Melody Hale has been coming to the St. Paul Rodeo for decades.
Despite being a competitive roper with 30 years of experience, her trips from her home in Tenino, Washington, to the big rodeo in the tiny Oregon town were to watch her husband, Brett, compete in events like team roping.
On Tuesday night, she competed in the rodeo for the first time while he was the spectator.
Like a handful of bigger rodeos around the nation, St. Paul added breakaway roping this year. It was the first time in about 50 years the rodeo has added a new competition. And it is only the second competitive event for women.
In Tuesday’s first performance, Hale roped her calf in 3.3 seconds, good for second place. And the smile on her face showed how much competing at St. Paul meant to her.
“It’s kind of like a dream come true,” she said. “It’s kind of like a bucket list rodeo to get to come to.”
The St. Paul Rodeo continues through Saturday night with performances starting at 7:30 p.m., and there is a matinee performance at 1:30 p.m. Thursday. The breakaway roping is the eighth event in each performance.