Ten Seconds for Cremona: The $16,000 Bull Ride

Ten Seconds for Cremona: The Mechanic, the Bull, and the Old Blue Bleachers

    If you want to understand the true heartbeat of a rural Alberta town, don’t just look at the dirt in the arena look at the old blue painted bleachers.

    They aren't brand new, and they aren't the most comfortable seats in the world. They probably get a fresh coat of paint every single year. But when you walk into the Cremona Ag Society Community Arena, you immediately see the immense pride and respect this town has for its foundation. It is a structurally sound, perfectly imperfect building kept alive by the sheer willpower and fundraising of the people who call this place home.

    This past weekend, over 900 people packed the VIP sections, the back dance floor, and those blue bleachers for the inaugural Buckin' in the Village event. Looking at the walls plastered with sponsor banners from local businesses, you knew exactly how much effort went into making this night happen. During intermission, if you took a quiet minute to just sit back and watch, you saw exactly what small-town community is all about: friends and neighbors gathered indoors, out of the weather, completely happy just to be there supporting their own.

    The weekend was stacked with heavy action, featuring Invitational Steer Riding, Junior Bull Riding for the young local athletes, and ABBI Canada yearling bulls. But the most unexpected display of grit came from a guy who had never been on a bull or a steer in his entire life.

    Bryce Quigley grew up in Cremona. He is raising his family here and runs his own local business, Iron Mountain Diesel. He is a mechanic, not a bull rider. But when he looked at the operating costs required to keep that arena running so kids have a safe place to play hockey and figure skate, he decided to step out of his comfort zone.

    "I just came up with this idea because random, crazy ideas come into my mind once in a while," Bryce laughs. "The Society agreed they thought it would be a fun idea. Part of the reason for doing it is I like to do crazy things, but mostly, we have a very awesome community. I thought this would be a good way to give back and bring everyone together."

    The crazy idea? Bryce was getting into the chutes.

    The goal was to raise a minimum of $1,000 for every second he could stay on a bull. Stock contractors Rob and Brenda Erickson stepped up with the perfect animal—the exact bull country star Brett Kissel rode for his "Cowboys and Dreamers" music video. It had enough buck to put on a show, but a solid enough temperament to keep things from getting dangerously mean.

    "That maybe took some of the pressure off," Bryce admits. "But I still wasn't real confident on how it would turn out. You can still fall off, get hung up, or any of those things."

    The western community always looks after its own. Before the night even started, the crowd had pledged $1,000 a second. Then, right as the announcer brought Bryce up to the chutes, Rick Hoogenboom, owner of Water Valley Sand and Gravel, agreed to double the pledge.

    Suddenly, the local diesel mechanic was riding for $2,000 a second.

    With Nicholas Klinch helping him settle his rope and advising him to use his spurs if he started to slide, Bryce nodded his head.

    "When I got on the bull, I just wanted to hang on for dear life," Bryce says. "I tried to use my spurs to hang on longer. When I fell off, I had no idea how long I'd been on for. I just hoped I made eight seconds."

He made ten.

    If you looked at Bryce right after he hit the dirt, the adrenaline dump was absolute. He was completely overwhelmed by the gravity of what he had just pulled off. It was the kind of raw moment you don't interrupt.

    When the dust finally settled a couple of days later, the reality of that ten-second ride sank in. Bryce Quigley raised over $16,000 in completely unexpected funds. Every single dollar from his ride, and the entire weekend, is staying right there in the community, going directly to the Cremona and District Agricultural Society to offset the heavy costs of maintaining their arena.

    As for Bryce's newly discovered rodeo career?

    "It was really fun. There was a moment afterwards where I thought, I could do that again," Bryce smiles. "But I'm old enough to know better. So I probably won't."