The Gerry Holmes Memorial Award

This year‘s recipient of the Gerri Holmes award is Joan Brown.
Joan has been a part of the rodeo committee since the very first days 32 years ago. She says she’s done whatever jobs were needed, helping with set up and take down. In the early days she helped with the high school rodeo and also did the Terry McLean draw for many years. She then settled into the rodeo office handing out weekend, wristbands to committee members volunteers and of course the rodeo contestants. Joan says she always enjoy her time in the office with Sheila and Liane from Primetime Rodeo sharing lots of laughs and getting to say hi and have a visit with the cowboys and cowgirls.

Joan is married to Les Brown a dedicated roper and rodeo competitor in his younger years and to this day he still enjoys going to some team roping jackpots. They raised three sons, Cody, Lee, and Lance, who participated in High School Rodeo and MRCA. Joan also has six granddaughters the older girls do some riding, enjoy barrel racing and you’ll even see one of her granddaughters Sadie Brown competing in the High School Rodeo as well as the Virden Indoor Rodeo this weekend.
Growing up, Joan loved her saddle horse and spent endless hours riding and working with her horse. She showed at light horse shows, gymkana and helped her mom show Arabs and belonged to the Manitoba Arabian horse association.

Joan had a long and successful career nursing and working at the hospital in Virden and I’m sure is greatly missed now that she has recently retired.

When I asked Joan what she will miss about not being a part of the committee, she said, and I quote “the biggest gift was the people I worked with all the years. We are so lucky to have the committee we have”.

Well we all thank you Joan for your many years of dedication hard work and your friendly smile!

Also thank you to the Flower Attic here in Virden for Joan’s corsage this evening, and to the Gomph family from Oak Lake for the team of horses and wagon for this evening’s ride around the arena.

Every year the Virden Indoor Rodeo and Wild West Daze presents a buckle to a dedicated chairperson in honour of the late Gerry Holmes. Gerry Homes was a very long-standing board member that played an integral role in the success of our event for many years.

This year’s recipient of the Gerry Holmes Memorial Buckle is none other than Kristine Dryden. Kris has also been an integral part of the organizing committee of Virden Indoor Rodeo for several years. In 1996 she joined as a volunteer and has since been a part of this weekend. That’s 24 rodeos!

Kris initially got involved with the weekend due to the fact that her now husband Steve Dryden plays such a huge role in the rodeo weekend. She felt it was a great opportunity for the 2 of them to work together and be involved in a community event that the entire town is proud of.

In the early days Kris could be found assisting the – then VIP chairperson Brian Johnson. She was a part of everything from preparing and serving the meal to ensuring all the VIP’s enjoyed their experience. In 2007 Kris took the reins on the VIP supper and stood as the VIP chairperson until 2019! In her tenure of this position, she was able to grow the event to new heights.

Kris played a vital part in many of the aspects that we have come to enjoy and look forward to at the VIP experience. Changes like moving from an outdoor tent to a climate-controlled hall where we can seat 500 guests. As well as serving prime rib supper that we all look forward to.

Over the years Kris has enjoyed the opportunity to work with so many great people. She is quick to share credit for the success of the VIP supper with several

volunteers, such as: Scott Biccum, Jason Lewis, Clint Smith, Deb King and her entire crew as well as her successors Joe & Gita King.

As Kris and Steve’s family got older, they were quick to involve their children, Carson and Roxy always giving a helping hand throughout the weekend wherever needed. Which is a great opportunity for them to work together and ensure the success of this weekend for many years to come.

From all of us on the Virden Indoor Rodeo and Wild West Daze, Thank You Kris for your years of dedication and hard work. Its our honour to present you with this beautiful Troy Ficher Buckle in honour of Gerry Holmes.

Congratulations

Each year the Virden Indoor Rodeo and Wild West Daze recognizes a volunteer who has made an exceptional commitment to the production of this weekend’s events by awarding them the Gerry Holmes Memorial Award. It is presented in memory of Gerry Holmes who was a dedicated leader of this event for many years, and is co sponsored by the Gerry Holmes Family and The Virden Indoor Rodeo and wild West Daze. This year’s recipient is Lyle Brown. 31 years ago, when the decision was made to add a Western Rodeo to the Virden Fire fighter Rodeo weekend, the committee turned to Lyle for advice. Lyle had competed on the Canadian Professional Rodeo circuit and his rodeo knowledge was invaluable.

The first few years were more as a trouble shooter and then he joined the committee where it was easier to help shape the direction the rodeo needed to go . He then brought some family and friends aboard with rodeo experience and a positive vision developed looking to the future of the event. Many of these same people or their families are still involved in the event today.

Lyle has filled numerous executive positions on the board over his 31 years of involvement. He was at one point vice president ,and then president of the Wild West Daze weekend. He also served for a time as chair person of the Rodeo committee. For many years his responsibilities included hiring the stock contractor as well as the various rodeo personnel.

The tremendous sponsorship support has been a huge part of this rodeo’s success, and Lyle was involved in the initial shaping of that program. At one point there was a ” Big 3 Truck Award” given to the Hi point cowboy or cowgirl from Selkirk, Swan River, and Virden rodeos and Lyle was instrumental in the development of that concept.

As well as being an accomplished rodeo competitor, Lyle is a purebred Percheron breeder and exhibitor, and as such was instrumental in bringing the Pennwoods Draft Horse Classic Futurity to the weekend, which has been well received by our fans. When the MRCA Finals needed to change their venue for a year, Lyle was at the head of facilitating it’s move to Virden. When the Manitoba High School Rodeo Association was considering hosting the Canadian High School Rodeo Finals, it required a substantial outdoor arena. Lyle’s vast experience in varied rodeo facilities made his input invaluable in the design and development of our outdoor arena. This let to Virden hosting the Canadian High School finals for a 3 year commitment and perhaps as importantly left this community with arguably the best outdoor rodeo arena in the province.

When you stop and think about it, there isn’t virtually anything about this rodeo weekend that doesn’t have Lyle’s imprint on it. Congratulations Lyle on being chosen to receive the Gerry Holmes Memorial award as this year’s outstanding volunteer. Lyle is accompanied in the carriage tonite by his wife Kathy. The award is presented by Gerry’s grandson Bo Brown. Our award recipients this evening are escorted in the arena by Bob Schroeder.

Thank you Bob for providing the team and carriage for the presentation tonight. Also Thank you to The Flower Attic and Gifts for providing the corsage and boutonniere for our honorees tonight