The likeable Kyabram local has an association with the iconic event stretching back to the 1950s, not so many years after the staging of the town’s first rodeo.
John has been a coalface worker for the rodeo over the years — the last 53 on the organising committee — and now at the grand old age of 82 still keeps on eye on things and willingly helps outs when and where he can.
There was a ritual in famous rodeos past that riders met on the eve of the rodeo at John’s Kyabram home where they would get an unofficial good-old Kyabram welcome to the town.
Those were mainly the days when the Kyabram Rodeo was staged on the Monday of the Labour Day weekend.
John’s warm welcomes have led to lifelong personal friendships with many of Australia’s top riders.
John’s contribution to the Kyabram Rodeo had been so significant over such a long time that in 1999 the show society, which runs the famous event, acknowledged his tireless input by naming the rodeo arena in his honour.
John calls that honour “the greatest moment of my life”.
The Kyabram Rodeo dates back to 1946 when the then president of the Kyabram AH&P, George Ruler, nominated a rodeo be held in the town to celebrate the end of World War II.
The first rodeo held at the Kyabram Recreation Reserve was a huge success and forerunner to 76 rodeos since then, and the event has justifiably earned the reputation of being among the best one-day rodeos in the land.
You can bet a bucking horse to a whip crack one of the first through the gates on Friday will be John Smith.
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