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2008 Westward Ho! Parade Grand Marshal
From left to right: Parade director Billy Lorenzen, Harld Thompson, President Butch Thurman.
PENDLETON — Long-time Round-Up volunteer Harold Thompson of Adams is the grand marshal for the 2008 Westward Ho! Parade, held each year on Friday of Round-Up week. The selection was announced by Parade Director Billy Lorenzen at the 2008 Introductory Party Saturday night at the Red Lion Hotel.
"He is Pops to so many people," Lorenzen said. "I've known him for many years. He's one of the few people I'd call a generation spanner. People his age all the way down to small children are his friends. You say 'Pops' and they know who Pops is."
Round-Up President Butch Thurman echoes Lorenzen’s sentiments.
"We're excited about Harold's selection. He's a great choice with his
family's history and involvement with Round-Up."
Thompson began volunteering in 1944 at the request of his wife's family, the Lieuallens. From the gates, he graduated to volunteering in the arena in 1945.
"They put me on horseback and from then on I worked the arena, leading the bucking horses and catching them," Thompson said.
Thompson was named to the Round-Up board of directors in 1961.
"I was on the board with Vern Terjeson, Leonard King, Paul Rice Sr. and Frank Tubbs," he recalled. "They were the greatest guys in the world."
Thompson was the only Round-Up volunteer that Christianson Brothers stock contractors would allow to lead the famous War Paint. That horse, is considered by many rodeo historians as the greatest saddle bronc horse.
No job is too small for Thompson if it involves the Pendleton Round-Up.
"I did everything from pick up rocks to feed livestock," he said. "Whenever anyone needed help, I volunteered."
In addition to picking up rocks, Thompson volunteered for 10 years in Room 17, the board of directors' room, helping Dr. Tom and Ellyn Weeks.
Thompson was born in Elgin and moved with his mother and father to Athena when he was in fifth grade. He married Pauline Lieuallen and started farming. He just retired from that five years ago. He spent so much time working for Round-Up that his wife once asked him if he knew where his home was.
"I said the Round-Up is my home away from home,' he said.
Their daughter Mary Rabb was queen of the rodeo in 1968 and her sister Betty Jean Bugbee was a princess in 1968. Son John Thompson is a Round-Up volunteer as well. Since his first Round-Up 64 years ago, Thompson only missed one rodeo. That was in the 1990s when his wife died. The Pendleton rodeo continues to be a family affair, now including Thompson's four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
When asked if he'd ride in a buggy to lead the Westward Ho! Parade, he didn't hesitate in his response.
"I'm riding a horse," he said. "My granddaughter Katie said she'll ride behind me."
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. 6th and continue through Saturday, Sept. 13th. 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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