Crossroads Beef Expo celebrates its 20th year!
By Joan Janzen
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Crossroads Beef Expo! The show gets underway on Saturday, February 19th at 10:00 a.m. at the Crossroads Centre in Oyen. The event is sponsored by the Big Country Agricultural Society.
Lois Andrew, a long-time member of Big Country Agricultural Society, said this year’s event will be capped at one-third capacity of the building, which is equivalent to approximately 400 people. “It’s one of our major events of the year. We have received donations from Kindersley, Oyen, Hanna and Consort,” she explained. “Everyone has been generous.”
As for the animals, “We have a waiting list because we can only fit so many in the barn,” she explained. “We set the pens down at 36 as well, just because we were getting too full. We have four different classes: yearling bulls, two-year-old bulls, commercial heifers and pure-bred heifers. They’re on display for people to look at. In the afternoon, we have a panel of three judges, and the animals are brought into the ring.” Panel judging begins at 2:30 p.m. when the judges evaluate each of them and give them a score from 1-10 on how they feel the pair looks together and their quality for breeding stock.
Although the organizers decided to cancel the steak challenge at this year’s event, they’re excited about the trade show. There are ten vendors. “We’ve tried to make it interesting, including a nice variety and selection,” Lois said. “For our Ranchmen’s raffle, everyone has the opportunity to purchase a ticket for $50. We pull out ten names and put them back into the drum and then we do a last man standing draw. The winner of the raffle gets a voucher and can either select an animal from one of the exhibitors, or they can choose a cash prize.”
Money raised at the Beef Expo will go towards purchasing more panels, which will make setup easier. “We’re looking at trying to put on an addition so we can have permanent pens. Right now, our focus is to put money towards the addition,” Lois said. Funds also go towards helping to run the facility throughout the year.
The Ag Society offers numerous activities. “We started this year with an event where people bring horses and bulls, and people pay to get on them. It’s very entertaining for the audience to watch,” Lois explained. The event takes place once a month, depending on what else is happening in the building.
“We have fundamentals, which is developing roping skills for all ages. Participants can bring horses or just do groundwork,” she said. They also hold Gymkhana once a month, as well as team roping. “Lots of weekends are booked up with other events. On Tuesdays, the building is open for riding. It’s free if people want to come in and ride their horse,” she concluded. Lois noted that they are pleased to have new volunteers getting involved, which always helps ensure success for the future.
