8/8/2006:
For nearly 60 years, Home On The Range (HOTR) at Sentinel Butte has been helping troubled, neglected and abused children turn their lives around. This unique ranch home, on the edge of the beautiful North Dakota Badlands, gives these children calming solitude and time with nature.
Combined with structure, guidance, spirituality, hard work and love, the program helps them make the changes they need in their lives. However, raising the funds to support this non-profit, 24/7 residential care facility has always been challenging.
One of the most creative, and ultimately most well-known, events to support the HOTR celebrated its 50th anniversary on August 6. Fifty years ago, two saddle bronc riding brothers brought an idea to Father William Fahnlander, their parish priest who would later become superintendent of HOTR, for a fundraiser to support the young facility that, at that time, was providing a home for troubled boys.
Two of the top professional bronc riders of the era, Jim and Tom Tescher, had the idea for a saddle bronc riding featuring North Dakota cowboys competing against the top performers in the world that would bring spectators from many areas to see the best hands around matched against legendary bucking horses.
When it began in 1957, it was billed as “North Dakota against the World.” And, as predicted, people came from miles to see the show at the natural arena nestled in the hills at HOTR.
Alvin Nelson, of Grassy Butte, N. Dak., won the first match in 1957 and went on to win the world saddle bronc-riding title that year. The first Champions Ride Match was held in May on a cold, windy afternoon. The cowboys built a bonfire behind the chutes just to keep warm, some even competing in their coats!
Champions Ride has been held every year since then, and its reputation for great cowboys competing on great bucking horses continues. Since 1957, every world champion saddle bronc rider except one has ridden at the Champions Ride.
There was a time, however, when the future of the Match was in jeopardy. Jim Tescher and Brad Gjermundson, two cowboy legends, spearheaded the Rodeo Committee and pulled the Champions Ride “up by its boot straps,” getting it back on track.
The 50th Anniversary HOTR Champions Ride event was a great blend of past traditions, bringing back the popular tie-down roping match of the early years of Champions Ride. A Cowboy Reunion was held, with many past contestants and champions attending. Renowned Towner artist Andy Knudson did a commemorative painting, with numbered prints being sold.
Many are aware of the HOTR, and some even remember the “cowboy priest,” as Father Fahnlander was fondly called, who would go behind the chutes and thank the bronc riders for coming. Knowing this history, the work of HOTR and the need often gives the cowboys incentive to participate.
What makes the HOTR Champions Ride truly unique and important, however, is much more than its western heritage and legacy; it’s the story behind the Match--the story of the Ranch itself and its 56 years of making a positive difference in the lives of children. That is the legacy that lives on.
by Cathy A. Langemo
(with input from Vicki Pennington)