The sound of thunderous applause and stomping feet reverberated from the Santa Maria Elks Unocal Event Center on May 31, as nearly 6,000 Central Coast children came together to watch the annual Santa Maria Elks/Minetti Mini Rodeo.
Students from school districts from the Five Cities area to Gaviota filled the stands at the rodeo grounds to watch the broncs and bulls try to buck their riders. A miniture pony named Turbo delighted the crowded by solving mathematical equations.
Local community leaders Clarence and Rosalie Minetti founded the rodeo back in the 1980s as a way to bring the local heritage to schoolchildren free of charge, Mini Rodeo coordinator Tina Tonascia said.
Event planners took a brief hiatus in the early 2000s, but the Mini Rodeo has been going strong for the last nine years, Tonascia said.
The pint-size roping and riding extravaganza is funded completely by community sponsors, and organized by a special committee.
“Our committee, bar-none, is the A-Team, how they get all those kids in and out [of the rodeo grounds],” Tonascia said.
The Western-themed festivities kicked off at 10 a.m., when a skydiver carrying a giant American flag jumped from a plane into the rodeo arena. Youth rodeo contestants and specialty performers, including rodeo clowns, showed off their skills through team roping, barrel racing, and bull riding.
Also this year, Rosalie Minetti handed out the first-ever Clarence Minetti Mini Rodeo Exemplary Buckaroo Award to six children. One third-grade student from each of the six school district areas represented at the Mini Rodeo received the award, which recognizes students who display the spirit of the Western lifestyle: hard work, positive attitude, and good character.
The winners included: Alejandro Lemus from Arthur Hapgood Elementary; Blanca Antonio Aquino from Alvin Elementary; Elizabeth Rodriguez from Mary Buren Elementary; Andrea Hernandez from Santa Ynez Valley Elementary; Ellie Hatch from Ocean View Elementary; and Andria Aguilar from Ralph Dunlap Elementary. All of the students were nominated by their teachers.
According to Maggie White, spokeswoman for the Santa Maria-Bonita School District, the award winners are students who strive to give their best academic effort, who practice good citizenship and good friendship on a daily basis, and whose personal character is commendable.
The winners received a variety of prizes, including four passes to Magic Mountain and free tickets to the rodeo, and each child’s classroom received books and school supplies.
The Santa Maria Elks Lodge, as well as dozens of community sponsors, provided the funding for the student busing and all of the other rodeo expenses. More than 400 volunteers showed up to help make sure the event ran smoothly.
This article appears in Jun 7-14, 2012.
