the end of another school year. With graduation season here, 19 Trojans led the way in collecting their hard-earned diplomas May 6, 2018, at Marais des Cygnes Valley High School, at Melvern, Kan.

In his address to family, friends and well-wishers at the ceremony Sunday, MdCV  salutatorian Kaden Armbrister noted the finality of graduating, but also the promise of the future.

“High school graduation finds itself among a very short list of life milestones that serve to mark both an end and a beginning,” Armbrister said. “This way-point is the end of our official childhood, and the beginning to our years as adults.”

The salutatorian recognized everyone present at the graduation and their roles in the graduates’ childhoods and “paving the way to make us better, more prepared adults.”

He noted that memories will remain but the graduates will face new paths toward the future.

“What is important is not what exactly each of us is going to do, but the knowledge that there are so many possibilities within our reach,” he said. “My sincere wish is that each of us
chooses the path that is best for us, and a great future waits.”

MdCV valedictorian Kali Holt encouraged her classmates to take a break and pause before jumping off into the future.

“Graduation is one of those awkward times in our lives when we are torn between the joy of our memories and the excitement of our future,” Holt said. “Should we look back on what were the greatest four years of our lives, or instead, should we focus on the next stage in our journey?”

Holt noted the graduates’ lives had been forever altered from their time at MdCV and “after we toss our caps into the air.”

“This town being where we made all of our memories together, we can’t forget where we come from,” she said.

“Here is my advice: I believe this isn’t the time to make hard, fast decisions,” she said. “The moment you cross this stage, be a little reckless and carefree. Go make mistakes … do something out of your comfort zone.

“Admit what your dreams are,” she said. “Don’t beat yourself up if you don’t know what you’re going to do.”

Holt told the graduates that only they could determine their future success.

“I cannot emphasize enough that success is not defined by how much money you make, how big your home is, or how many likes your social media posts arc getting. It is about the amazing people that are a part of your life, the memories you will make along the way, the way that you impact the lives of the ones around you, and the genuine happiness that you will feel when all these attributes come together. That is success,” she said.

After the salutatorian and valedictorian recognition, MdCV counselor Abby Robertson introduced the senior class of 2018, which was then presented for graduation by MdCV Superintendent Ted Hessong.

Members of the USD 456 Board of Education presented diplomas to the following graduates: Kaden Lee Armbrister, William Harrison Booth, Savannah Diann Cannon, Dakota Joe Chapman, Noah James Oren Criqui, Dominik Dylan Crowell, Jevan Scott Gregg, Amya Nicole Hidalgo, Kendra Sue Holloway, Kali Nicole Holt, Dalton Jones Hook, Kylie Jordann Hughes, Brennan Wayne Irey, Garrett Paul Scott Johnson, Samuel Chase Jones, Daniel Adams Siroky, Richard Allen Vest, Makaya Jaquin Weber, Josey Rene Weimer.

Girls in Osage City Girl Scout Troop 30149 voted to take some of the proceeds from their nuts and candy and cookie sales, and purchase hygiene items to donate to Lisa Crettol, nurse for USD 420. The scouts purchased shampoo and conditioner, body wash and deodorant for Mrs. Crettol to have on hand for USD 420 students that need them. The local girl scouts range in ages from kindergarten through third grade.