For the 24th year in a row, the Larson family, now 12 strong, were among the first in the doors at the National Western Stock Show, Rodeo & Horse Show at 9 a.m.
Being there for the opening moments of the 16-day celebration of all that is Western, rural and pretty dang fun has been a post-Christmas tradition for the Larson clan ever since Ashley Larson Durkin, 32, was a child, she said.
“We’re from Philly originally, all of us,” she said of her two siblings and parents, as she held on to two of her Colorado-born toddlers.
“It’s something that’s about where we live now, I guess, and it’s something we talk about doing at Christmas every year.”
Her mother, Kathy Larson, thought that was an understatement.
“Oh, the kids would scream ‘child abuse!’ if we tried not to come,” she said.
The show got off to a great start: a well-blended crowd of ranch folks and city slickers, perfect weather, a wealth of new and returning vendors, and cows bellowing above the hiss of the water-hose showers in the stables.
The stables were alive with excited children and the prettiest show cattle you could imagine — polled and horned Herefords, Gelbvieh and acres of Angus, both black and red.
“I wouldn’t cut my own hair,” said Vance Tucker, 26, of Clovis, N.M., as he deftly guided a $300 pair of clippers over the winter fur of a Limousin cow.
For fans of such exquisite beef, the National Limousin Sale is at 6 p.m. Monday in the stock show’s Stadium Arena.
West of the cattle barns, just before 10 a.m., from the Beef Palace Auction Arena, came the beautiful sound of a fiddler good enough to play at a barn dance in Heaven.
It was 7-year-old Regina Scott of Tulsa, Okla., who had an audience in her grip during the Colorado Fiddle Championships.
She had a lot on her mind, her eyes frozen on the strings as she drew a bow half her height.
“You think about messing up,” she said. “You think about the audience. You think about everything.”
She need not have worried. After all, she finished fourth in her age group last year at the National Oldtime Fiddlers’ Contest and Festival. The crowd erupted as she finished three minutes of flawless fiddling.
The Colorado Fiddle Championships continues today from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Beef Palace Auction Arena.
Not far outside the Beef Palace, Brother Eli Harris, 69, was in a celebratory mood, sporting two new pieces of handmade golden jewelry on his black vest.
Both broaches noted his distinction as the stock show’s first 50-year vendor. A few feet away, a half dozen of Harris’ children and grandchildren were polishing away, making boots look better than new.
“Oh, it’s a blessing,” explained Brother Harris, with a smile bright enough to light up the dark side of Wyoming.
“It’s a blessing to be here every year.”
Joey Bunch: 303-954-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com
