Perhaps you’ve seen this sculpture in front Lakeside’s Olde Community Church, home of the Lakeside Historical Society. It depicts a cowboy on a bucking bronco.
The sculpture is in memory of “Mr. Lakeside Rodeo” Ben Bruton. A nearby sign explains: In 1965 Ben Bruton and his associates brought back the rodeo to Lakeside CA to raise money and build a stadium for the kids of El Capitan High School… This bucking bronco statue was a gift to Lakeside by Mr. & Mrs. Mike Bruton to honor his father’s dream to have a rodeo in Lakeside CA for the benefit of our children…
According to this informative Facebook post from 2014: Mike Bruton, Son of Ben Bruton, acquired this statue of a bronc busting cowboy from Bobby Unser Jr. The post goes on to describe the first Lakeside Rodeo, and how it went on to become an annual event…