Blaine & Sheri Kemp
Blaine and Sheri Kemp started helping the Cokeville Stock & Saddle Club when Ted Thompson was at the helm. Together they worked with the rodeo for 12 years.
The Kemps worked hard getting monetary donations from people in Cokeville and surrounding towns. Sheri recalled that many places would donate gift or prizes in all sorts of varieties: services, goods, gift cards, saddles, rifles and more. These items were either raffled off or used for auction.
When Darrell Hunting was the president of the CSSC, they started getting sponsors and nice buckles. And when Ted and Cindy Thompson left their respective roles on the Cokeville Rodeo board, the Kemps “roped” Scott & Trudy Hatch into helping.
Kasey Mackey said that, “Sheri and Trudy were some of the best timers. They were usually a tenth of a second off from each other. They didn’t have an electric eye so Trudy and Sheri were the eyes of the timed events.”
Sheri shared that there was a period of time they met every other week for three months to get water into the grassy area and the lights up around the arena. That’s when others showed up and made the rodeo happen!
Tickets during most of their tenure paid for the stock, due to the lack of sponsorship. Sheri said, “the rodeo was completely self-supported. It was hard!” Blaine never would take a “position,” but was always there helping and attending meetings.
When speaking of their service Sheri said, “it was for the love of rodeo period. If not, it would have died long ago. Everybody (in town) has touched it (the rodeo) in one way or another,” Sheri pointed out as she listed several Cokeville residents including: Dale & Carol Clark, Jade Pope, Kim Clark and his family, Mike Duran, Lynn Dimond and George Chournos.
Blaine & Sheri, We Remember your years of service. Sheri, we can still hear your sweet little voice over the mic at the rodeos. You gifted the Cokeville Rodeo with many years of selfless service. Like you mentioned, so many people have touched the Cokeville Rodeo in one way or another, and you two certainly left your mark.
Thank you.