There’s little of November’s cool sting inside the Lloydminster Agricultural Exhibition Association buildings as exhibitors lead their cattle into the ring for Stockade Roundup. The smell of manure and slightly muffled sound of the announcers pervade the exhibition buildings, just like most cattle shows. Those not showing or fitting cattle visit in the barn or line up at the bar for a late-afternoon drink.
Anyone tempted to grouse about how the show is run needs only to glance up to see a simple, direct response posted on signs throughout the grounds. “Before you complain … have you volunteered yet?”
Gord King is no stranger to pitching in. He’s on the board of the Lloyd Ex (as most locals refer to it) and chairs the Stockade Roundup. He also helps at senior and U18 hockey games in the area. Combine this with a purebred beef operation south of Kitscoty, Alta., and it’s clear that King is a busy man.
Like most cattle shows and community events, the Stockade Roundup is powered, in large part, by volunteers. Committee members volunteer their time, and King says they pull in another 15 to 20 people for each day of the four-day show. Staff members will also put in extra time, off the clock, to help “with a few little odds and ends if needed,” says King.
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“It’s just as important as sponsorship for shows. If you don’t have the volunteers or sponsorship, you can’t make these shows go on.”
But finding volunteers is getting harder, especially post-pandemic. King thinks it’s partly due to the federal government’s pandemic response, encouraging people to stay home. Inflation may have people working more now, too, he speculates. But even pre-pandemic, families were busy with work, kids’ extracurricular activities and other things.
King and his fellow volunteers aren’t just wishing and hoping for more volunteers — they’re actively recruiting. In the spring, they struck a new committee to handle volunteers. The Lloyd Ex also has one woman focused on drawing people out to help. With five major events a year, and 50 to 60 smaller ones, they need boots on the ground. Pre-pandemic, the Lloyd Ex hosted 800 or more events a year, the exhibition website states, and 250,000 visitors annually.
What types of volunteers they need most seems to change year-to-year, King says. For example, this year, their regular ringman wasn’t avail- able, but as Stockade approached, a few people stepped up to fill his boots, King adds.
Event organizers are also seeing a demographic shift in their volunteer corps. As King puts it, even pre-pandemic, their volunteers weren’t getting any younger. Whether it’s a time crunch or something else, fewer people seem as connected to community organizations. Yet talking to King, it’s clear his motivation for volunteering goes beyond a sense of obligation.
“My whole life, I’ve grown up in this building. I’ve been here for various events throughout the years. I’ve been to the fairs. I’ve been to the chuck wagons.”
The exhibition grounds hold many memories for King, such as showing the first heifer he bought, or selling the first bull calf he raised, which helped fund his high school trip to Spain. There were the times he was asked to marshal a show. “And you just went and did it because that was what we were taught to do, right?”
Once, years ago, during the social after the Supreme show, his dad, Murray, and Bernie Payne wrestled in the show ring, a crowd laughing and cheering them on. In King’s memory, Payne won the match, although a third person may have been holding his dad down. King’s face lights up as he recalls the scene, a memory made more poignant as both men have passed away.
As for Gord King, there likely won’t be time for hijinx at the social tonight. It’s his fifth, and last, interview of the day. After the Supreme, he’s putting in more volunteer time, as he heads from the exhibition grounds to a rink to deliver a special presentation at a hockey game.
