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2007 Westward Ho! Parade Grand Marshal
Cecil Holmes to lead Westward Ho! Parade
PENDLETON — Long-time Round-Up volunteer Cecil Holmes has been selected to be the grand marshal of the 2007 Westward Ho! Parade Sept. 14. Holmes was introduced to the Round-Up and Happy Canyon boards of directors during the annual Introduction Party Saturday night at the Red Lion Inn.
"I don't know what to say," Holmes said about the honor in an interview before the dinner. "I was sure dumbfounded. You always feel you're not worthy."
"I think you are," Westward Ho! Parade Director Duane DeGrofft countered.
Holmes has volunteered for the rodeo since the early 1960s. He was a member of the Round-Up Board of Directors from 1978 to 1985. While on the board he was livestock director for seven years, and announcing director for one year.
He said he enjoyed being on the board because all the directors got along well and worked hard.
"I fooled around with Round-Up when I was a kid, but started volunteering way back in the early '60s," he said.
While he wasn't a Round-Up volunteer as a child, he still spent a great deal of energy on the two parades held during the week.
"When I was a little kid I rode my horse from the ranch ( Holmes Ranch near McKay reservoir)," he said. "It took all morning. Then I rode in the parade and then all the way home again."
He joined the livestock crew when he began volunteering, and that's where he's stayed. As a matter of fact, Holmes can still be seen at the same gate as where he started. He's also a familiar figure carrying the American flag at the Westward Ho! Parade.
His wife, Betty Jean, is proud of his being selected. She enjoys the rodeo and relished her role as a director's wife. The Holmes' children also consider Round-Up a great time for the family to get together.
"They wouldn't miss it," he said.
The children are Dawn and Steve Bookout of Washington state, Moneta and Dan Woollard of La Grande, Cheri and Ed Aubert of Susan City, Calif., Rick Holmes of Sand Point, Idaho, Teresa and Dennis Fine of Helix, Shelly Holmes of Anderson, Calif., and Sarah and Dave Chappel of Hood River. They also have six grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
When the children see Cecil Holmes lead the Westward Ho! Parade, they won't see him sitting in a buggy, he said.
"I'm gonna ride a horse unless they cut off a leg or do something else to me," Holmes said. "My doctor may not like it, but he can just set and watch. I don't care. I'm gonna ride a horse."
The Pendleton Round-Up and Happy Canyon is held the second full week of September in Pendleton, Ore. The Round-Up began in 1910 and is recognized as one of the oldest and most prestigious rodeos in the world and won the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association’s 2003 Large Outdoor Rodeo Committee of the Year Award. The Happy Canyon Night Show is a colorful display of Indian pageantry and tradition and takes place every night of Round-Up. A week full of activities, including parades, concerts, PBR bull-riding competition, barbecues, dances, gambling and numerous other events begin Saturday, Sept. 9th and continue through Saturday, Sept. 16th. For more background information about the Pendleton Round-Up, Happy Canyon Night Show and its many ancillary events, visit www.pendletonroundup.com.
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