Spectators collect candy tossed from a passing float during the Nyssa Nite Rodeo Parade on June 18, 2022. (The Enterprise/ISAAC WASSERMAN)
NYSSA – With perfect weather, the Nyssa Nite Rodeo kicked off its final day of the 2022 run with a parade and ended it with a honky-tonk.
Grand Marshals Marco and Becky Rodriguez led the parade on Saturday, June 18, through the heart of downtown toward the rodeo grounds, followed by representatives from the Idaho Cowboy Association, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Owyhee Riding Club, and other businesses and organizations.
Michaela Bocci, the 2022 Nyssa Nite Rodeo queen, waved from atop her horse, saying she was looking forward to the evening’s coronation of her successor –“to see my friend get crowned.”
Ahead of the main rodeo, mutton busting, junior barrels, and junior steer wrestling warmed up the crowd that packed the stands.
The rodeo grounds were lined with vendors including Mal’s Diner, The Rusty Dog Corndogs and Ladybug Ice Cream. Melissa Martin sold T-shirts emblazoned with rodeo-themed slogans, although her favorite shirt featured Beth Dutton from Paramount’s TV show “Yellowstone” and read: “In a world full of Karens…Be a Beth.”
Rodeo announcer Brian Fredrickson in an interview gave a few words of advice for aspiring rodeo announcers before warming up the crowd for the grand entry.
“I’ve practiced a lot,” he said. “It’s all about practice.”
The rodeo’s main events included bareback, saddle bronc, tie-down roping, ranch bronc, breakaway roping, steer wrestling, team roping, Mejia team roping, barrel racing, and Bull riding.
Mike Reed, a saddle bronc rider from Terrebonne, has been on the road traveling to rodeos since the beginning of the year. He checked in with Enterprise reporters to apologize, “sorry that we kicked dirt right on your camera.”
Reed is placed seventh overall in the NPRA standings for saddle bronc in only his second year of rodeo competition. He chose a career in rodeo over playing baseball in college.
When a buddy said he had a saddle ready for him, Reed couldn’t help but give it a try.
Ever since that “sure, why not?” Reed has traveled from rodeo to rodeo, doing what he loves.
“It’s the atmosphere and the people for me,” said Reed. Despite the long season and long drives, he “would not trade the miles for anything.”
After the sun set, the new Nyssa Nite Rodeo Queen, Kiya Servatius, was crowned. She quickly headed off to help Bocci set up for barrel racing and said she’d definitely remember “being able to buzz as the new queen.”
As the final rodeo events finished up, the band Buckin’ Country kept the energy high as a bull rider with its music for dancing on the rodeo grounds.
The 2023 Nyssa Nite Rodeo Queen, Kiya Servatius, and 2022 Queen Michaela Bocci talk in the back of a pickup truck during the rodeo on June 18, 2022. (The Enterprise/ISAAC WASSERMAN)
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