Wow, what a day Sunday turned out to be. For me, it started off watching my good friend Neal Walgenbach sell off all his horses to other wagon drivers at an auction at his barn. I guess it really hit home for me when I saw those horses go that Neal is actually retiring. But I guess everything comes to an end, and ol’ Neal sure went out in style by winning the aggregrate title and making it to the $100K dash for cash. I was really hoping he would pull it off and complete the Cinderella story, but second place behind Kelly Sutherland is still something to be proud of. I would like to thank the Walgenbach family for allowing me to be a part of it with them. I was pretty sad when I got off that outriding horse, knowing it was the last time I would outride for Neal. Congratulations to Kelly Sutherland for winning his 11th Title at Calgary. It’s amazing what he has done, and I can’t think of anybody that has been at the top of their respective sport for more than 40 years. History was made last night; thumbs up to Kelly and his outriders. I would also like to congratulate Devin Mitsuing for winning my grandfather’s award, The Orville Strandquist Memorial, for the top rookie driver. Way to go Devin, you drove like a champ! For me, it was a great week. I had 2 of my wagons make the final heat, but we couldn’t quite pull it off. That’s wagon racing. In closing, I would like to thank the Calgary Stampede for putting on such a first class event, it is the greatest Outdoor Show on Earth. God Bless, and we hope to see you down the Chuckwagon trail
Sincerely
Ed Melville Jr.
