蜜柚直播

It has been more than 700 days since La Fiesta De Los Vaqueros 蜜柚直播 Rodeo took the town back a century or two for eight days, eight seconds at a time. Nearly two years since the rankest of bulls snorted their way to infamy, since the barrel racers chased each other and the clock.

Much has changed. Gone is Gary Williams, the only general manager the rodeo has ever known, taking with him more than a quarter-century of institutional knowledge. In is Stacy Madigan, the new operations manager for the nearly century-old rodeo.

This is unfamiliar territory for Madigan. It, too, is unchartered territory for 蜜柚直播, which saw the rodeo cancelled last year for just the second time in its long history.

On the job less than a year, Madigan knows one thing for sure: The rodeo was missed.

鈥淚鈥檇 have my shirt on around town the last few months, and everyone is asking, 鈥業s this going to happen?鈥欌�� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a part of people鈥檚 lives, almost like a family. Like when you miss a loved one. The 蜜柚直播 Rodeo is family in Southern 蜜柚直播. Some people take family for granted when it鈥檚 always there.

鈥淲hen something prohibits you from visiting, you take a step back and reflect.鈥�

A bit of reflection is what landed Madigan the job in the first place.

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When Madigan was hired last June, chosen by a select five-person subcommittee of the 蜜柚直播 Rodeo Committee, she was just excited to get back in the saddle.

She was born in Mesa, the daughter of a dairy farmer, the kind of girl to get her hands dirty. By the time she was in middle school, she was full-on rough-and-tumble.

鈥淚 was helping get the cows in the barn, helping with the calves, helping my dad, just becoming more involved,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 in my blood, it鈥檚 what I love. I didn鈥檛 want to go to college; I worked on the farm throughout high school. Ran the scale, ran the trucks, harvested the feed, feeding babies, birthing calves.鈥�

Her father, though, insisted she get her degree. He鈥檇 lived the ranching life. It ain鈥檛 easy.

But he couldn鈥檛 keep her away. For more than a dozen years 鈥� including her time as a student first at 蜜柚直播 State, then at Northern 蜜柚直播 鈥� she worked on the farm. For a while, Madigan taught junior high school in Casa Grande.

For the last four years, she was Director of Operations for Chic Boutique, a clothing store and full-service spa in Downtown 蜜柚直播.

It was that resume 鈥� one-part agriculture, one-part operations 鈥� that caught the eye of the rodeo hiring committee.

鈥淲e all sat down and put our heads together and said, 鈥楧o we look for a rodeo guy or someone on the business side and teach them the rodeo business? To really take us to the next level and get us moving in the right direction, we wanted to get someone on the business end of it.鈥�

With plenty of time to prepare, the committee was able to go back to the drawing board. They鈥檇 gotten away with having a one-stop shop in Williams for more than two decades. Plucking Madigan from outside of the rodeo game gave the committee the chance to think outside of the box.

The mentality for years, Baird said, was simple: 鈥淚t if ain鈥檛 broke don鈥檛 fix it.鈥�

鈥淲e have, for many years, gotten complacent and were doing things the same way,鈥� Baird said. 鈥淕ary did a lot of things for us and we said we can probably take on some of those responsibilities. It shouldn鈥檛 be the general manager鈥檚 job to deal with some of that. We kind of reinvented ourselves in our committee format and accepted responsibility without trying to dump that responsibility on people.

鈥淭his is our event and we need to run it. I鈥檝e talked to some people in other parts of the country, and the year hiatus gave them a chance to look at the way they鈥檙e doing business and kind of reinvent themselves a little bit. We need to take some of this burden upon ourselves.鈥�

Besides, Baird says, you can鈥檛 exactly fill Williams鈥� boots.

鈥淲ith someone with the depth of knowledge and passion he has for this sport and this event, that鈥檚 not something you replace,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou find someone to fill a position, but to find people who have that kind of dedication is extremely rare. A guy like him comes around once in a lifetime for a lot of folk.

鈥淚 know in traveling with Gary, we get to finals in Vegas, and you couldn鈥檛 walk across the lobby of the hotel without stopping. A five-minute walk turned into 45 minutes. Everyone wanted a piece of his time.鈥�

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For her part, Madigan is not trying to fill Williams鈥� shoes.

鈥淕ary was phenomenal and what he did with the rodeo and where he took it,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ecause of COVID-19, it gave the rodeo a chance to sit back with Gary retiring to decide how they wanted the direction to go, whether they wanted to keep it in the family or branch out and have a fresh perspective. I鈥檝e been lucky that several people have been ready for change, to push this rodeo forward.

鈥淏ut you come in, fresh blood, and you鈥檙e getting a water hose at you. And it鈥檚 at full blast.鈥�

On the job for more than a half-year, Madigan is just now settling into the routine, though she knows the task ahead is daunting.

鈥淚 was lucky to come in during the offseason, and it wasn鈥檛 game on,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 had time to get situated, to learn some things. I came into a bunch of unknowns. Coming in with all these new ideas, the sky is the limit, my brain is ticking 24/7. I asked how fast do you want me to go 鈥� I can go autobahn or bicycle lane. I鈥檓 a lot to handle. I can be overwhelming in a good way. I鈥檝e had to harness my energy a little bit.鈥�

One of Madigan鈥檚 big pushes for her first go-round is an enhanced VIP experience, which includes unprecedented access to the rodeo and grounds.

鈥淢y perspective is to look at this as a business, and we鈥檙e in the business of putting on a great show,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 want to continue the heritage and culture, but I鈥檇 love to elevate it to the next level. It鈥檚 important to keep some aspects of the rodeo to our roots, but it鈥檚 also important to build forward and expand upon those roots.鈥�