MOOSEJAWTODAY.COM -- It’s safe to say the sport of rodeo in Moose Jaw wouldn’t be the same without longtime supporter Lee Bellows.
Bellows, who passed away last year, was a key fixture in the Moose Jaw Exhibition Company for decades, with his efforts to improve and advance the sport having a direct effect on the rodeo community even to this day.
To find a perfect example, all one had to do was head down to the MJEC this past weekend to check out the rodeo school he was a major part of founding, with the event taking place in the arena he helped build.
It wasn’t long after Bellows passed that the MJEC decided to honour his memory, and on Saturday, a special ceremony was held to rename the outdoor rodeo ring the Bellows / Gomersall Arena, honouring two major pioneers of the sport in Moose Jaw.
“Lee was involved in rodeo in this part of the world for many years,” said Ross Smith of the MJEC and also a close friend of Bellows. “He started off riding bucking horses and then was a bullfighter, barrelman and rodeo clown, and he ended up working all over North America and even in Australia, he’s been all over. He was active with the Moose Jaw Exhibition Grounds for 40, 50 years, he was here a long, long time, and it was his idea to start this school, so it only seems fitting.”
The dedication took place prior to the Saturday afternoon session of what was once known as the Moose Jaw Roughstock Rodeo School, which offers young riders a chance to learn how to ride bucking horses in a safe and positive environment.
The annual event was the brainchild of Bellows around 15 years ago, which made the renaming to the Lee Bellows Rodeo School a natural fit.
“That was Lee Bellows’ dream, to give the kids a place to start in rodeo, and it’s really nice to see the network of people who have felt the same way and helped us along the way,” Smith said. “There were some students here who will be getting on their first bucking horse and some who are coming back to continue their learning. So this is grassroots, where it starts, and it’s all because of an idea that Lee had.”
Bellows sharing the arena name with Bill Gomersall is also a perfect tribute given Gomersall’s role when the sport was taking off in the area in the early 1920s.
The renaming ceremony included a special presentation of a photo collage to Bellows’ widow Teresa and Bill’s son Doug Gomersall.
“They were pioneers, they did a lot of work behind the scenes that people weren’t aware of,” Smith said. “I was fortunate to work with Lee and I cherish those memories of us building things around here for the rodeo here. It’s been an honour to be involved with people like that who were such pioneers, and hopefully what we’re building here will be for the next generation.”
