Small Town Agriculture Alive and Well in Ranfurly

Small Town Agriculture Alive and Well in Ranfurly

Michelle Pinon - News Advertiser

Small town agriculture is alive and well in Ranfurly thanks to Margie Axten and a whole host of volunteers who made the 2021 Rodeo Series a great success.

The four part series concluded on August 16 and there were smiles all around as participants were beaming with pride as they were recognized for their hard work and efforts over the course of the series that was held during the months of July and August.

“Everyone loves the prizes, but more importantly everyone was there supporting and visiting each other. We love to see grandparents, parents, and people in the community visiting,” stated head organizer Margie Axten.

Participants during the awards celebration.

(Margie Axten/Submitted Photo)

She said she couldn’t have dreamt of a better group of volunteers to work with and gave a shout out to key members of her team following the wrap up.

When Axten started the rodeo series her vision was to have a low key event for children and adults to start their horse journey. Initially, she was hoping to get 20 participants.

“When I started the rodeo seven years ago I wanted a place that families could go and have some fun.

Somewhere kids could start learning how the rodeos work and encouraged to keep going. We had 22 contestants the first year and this year we were up to 65.

The group we have at Ranfurly is awesome. Always willing to jump in and help. This year it warmed my heart to see to bleachers full. We had grandparents, parents, aunties and community members out to watch and enjoy a visit with people they have not seen a year. Ranfurly is all about community and this brought the community together.”