Chestermere resident, 88-year-old Richard Tanner, a retired grain and livestock farmer, hasn’t missed attending the Calgary Stampede in nearly 80 years.
Tanner has lived in the Chestermere area for the majority of his life, and still reminisces about his time spent at the Calgary Stampede with his father, friends, and eventually his own family.
“My father had taken me to the Stampede at a fairly young age because they had a children’s day and the programs for kids,” Tanner said.
Tanner didn’t care much for the children’s programs, and only really began to enjoy attending the Calgary Stampede when he got older and could look at the machinery, cars, and trucks.
“That’s what interested me. As I got older, it got more exciting, and I would go with my group of friends while in my teens,” Tanner said.
He added, “I used to go to the evening performances and go watch the chuckwagon races.”
Tanner was always excited to attend the Calgary Stampede year after year because there is nothing that compared to the stampede for the remainder of the year.
“It’s just the excitement, seeing all of the people, and the competitors,” he said.
In the last eight decades, Tanner has made many memories at the Calgary Stampede, including winning a cocker spaniel puppy at the age of 12 and taking his family to the stampede to participate in 4-H activities.
“Dad would truck our cattle to the Calgary Stampede for 4-H,” said Tanner’s daughter Terri Radke who went to her first stampede when she was 10-years-old.
“We also worked in a concession stand on Scotch Man’s Hill before the fireworks,” Radke said.
She added, year after year, she looked forward to enjoying the rides, and spending time at the midway with her family.
One of the best memories Radke has with her father is going out for dinner and spending time with him after selling her steer during 4-H at the Calgary Stampede.
“I was really upset selling my steer, and my dad tried to cheer up by taking me out to eat. It was a really nice gesture, “she said.
