Volume III -- Issue 1

The Quick Lineup...

Letter from the President
Cowboy of the Year
Upcoming Events - Tom Dykes
Volunteer of the Year
Volunteer News - Chris Maurizio
Monthly Trail ride - Jeff Bolognese
January Birthdays
Membership Discounts at local retailers

Letter From The President

Howdy gang,
I hope everyone is having a safe and happy holiday season.
I am proud to honor the Presidential Award for excellence in rodeo and Cowboy of the Year 2007 to Mark Smith. We had several amazing competitors this past year and it was a hard choice to make to choose just one for this award.
Mark had talked to me months ago about his desire to compete on the rodeo circuit. He wanted to compete in as many events as he possibly could. He showed a passion for wanting to learn. With the DC rodeo only a couple months away he had made a huge effort to meet me at my horse farm and he learned not only how to ride my horse Quinn but also how to compete with him. Mark also came to our rodeo school in August and learned several of the events there. He entered 7 events at the Atlantic Stampede Rodeo in DC. He won several ribbons in different events but the most important being taking 4th runner up All Around Cowboy at his very first rodeo. This accomplishment has earned him Cowboy of the Year!!!

(if no one else has written about it)

IGRA University February 22-24th http://www.igra.com/University/index.htm

IGRA University Academy of Rodeo Arts will once again be located in Las Vegas Nevada at the Tuscany Suites and Casino. This is a weekend of classes that teach us how to run and produce an IGRA Sanctioned Rodeo. Several of us attended last year and the classes were out of this world.
The weekend is more then class's though. It is a weekend geared towards networking with other rodeo associations and having some fun Vegas Style. There is ample dancing at night at Charlie's as well as nightly drink specials. The cost of the hotel is $85.00 Sun-Thurs and $115 for Fri and Sat nights.
LGRA will be picking up the cost of the Tuition for our members that attend University.
If you are interested in going or need more information please contact our Secretary Chris Maurizio.
The link above has the weekend schedule as well as class descriptions.

Upcoming Events - Tom Dykes

I'd like to wish everyone a Happy New Year. We are getting closer to the biggest time of year for LGRA. Our Liberty Stampede Rodeo is only months away and we are busy making sure that this is the best Rodeo on the circuit!

We have on last dance scheduled before the Rodeo. This will be Cupid's Coral to be held at PURE on Saturday, February 16, 2008. We have asked PURE to make this a SMOKE FREE Event for us. So while we will be there the entire Dance Floor and Bars on the first floor will be SMOKE FREE. DJ John will be there to help us have a great evening. Look for more information in the near future.

Speaking of Up Coming Events, LGRA-specifically the Liberty Stampede Rodeo will be helping out at Gay Bingo in New Hope on Tuesday, March 4, 2008. Come on out and support the Rodeo and the community in New Hope. Look for more information in the near future.

We are planning on having Kick-Off Bar Nights for the Rodeo throughout our area from Allentown to Philadelphia to Harrisburg and everything in between. These Events will be starting in February and continuing into April. I hope to see everyone and all their friends at least at one of these nights. The schedule will be coming in the near future.

Please remember to check out our Web Site to find out the latest details for all of our Up-Coming Events.

Volunteer News - Chris Maurizio

Howdy everyone, hope everyone had a great holiday. I have several topics to talk about this month. First off on Friday, December 21st, at Woody’s during Two-Step, we presented our very first “Volunteer of the Year” award. The recipient was Aaron Velasquez who not only gives a helping hand with every local LGRA event but is also a volunteer for the Lasso’s and Lariats Dance, he helps Michael Flynn with Dance Lessons, gets DJ June Bromley coffee or whatever else she needs while she is DJing, and is just always ready to lend a helping hand. I’m sure that next May that he’ll be a huge help in the Liberty Stampede 2008. For his dedication and hard work we honored him with a certificate of appreciation and one of our LIBERTY shirts with his name and “Volunteer of the Year 2007” embroidered on the shirt. Congratulations Aaron and again, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your hard work.
That being said I want to talk about how we are only 4 months away from the Liberty Stampede 2008. I will be working with our webmaster John on setting up a page for volunteering. As you may know, I volunteered last September at ASGRA so that I could get my feet wet and what I’ve come to learn is that we need a lot of volunteers, everything from ticket sales to security. If you want to be one of our volunteers for the Liberty Stampede and want to sign up before we get the webpage ready, please contact me directly at Volunteer@LibertyGRA.org .
A couple months ago we had a special guest at our Board of Directors meeting. His name is Jeff Scotland and he is helping us out with some matters regarding the Liberty Stampede 2008. Jeff is the commissioner for the CBLSL (City of Brotherly Love Softball League – http://www.cblsl.org ). Before he was commissioner he was a player on Uncles Men’s Softball Team, which I have been a member of for 12 years now. Jeff mentioned to me at one of our Board Of Directors meetings that the CBLSL now has teams made up of non-profit organizations like the LGRA and finds sponsors for them. He mentioned to me that he thought it would be a great idea to have a LGRA Softball Team on the league. I think that it would be a lot of fun to do this. We would need 13-20 players (can be men or women) to form a team. They will start forming leagues and getting ready very soon so if we want to do this we need to act fast. If you are interested please contact me at Volunteer@LibertyGRA.org and we can get with Jeff to get a sponsor and for a team!
Until next month, rodeo up and let’s Stampede into History!

Trail Ride - Jeff Bolognese

The next trail ride will be Sunday, February 3, 2008 at 11:00AM. (Reservations are now closed for the January Trail Ride) We will be riding once again at Sheeder Mill Farm, 12 Sheeder Mill Rd, Spring City, PA 19475. For more information about their farm, visit their web site at http://www.smfhorses.com/.

To RSVP now, you can send an email to Jeff Bolognese.

January Birthdays
LGRA wants to wish the following a special birthday wish:

Terry Evans
Jerry Wehr
Mike Bolliter
Duke
Mark Larson
Ken Romai
WG Reid
Brandon Randleman
Fred Harke Jr.
Frank Zelco
Peedy
Jeff Graver
Bill Marella
Bill Hawk
Gerry McMahon
Patrick McNally
James Gallucci
Karen Siugzda
Matthew Griendling

Membership Perks
To see a current list of local businesses offering discounts to LGRA Members please check out the Membership page of the LGRA Web site