Parker Ranch Rodeo (07/04/07)

The cosmic irony of the day was almost as cold as the weather.  It was 7:30 in the morning on the 4th of July and I was sitting in the Parker Ranch Arena wishing I had worn my fleece vest. Driving into the arena, I noted the thermometer on my truck read 65 degrees. Earlier in the morning, before leaving, the weather gadget on my laptop told me it was 80 degrees in Seattle, WA. And it didn’t help when the young woman sitting next to me said “Whoa, you dressed for the beach, Brah. You’re going to freeze, yeah?”

“Indeed”, I thought.

Kamuela Town sits at an elevation of 2500 feet in the foot hills between the Kohala Mountains and the Mauna Loa Volcano. Typically, incoming weather from the windward side of the Big Island is squeezed between the two peaks, compressed and seemingly captured directly above Kamuela. Meanwhile, it’s hot and dusty a few miles down the road at Kawaihi

Looking at how all the smart people were dressed, I would have thought I was back on the Oregon coast. Everyone, except me, was wearing several layers including a thick outer shell. But the thing that really caught my eye was the diversity of hats. Almost everyone was wearing a hat. There were ball caps with all the expected logos; John Deer, Caterpillar, Budweiser, Skoal and Parker Ranch. There were cowboy hats of all shapes, sizes, colors and materials. There were wool felt hats, black leather hats,  vented raffia hats, straw hats, white rancher hats, Stetson’s and Resistol’s. And of course there were tropical visors, pink flamingo hats, and panama hats. I mean, what’s one to do when you’ve arrived an hour before the show starts except wish you would have brought a jacket and notice people’s hats?

Fortunately the rodeo started with a bang and I soon forgot about hats and the cold. I honestly can’t remember the last time I was at a rodeo and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed myself. There were horse races, steer roping, team branding, calf-dressing, ranch mugging, and dally team roping. 

But the thing I enjoyed most was the general celebration and competition between the Parker, Warren, Palani, Kehena, Onaka, Kahua and Ponoholo  ranches. The lifestyle and history of the working Paniolo is certainly something to be appreciated, especially by a tender-footed city slicker such as myself.