Hometown July 24th festivities in Cedar Fort just wouldn't be complete without the centerpiece of the celebration -- the rodeo.

This popular event, now in its 86th year, has created excitement among competitors and spectators alike for generations of Cedar Fort rodeo enthusiasts. This year, Cedar Fort rodeo fans will double their fun with two rodeos -- the Kids' Rodeo on July 18 to kick off the town's weeklong celebration, and the Rocky Mountain Professional Rodeo Association adult rodeo on July 24 as the grand finale.

"Having both a kids' and an adult rodeo will make it so that we don't have to limit the number of contestants so much to fit everyone into a single rodeo," said celebration chairman and Cedar Fort Town Councilman Brad Norris.

This year marks the first time the town's July 24 rodeo is going to be sanctioned by the Rocky Mountain Professional Rodeo Association.

"The money won counts for the RMPRA finals in October, and there's $200 added prize money," Norris said. "Besides the professional riders coming in, locals can enter, so the hometown feel is still here."

Cedar Fort's rich rodeo tradition started around 1923 with local cowboys challenging each other's riding and roping skills in a makeshift arena formed for the day by parking cars and trucks in a circle.

In the early 1940s the local riders constructed a corral in the south part of town using old posts from the Five Mile Pass/Toplift telegraph line. Later, the corral was reinforced with hand-hewn aspen and cedar posts and some snow fencing from the county.

Construction began on the present-day arena in the north section of town in 1953 with volunteers clearing and leveling the land and forming parking/viewing terraces. Nowadays, setting out lawn chairs and watching the rodeo from pick-up trucks parked on the dirt terraces of the Cedar Fort Rodeo Arena gives families and friends a chance to cheer contestants and socialize surrounded by the fragrant junipers overlooking expansive Cedar Valley.

Circle J Rodeo Company has provided rough stock for recent Cedar Fort rodeos, including the upcoming 2009 edition. But back in the early days of the rodeo, local cowboys used their own lively calves and steers and rounded up wild horses from the mountains for the bucking stock.

Occasionally, an animal would manage to escape the confines of the circled vehicles and head for its home on the range. If an unlucky cowboy still happened to be riding the stray, he was on his own to get off and get back to the rodeo.

"We did a lot of real cowboying back then," said Dean Smith, a life-long Cedar Fort resident. "We'd generally bring in about 20 wild mustangs -- they were not branded or anything -- and feed them for a week or two, then ride them in the rodeo. After the rodeo, we sold most of them and turned the rest loose."

Francis Cook, who also grew up riding and helping with the Cedar Fort rodeo, recalled that the rodeo was in danger of being canceled during World War II when most of the local men served in the military and only about five adult men were left in town. The few remaining men pulled together and kept the rodeo going, herding animals and running the chutes as well as competing.

Cedar Fort's 2009 celebration week is set to include the Kids' Rodeo on July 18, a concert in the park on July 19, town clean-up on July 20, community baseball game on July 21, historical pageant on July 22, water fight on July 23 and breakfast, presidential memorabilia display, parade, rodeo and fireworks on July 24.

If You Go

Cedar Fort Celebration

July 18 -- Kids' Rodeo, 4 p.m., Cedar Fort Rodeo Arena. Tickets $2, kids 12 and under free

July 19 -- Concert in the Park, 7 p.m., Cedar Fort Park. Bring chairs or blankets, admission free

July 20 -- Community Cleanup Day

July 21 -- Community Baseball Game, 7 p.m., school playing field

July 22

• Potluck dinner social, 7 p.m., Rodeo Arena. Bring a favorite dish to share.

• Historical Pageant, Dusk, Rodeo Arena, admission free

July 23 -- Water fight, town-wide, all-day

July 24

• Chuck Wagon Breakfast, 6-9 a.m., Cedar Fort Park

• U.S. Presidential Memorabilia Display, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., new LDS chapel on SR 73, admission free

• Parade, 10 a.m., along Center St. Theme: Adventures from the Past. Line-up at 9:30 a.m.

• Carnival, 11 a.m.-1 p.m., Cedar Fort Park

• Rocky Mountain Professional Rodeo Association Rodeo, 2 p.m., Cedar Fort Rodeo Arena Tickets $5, kids 12 and under $3.

• Fireworks, nightfall, east of town

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