Over 2,400 people passed through the grandstand gates to take in the Weyburn Rodeo on Saturday and Sunday at the Weyburn exhibition grounds.

The main grandstand was mostly filled, along with smaller stands placed around the rodeo arena, with attendance a little better on Sunday than Saturday despite an early afternoon shower, said Lions organizer Brian Lanktree.

There were 207 contestants from across the Prairies who took part in a number of rodeo events, including bareback bronc riding, calf roping, barrel-racing, steer wrestling, team roping and bull riding.

There were 500 people at the Saturday night dance, which almost didn't happen when the scheduled band, Faster Gun, pulled out on Saturday afternoon. Rodeo organizers were able to recruit the Yahoos as a last-minute replacement, said Lanktree.

The 50/50 raffle paid out just under $500 over the two days, and the overall proceeds of the event will be split between the Lions Club and the Weyburn Agricultural Society. The final tally of the proceeds won't be known until all the bills are paid, but Lanktree said there was enough of a profit made that organizers feel they can go ahead and plan for a 2001 rodeo.

The two clubs had a total of around 100 volunteers who took part over the course of the two days.

This year's rodeo was dedicated to Pete Anderson, who has been the rodeo groundsman since the Lions first began staging a rodeo in 1981. Lanktree said it would be difficult to stage the rodeo without his expertise to set up the corrals and arena, and get the ground properly prepared with the help of Ken Latham of the City of Weyburn's Public Works department.

The results of the rodeo action are as follows:

Bareback bronc riding: 1. Wyman Parker, Spiritwood, Sask.; 2. Jonathan Kmita, Weyburn; 3. Dwayne Detchon, Lloydminster; 4. Dustan McPhee, Hanley, Sask.

Bull riding: 1. Blair Hanson, Saskatoon; 2. Brendan Fisk, Oak Lake, Man.; 3. Kory Ginnis, Grenfell.

Barrel racing: 1. Rebecca Campbell, Big Beaver, Sask.; 2. Dawn Goebel, Pilot Butte, Sask.; 3. Kelley Byrne, Prince Albert.

Team roping: 1. Kent Drake and Jonathan Drake, Moose Jaw; 2. Jim McFadden and Bill Robb, Qu'Appelle; 3. Shawn Williamson, Mankota, and Duane Gillispie, Neville; 4. John Claffey, Weyburn and Kevin Gee, Bengough; 5. Robert Schmidt, Yellow Grass and Graham Stewart, Weyburn.

Saddle bronc: 1. Jeremy Harden, Kindersley; 2. Clay Brohmbach, Weyburn; 3. Walter Lockie, Balgonie.

Calf roping: 1. Cody Rood, Bengough; 2. Shawn Williamson, Mankota; 3. Lyle Brown, Lenore, Man.

Steer wrestling: 1. William Beierbach, Maple Creek; 2. Clayton Larocque, Roblin, Man.; 3. Kenny Schacher, Manyberries, Alta.