ROBERT PIERCE

   • Leader & Times

Saturday, cowboys and cowgirls will converge on the rodeo arena at the Seward County Fairgrounds for a one-of-a-kind event to help raise money for a local non-profit agency.

Crossroads Therapeutic Riding Center is hosting its annual Ranch Rodeo, the agency’s biggest fundraiser, and Associate Director Natalie Adame said she and the rest of the staff are excited for the upcoming event.

“We already have all of our teams filled up,” she said. “We’re slowly getting some more vendors. We’re open to having more people call in and sign up to be a vendor for the rodeo as well. If anybody has a small business or they want to sell something or do games or have advertisement for  what they do at the rodeo, they can do that as well. We have a vendor fee if you’re selling something. We have tables and chairs available for the vendors. It gives people a chance when they’ve been sitting a while watching the rodeo to get up and walk around, get some concessions, look at the different vendors, do some games for the kids.”

The Liberal VFW post will be providing concessions again for this year’s ranch rodeo, and Adame said the agency does a great job in that capacity with plenty of food for everyone who comes.

“That’s always a good time,” she said. “We have some of our Crossroads families joining in and being a part of helping run the rodeo and welcome people.”

Crossroads has also been able to add some hours in recent years.

“We’ve begun to start a little earlier,” Adame said. “We’ve been able to teach more classes.”

Adame and Crossroads Director Rena Cross teach classes at the agency, and Adame said they have been able to reach more people and take in more clients.

“We used to ride Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but now, we’ve opened up Thursday, and we’ve also opened earlier times,” Adame said. “That’s given us more opportunities to reach more people.”

Just as Crossroads is in need of sponsors, the agency is likewise in need of volunteers.

“We need the bodies and the hearts of the people who want to help, but also have the heart to keep our riders and our horses safe,” she said. “Every rider needs three volunteers. We need a horse handler and two side walkers and people to help prepare the barn and the horses to ride and unpack afterwards and prepare things for the horses to have for the evenings after class.”

Adame said Crossroads is always welcoming to bring more volunteers into what the agency does.

“We just pray they have the heart to want to serve the clients and the people we have,” she said. “It’s been cool. I’ve been praying for that. I’ve been praying for the right volunteers and the people who want to do that. We’ve seen a handful of people come in this spring. That’s been an answer to prayer. We’re always praying God would bring some new hands and new feet to help out. That’s always a blessing when we can have that happen.”

Adame said rodeo fans are in for a great time Saturday.

“We’re praying for great weather,” she said. “We know that sometimes impacts people. We want to invite people to come out and see what we’re about and have a great time watching our cowboys and cowgirls out there and getting to experience a little of the Crossroads heart behind what we do. We’re excited to have our community, family and friends join us for that.”

Admission to the rodeo is free, and a free will donation will be taken at the gate. For more information, find Crossroads on Facebook or Instagram, or go to www.crossroadsctr.wixsite.com.

“We’re trying to get all of our flyers and hope everyone can see them at different businesses in the community too,” Adame said.

Overall, Adame said she is ‘super pumped’ for Saturday in Liberal.

“I’m so excited,” Adame said. “I just know it’s going to be a great time.”