By JONATHAN DALE
Printed courtesy of Imperial Valley Press, El Centro, CA
Adam Griffith peered through his glasses at the flashes of color and action on the floor of the Cattle Call Arena on Wednesday morning and cheered.
“It rocked,” Griffith said. “I like horses and everything.”
The 20-year-old special education student in the Adult Life Skills class at Imperial Valley College was one of more than 200 exceptional students from throughout the Valley who were treated to a special Cattle Call mini-rodeo Wednesday morning. Featuring barrel racing, a relay race and a couple clown acts, the mini-rodeo — shortened from the full-length one featured this weekend — was the 19th time in as many years that the Cattle Call Rodeo Committee put on the event.
“The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association years ago said that we need to do something spe-cial for these kids that’s not too long, where they can have fun,” Cattle Call Rodeo Committee mem-ber Curt Rutherford said.
“It’s a rodeo suited to their needs.”
Volunteer Karen Reed said the minirodeo has allowed the stu-dents a measure of excitement they couldn’t find anywhere else.
“It gives these children an opportunity to see something they wouldn’t normally see,” Reed said.
Kids as young as 6 years old joined with older students such as Griffith to watch as Tshirts were shot into the crowd with a handheld launcher and hired rodeo clown Bert Davis danced to “YMCA” while throwing a Frisbee to his dog.
“This is our little payback to the kids that are challenged,” said Davis, a rodeo clown out of Cleburne, Texas, who is contracted this year for the Cattle Call Rodeo.
“It’s a great deal to put a smile on their faces, because for a lot of these kids there hasn’t been a whole lot to smile about,” he said.
“This is their show.”
Watching dirt get kicked into the air as cowgirls circled their barrels and flew with a thundering sound across the arena, Griffith was clearly having fun.
“Me and my friends really have a good time out here,” Griffith said.
“It’s an awesome rodeo.”
>> Staff Writer Jonathan Dale can be reached at 3441221 or at jdale@ivpressonline.com