Wright Family Values Run Deep
Wright Bill Wright
It is no secret that Rodeo Life is rigorous and requires a great deal of hard work and perseverance. Bill Wright, the father of the Utah’s saddle bronc riding Wright brothers, says “You get out of things just about what you put into them. Put in big effort and get big rewards.” Bill and Evelyn Wright have followed this old family adage to the full extend with their family of thirteen. They claim that the secret to their success is working right alongside each child until they have gained the confidence and skill to be able to succeed. Sticking to it, seeing it through to the end, and finishing what you started are just a few of the old family phrases you might hear kicking around in their home. Bill is a family man. Calvin Spendlove Wright, Bills father, used to say, “your family is the best investment you’ll ever make.” Bill believes this value and puts it into action. His sisters, Sheila, Calleen, and Roxie acknowledge with pride that Bill and Evelynn have encapsulated a family culture and carried on a host of family values passed down through the generations. “It pleases us to see their family put into practice a western family culture of unity, love, support, and hard work that we so fondly remember in our own home.” According to Bill’s sister Calleen, Bill’s dad took him with him wherever he went and taught him to work at a young age. Bill has followed this same family pattern with his children; he takes them and teaches them. He doesn’t tell them they can’t accomplish something but allows them to try. He has high expectations for his children and believes they can achieve them. He just kept providing them with opportunities and helped them until they succeeded. Bill has been known to always have a “sidekick” with him;; it used to be
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mostly his own children but these days his grandchildren are often the sidekicks. Bill appreciates his good fortune of having a lifestyle and business that allowed him to take his family with him to work, not just send them out to work. He attributes a portion of their success to this lifestyle. Physical and emotional commitments were not the only forms of support Bill gives his boys. He helped them financially; taking his father’s advice he put his money where his mouth was. The boys were given the opportunity to work to earn the money they needed. Things were not just handed to them. They were expected to pay their own entry fees. They knew they were loved but not spoiled. Shawn Davis, director and general manager of NRPRA, has worked personally with almost all of the Wright brothers at his Rodeo school and other associations. Shawn has personal expressed to Bill his admiration of the work ethic passed down to them. Bill and Evelyn have taught their kids the importance of observing what needed to be done and then doing it without being told. Their children are selfmotivated and want to complete their work, sometimes to an excess. Their mom Evelynn laughs about an time when her son Calvin would work to the point that his coworkers had to kick the latter out from under him so he would stop and eat lunch. This legacy of being a hard work is not just limited to the saddle bronco champs; the entire Bill and Evelynn Wright family has a reputation for being extremely hard workers. Evelynn say’s “I would rather have a stupid kid than a lazy one any day. A person can learn if they are not lazy.” Bill will confirm that a great deal of the family’s success comes from the companionship of his dedicated wife and mother