Spooner Rodeo Entertainment

JERRY WAYNE OLSON

Sponsored by Essentia Health - Spooner Clinic

An extraordinary rodeo performer, Jerry Wayne Olson will be back in the Spooner Rodeo arena in 2012. His family has appeared at Spooner since the very earliest days of the Spooner Rodeo. First was his grandfather, LaRue Olson, who thrilled the crowds with his unique and wonderfully trained buffalo, Pat.

Then came his father, Jerry Olson, a daring and zany rodeo clown and talented entertainer. Jerry Wayne Olson made his Spooner debut as a small child, accompanying his father into this rodeo arena. Years later, he came back to perform on his own.

A veteran entertainer on the professional rodeo circuit, Olson features outstanding trained horses and exciting roping in his performances. His act is billed as “Classic Western Entertainment for Spectators of All Ages.”

Olson’s incredible rapport with his horses, the big and beautiful golden palomino named “Justin Boots,” and the trim and tiny “Scout,” a miniature horse, will amaze you and keep you talking about them for days afterward.

Ability plus agility and plenty of showmanship adds up to astounding roping feats when performed by Jerry Olson. He will delight you with his intricate, trick and fancy rope spinning.

You can catch an advance peek at his act on YouTube.

HIPPIE ENGELKES - Rodeo Clown

Sponsored by Johnson Bank - Spooner

Another repeat performer at this year’s Spooner Rodeo will be “Hippie” Engelkes, a clever comedian with a quick quip and a skilled and agile barrelman/bullfighter, too. As a child, Wesley (Hippie) Engelkes dreamed of being a rodeo bull rider or a bullfighter. That dream began to come true in 1997 when riding bulls became reality. In 2002, Hippy started “clowning” as well as riding bulls. Since then, he has followed his calling as a rodeo clown.

Being a clown suits Hippie just fine, he says, because it gives him the ability to use his special sense of fun and high energy, and to work his special magic that brings big smiles and merry laughter to rodeo spectators all around the world of professional rodeo.

Clowning is the fun-and-games part of his act. Bullfighting is the damage-defying part. “He's pretty safe in the barrel," says his wife, Rebekah. It is a little nerve-racking when the bull repeatedly smashes into the barrel, she admits, “but you get used to it after a while."

Family, fun and Western life are important to Engelkes both at the Rodeo and at home. When he is at home, Hippie puts in long days, training horses, working cattle and fixing fences. However, his favorite thing to do is to spend time with his wife and their little daughter, Emma.

SCOTT GROVER, Rodeo Announcer

Scott Grover, 34 years old, from Morrowville, KS, makes his Spooner Rodeo debut in 2012. He has been honing his announcing skills since calling his first rodeo at age 19. Accepted by PRCA in 2005, Grover has racked up an impressive list of rodeos since then, topped off by four stints as Ram Prairie Circuit Finals Announcer (Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma PRCA rodeos); Ram World’s Toughest Bulls and Broncs (indoor venues), Championship Bull Riding Tour (providing more opportunities for bull riders to compete), and PBR Canadian Cup (on the way to World Cup bulls and broncs competition).

“I grew up in a rural area deep in farming, but not to a rodeo family. My mother tells me that the first time they took me to a rodeo, I was hooked from the start … from the time that I saw my first rodeo, I played rodeo, read about rodeo, and dreamed about rodeo,” Scott Grover relates.

He graduated from high school in 1996, then attended Southeast Community College in Beatrice, Nebraska, majoring in Agribusiness. While at Southeast, he and his roommates helped out on weekends during youth rodeos. One day he was asked to fill in when the regular announcer could not be there. Two months later Grover was announcing one of the biggest sanctioned bull riding contests and has stayed busy traveling the country ever since.

He continued his schooling, transferring from Southeast Community College to Kansas State University where he received a bachelor’s degree in Agriculture, and he taught agricultural education at Council Grove, Kansas, for four years before becoming a professional rodeo announcer.

MICHAEL D BAND

After each performance of the 2012 Spooner Rodeo, “Let’s Get Rowdy” with the rockin’ Michael D Band, appearing live nightly by the food stand right next to the Rodeo arena.

Treat yourself to a good time, go rockin’ and get rowdy with the men of the Michael D Band, Michael, Kevin, Aaron and Brent. With diverse musical backgrounds, extensive work in many styles of music, and years of professional experience together on the road, this band has a sound and manner all its own.

In response to fan demand, the Band went into the studio this past year to record its latest album entitled “ROWDY.” It is a driving and edgy record with breakout songs such as “Thinkin’ About You” and “Let’s Get Rowdy.”

Based out of Lexington, KY, the Michael D Band has played its music in all sorts of venues, appearing all across the country, from Key West, FL, to Portland, OR; from Choctaw, MS, to Laramie, WY; from Minot, ND, to Milwaukee, WI; as far away as the West Coast, as nearby as Hayward, Chetek, and Superior.

If you like your music rowdy, rambunctious, and downright rockin,’ you won’t want to miss the Michael D Band at this year’s Spooner Rodeo. Give them a preview listen on Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and iTunes.

To learn more about them, see their website at:
www.themichaeldband.com/