Senate Joint Resolution 39 Oregon Laws 2009

AN ACT

          Whereas the Pendleton Round-Up was first held in September 1910 as a festival of farmers, ranchers and local Indians gathered to celebrate the end of harvest; and

          Whereas the Pendleton Round-Up Association was formed by a group of farmers, ranchers and businessmen with a purpose to plan and finance an annual rodeo; and

          Whereas today the Pendleton Round-Up is still produced by the Pendleton Round-Up Association with a mission to celebrate Pendleton’s frontier spirit and to keep the real west alive; and

          Whereas the Pendleton Round-Up has throughout its history been manned wholly by volunteers who have numbered as many as 1,000; and

          Whereas the Pendleton Round-Up generates an estimated $22 million annually for the region’s economy through events that attract more than 60,000 people to Pendleton, which has a population of approximately 17,000; and

          Whereas the Pendleton Round-Up is well-known as a world-class rodeo; and

          Whereas the Pendleton Round-Up is 100 years old and the association has planned a centennial celebration to take place from September 11 to 18, 2010; and

          Whereas the centennial celebration will be the largest celebration ever to take place in Pendleton, attracting visitors from all over the country and the world; and

          Whereas the Pendleton Round-Up is the largest special event celebration in Pendleton, encompassing more than 30 different events during a one-week period; and

          Whereas the Pendleton Round-Up is a true feat of sport in the most traditional sense of rodeo due to its traditional events, old-time wooden bucking chutes and one-of-a-kind green grass arena bordered by a dirt track; and

          Whereas the Pendleton Round-Up has resisted the modern-day notion of advertising in the arena in favor of a family friendly atmosphere; and

          Whereas since the very first show, the Pendleton Round-Up has hosted an Indian Encampment of more than 300 teepees housing families that have participated for generations; and

          Whereas the Pendleton Round-Up sets great store by its 94-year partnership with the Happy Canyon Indian Pageant and Night Show, where the epic drama of the old west unfolds nightly with a live cast and original score; and

          Whereas the 100-year-old Pendleton Round-Up Westward Ho! Parade is one of the last remaining parades allowing no motorized vehicles with pneumatic wheels, in the tradition of the old west; and

          Whereas the Main Street Cowboys shows on Main Street are billed the “Greatest Free Show in the West” providing family entertainment nightly; and

          Whereas the Pendleton Round-Up is home to the world-famous Let’er Buck Room, where old friends reunite and new friends abound; and

          Whereas the award-winning Pendleton Round-Up and Happy Canyon Hall of Fame preserves the show’s historical artifacts and stories on permanent display year-round and is one of the few museums in the country dedicated to a single rodeo; and

          Whereas the Pendleton Round-Up court of five accomplished young horsewomen represents the Round-Up and the region, traveling more than 5,000 miles to make more than 150 appearances; and

          Whereas the Pendleton Round-Up events support charitable purposes including educational scholarships, youth sports, togetherness through donation of hundreds of rodeo tickets to families with children, a special Children’s Rodeo for exceptional youngsters and cancer research; and

          Whereas the Pendleton Round-Up is set to launch another century of community service and traditional entertainment, preserving the spirit of the real west, the State of Oregon and the entire region; now, therefore,

Be It Resolved by the Legislative Assembly of the State of Oregon:

          That we, the members of the Seventy-fifth Legislative Assembly, recognize and honor the Pendleton Round-Up Centennial Celebration in 2010 and encourage all Oregonians to participate in the weeklong celebration planned from September 11 to 18, 2010, and “Let’er Buck!”

Filed in the office of Secretary of State May 20, 2009

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