GREELEY — Guy Burke walked across a blanket of dirt in the Island Grove Arena, stooping every few yards to scoop up a stray rock. The stones ranged from about the size of a quarter to bigger than his fist. His wife, Felecia, crouched and sifted through the dirt despite her sundress and shook her head.
The ground in the arena was good a few days earlier — it even reached Burke’s incredibly high standards — but the dirt the rodeo cowboys and cowgirls will ride on during the Greeley Stampede needed to be a bit deeper, so Burke brought in a load of dirt. This load was full of pesky rocks.
The Stampede has won awards for its dirt for the past three years — Burke’s first three as Grounds and Demolition Derby chairman — and he’s hoping to go four-for-four.
In 2013, the Women’s Pro Rodeo Association recognized the Greeley Stampede for having the second-best grounds of any large rodeo in the Mountain States circuit. In 2014, the Stampede won first place. Last year, the Pro Rodeo Cowboys Association named the Greeley Stampede the Mountain States Circuit Large Rodeo of the Year. Burke said the consistently good ground was highlighted in the letter from the association.
