As the annual Grande Prairie Stompede gets underway, the festivities kicked off at the highly anticipated Bust Out Barbecue.
During the event, numerous familiar faces were in attendance and received awards for their hard work and dedication in making the Stompede possible. Among them was Brenda Clarke, long-time stomper and Treasurer for the Stompede, who received the award for “Stomper of the Year,” thanks to her “unwavering” support of the annual event.
The humble Clarke describes the award as a “huge deal,” while reminding everyone that she couldn’t have done it without her fellow board members.
“It’s a very big honour, I don’t do it alone, there are 14 other people on this committee that help me so it’s not a one-person show,” she says.
After spending the past twenty years of her life with the Stompede, Clarke says it has become part of her emotionally and physically.
“I do it for the community, it’s in my heart, so it’s in my soul you could say,” she says. “Just the community and the friendships we’ve built, we are a family, we fight we argue, but we are a family.”
Clarke adds that while she spends most of her time in the backroom as Treasurer during the Stompede, she invites everyone to attend some of her favourite events like the rodeo and of course the chuckwagon races.
