Runde Auto Chat

I remember watching the show “Hey Dude!” as a kid. It was a country life kind of show - riding around on horses, roping calf’s, tying all sorts of knots that would just leave me wrapped up if I attempted to try them. To me it was a different life, I was used to a city life, but the country activities I saw always interested me. What better way to satisfy these interests than to see the best of the best in our very own community compete in a rodeo, live!?

The 8^th Annual Wisconsin Regional High School Rodeo will gather kids from the 6^th – 12^th grade to compete in the rodeo which will be held at the Dubuque County Fairgrounds from May 20^th – May 22^nd. So it’s local, teaches kids great life skills and offers a good time for all the viewers which make this an event not to miss.

We got a chance to interview Karen Schilling, one of the founding members of the River Rodeo Committee which puts together the rodeo, to get to know a little more about the event…

Hello Karen, what is your association with the event?
I am on the River Rodeo Committee, we are a group of parents from Eastern Iowa that banded together to put on the rodeo here in Dubuque for the Wisconsin High School Rodeo Association. We are a regional rodeo.

How long has the committee been together?
This is our 8^th year. About eight families and myself, are the founding members.

What makes you keep doing these events every year? We do it for the kids. They really enjoy having places to rodeo. Dubuque has great facilities and the kids love coming to the fairgrounds. It really is all for the kids.

How did the Rodeo come about?
My business partner, Ginny Henneberry, has a son that was competing in the Wisconsin High School Rodeo and my daughter was about to start competing. We both thought it would be convenient to have a rodeo in Dubuque. From there we had the first meeting in her house, and we thought we could do it so we gave it a try and we are still going.

How many participants enter the rodeo?
There are usually around 150 contestants for the weekend. We do not have a limit to the number of contestants, though.

What are the requirements to enter the rodeo?
It’s open to anybody that is a member of the Wisconsin High School Association that is between the 6^th and 12^th grade.

How does someone become a member of the Wisconsin High School Association?
They can go to the website: http://www.cowboycalendar.com/WIHSRA/ where they can download the form to apply for the association.

What kind of activities goes on in the rodeo?
They do all of the regular rodeo events plus extras: Barrel Racing, Pole Bending, Breakaway Roping, Goat Tying, Calf Roping, Team Wrestling, Boys and Girls Cutting, Saddle Broncs, Bareback Broncs and Bull riding.

How long do the events usually last?
Each performance lasts approximately two hours. But we cannot get all the contestants done in that time frame so there’s what we call “slack”. Slack is when we run the extra contestants on times that aren’t during the public rodeo showtime. The Junior High rodeo is at 4:00pm Friday afternoon and a lot of the kids are rolling in during the afternoon on Friday and the High School rodeo is on Saturday and Sunday.

What do the participants get for winning?
Its two things… for the high schools it’s a “two-go” weekend so they take their scores from both go’s and average it. We have awards for the 1^st – 4^th place average winner. They also accumulate points for the year-end total which is totaled in June at the state finals in Richland Center, WI. The top person in each event wins a saddle and a buckle. 2^nd-5^th places all receive buckles as well as other gifts. The top four are qualified to go to nationals which is in Gillette, Wyoming this year in July.

Do the kids bring in their own horses?
Yes, the kids bring their own horses and keep them in the barns up on the fairground. A lot of the kids bring self-contained horse-trailers which have living quarters in the front so they can stay right on the fairgrounds the whole weekend long.

Generally a pretty good crowed for the show?
Oh yes, I would say over the course of the weekend there are 1,500-2,000 spectators. It grows every year.

What has changed over the years with the event? Over these last three years we added clowns to the event. In each of the three performances on Saturday and Sunday we have a boot race where we invite the kids, ten and under, to come into the arena. We take off one of their boots and they have to race to go get their boot and bring it back. It gets the little kids in the arena with the clown, the kids love it.

Every year there are improvements to the facility. We went through the years having a new fence put in and making the arena bigger and making improvements to the announcer’s facility. Every year we try to make it nicer for the participants.

Also, every year the competition keeps getting tougher and we get a lot more participants.

Can people volunteer to help out with the event?
Yes. We are looking for help with the admission and the food stand. We are always looking for volunteers.

If you are interested in volunteering for the rodeo you can call Karen Schilling at (563) 542-4791.

Location:
Dubuque County Fairgrounds Horse Arena. 14569 Old Highway Road Dubuque, IA 52002 US

Schedule/Information:
Friday, May 20^th @ 4:00p.m…….. Jr. High Rodeo
Sat. May 21^st @ 1:00p.m………….. High School Performances
Sat. May 21^st @ 7:00p.m………….. High School Performances
Sun. May 22^nd @ Noon…………….. High School Performances

Tickets available at the gate:
$7.00 for Adult (Friday admission is just $5.00)
$3.00 Ages 7-10
6 & Under: Free
Weekend Pass: $15.00

$5.00 Advance Tickets available at:
Longhorn Saddlery Theisen’s Store

A couple of months ago Jordan Degree got a Chevy HHR for the Dubuque Art Center from Runde's. The Are Center had plans to get it wrapped in a vinyl coat and that's exactly what they did! Jordan says he is loving the HHR and is very pleased with how the wrap turned out. Check out the pictures below and look out for it on the roads!

There will always be situations where you absolutely need a pickup truck. The sportster in you is screaming "get the turbo coupe!", the calm in you is telling you to "get the luxury vehicle!" Then there's the practical side of you telling you to "get the truck, you'll need it." And if you are a farmer, construction worker or have a horse and kids that want to go to horse camp, you are absolutely correct in thinking you'll need that pickup truck. No one knows that more than the parents of the kids attending the Tri-State's annual horse camp.

Karen Schilling, secretary of the camp, was able to give us a tour of the camp and let us know how things work. Karen took over the secretarial position when she graduated from school in 1980 and this is her 30th year in that position. Prior to working at the camp, she was kid at the camp, herself. Karen hauls her horses in her Silverado that she purchased from Runde's and was excited to explain how things work to us. On the start of our tour we ran into Ashley Rigdon, daughter of Runde's employee Lisa Ridgon. We waved and took some pictures of her as she looked determined to learn more and was having a great time riding her horse. To find out the formula behind the happy smiles on the kids' faces, Karen explained the camp to us in a nutshell...

"It always starts on Father's Day. It started in Elizabeth, IL in 1969 then it went to Galena in 1970 then in '71 we came out here to the Dubuque Fair Grounds and this is our 40th year."

"Kids are split into 3 group sections based on the age of the kids. They get up at 7am to feed their horses and clean their stalls. Breakfast is at 8am then at 9,10 and 11am there are 3 riding sessions. They ride for one hour, have one free hour, and then they do a learning center. They have the same two rotating instructors throughout the entire week. At 4pm they have electives, where the instructors give the kids an option to do various activities like showmanship, ground work, and roping -- all of which enhance the kids' understanding of horse riding. At 5pm they clean and feed the horses and then at night, we have some type of educational entertainment like a herding sheep dog demonstration. At the end of the camp, on Saturday, we have a show where we ask the parents to come watch to see their kid's progress."

What do the kids learn in the camp?

They learn proper horsemanship, training, how to ride and sit correctly, how to cue their horse to get them to do what they want and several other techniques that will improve their knowledge and skills. From beginner to advanced, we try to further their riding experience. To get the most exposure, we make sure they are riding two sessions, three times a day.

What's the furthest someone has come to attend the show?

It's usually from the Tri-State area, but we did have one student from Spain and two people from California come. We like to keep the number of kids limited to 100 but this year we have 121. They sign up ahead of time and it costs $250 to come for the entire week. That includes a professional photographer taking their pictures, food, the box stall, feeding and boarding. Several people here have trucks from Runde's. They have to bring in their own horse with gear and they usually do that with a horse trailer and a tow equipped truck.

Where does the staff come from?

Everybody is a volunteer here, parents and past campers help out and we have instructors from all over Iowa come to help. The Dubuque County TrailBlazers 4H Club sponsors the event, making it possible. Things have come a long way since we started , for example -- now instead of tying up the horses in the barn, we have individual stalls. It just keeps growing and changing every year.

We'll I'm glad with got the chance to interview Karen and to find out what goes on at the horse camp. I've learned a lot about horses, riding and what is involved in maintaining the large animals. Thank you very much for taking the time to chat with Runde's Karen!

Wishing everyone a safe and jubilant 4th of July weekend. If you don't have plans for the weekend yet, there's still time to make them. If you're just not the plannin' type ... well, we hear ya. It's casual.

 All four of the Runde Auto Group locations will be closed on Monday the 5th of July in honor of the National Holiday. We'll reopen again for business on Tuesday the 6th, but remember that you can access our inventory 24/7 at www.RundeAutoGroup.com

We recently had a chance to interview Perry Mason of Radio Dubuque to get an inside peek of what goes on behind the scenes of the 3rd of July Air and Fireworks Show. Since then Perry and his crew have picked up the 21 vehicles they needed from Runde's and they are being put to good use by the troops. These are the vehicles that will serve their basic transportation needs as they travel around the Tri-State area over the next week or so.

After they arrived at the Dubuque Regional Airport the other day, we got a chance to take an up-close look at a few of the planes that will be in the show. Enjoy a small glimpse of the planes that will be at the show! And if you're interested in checking the planes out in person or possibly taking a ride on one, CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS.

B-17 Bomber.

The A-10 East Demonstration Team is Greatful for Runde's Vehicles.

Gun turret at the bottom of the B-17 Bomber. Probably one of the most dangerous places to be. The B-17 was said to be a Flying Fortress and after being inside one, I can now see why.

Tim Runde got to fly with the well known aerobatics Mike Wiskus.

The A-10 "Warthog"

Check out our walkthrough video of the B-17 Bomber!