There's a familiar painted face in the arena for the Cochrane Lions Labour Day Weekend Rodeo.
Rodeo Clown Dawson Northcott is in his seventh year of keeping the crowd amused between the intense action of the Labour Day Weekend Rodeo.
Rodeo has played a huge role in his life. Dawson grew up in a stock contracting family in Caroline, AB, and came to this area when he met his wife, Shannon, 12 years ago.
"My grandfather raised bucking horses and bulls that went to the Calgary Stampede and Canadian Finals in the NFR and numerous other rodeos across Western Canada and Northwestern states. I was raised in that lifestyle, which not many kids get to experience. To me, it was normal."
He was a bullfighter for 15 years, 10 of them with a pro card.
He retired five years ago, allowing him to turn his attention to his long-time passion for rodeo clowns.
'With my lifestyle of growing up going to the rodeos and whatnot, I was always drawn to the clowns. I was usually the kid that was involved in the clown acts. The rodeo clown wouldn't have to train a new kid every weekend when he got to town, so he would always use stock contracting kids, my brothers and me.
He eased back while their young boys were growing, but now intends to appear in more rodeos and is already showing the next generation the ropes. His son Tripp made some special appearances at this weekend's rodeo.
So how does the role of the rodeo clown differentiate from that of the bullfighters in the arena?
"The rodeo clown is the guy with the microphone telling the jokes and doing the goofy things," Dawson explains, "and he's there to fill in the lulls of the rodeo when they're transitioning from one event to another, or if they're having difficulties getting an animal out in the arena or whatnot. The rodeo clown is there for the additional entertainment to fulfill your enjoyment of the rodeo."
Dawson does that in several ways.
"I've got a few sets of cue cards that I like to use to try to get people not sitting on their hands in the stands, loosen things up, and get a little lively. You'll see me around trying to rope the calf now and again or trying to poke fun at someone here and there. It's all in good fun, of course.
"Come bull riding time. I'll roll my clown barrel in and sometimes it's my little hidden Oasis, so I don't get run over from the bull."
He's been hit while taking refuge in those barrels. Fortunately, they're specially designed with rubberized padding inside and out to help absorb a hit.
"As with anything that goes on in the arena, there's an element of danger. So yeah, I have to keep my head and also make sure I'm out of everybody's way as well."
"I've been caught out of the barrel a time or two. At the Cochrane Rodeo here a few years ago, I got caught by one of the steer-riding cows. He got a hold of me a little bit, but luckily the bullfighters were there to save me."
"When I was a bullfighter, you get run over quite often. If you weren't doing your job, you weren't getting run over-- that's long and short of that."
One of his favourite moments involved a prank on then-rodeo association president Kevin Firkus while working his second Cochrane rodeo.
"Kevin was all big on the production meetings and things had to run bang, bang, bang, bang. We pretended that the trick rider was missing. Now, I'm not a small guy, but I filled in and tried to do a few tricks while she was pretending to be missing.
"Kevin was just pulling his hair out and couldn't figure out how the trick rider was missing, and then we pulled her out of the crowd and got her going.
"It was a pretty good prank on him. His blood pressure was pretty high, and he had a few choice words at the production meeting the next day, but it was all in good fun."
Dawson speaks highly of the team of people who make the Lions rodeo one of the best amateur rodeos, including Richard's Rodeo, which hire him to perform
"They have a pretty good team to work with... the bullfighters that they bring to town and the pickup men and stuff. It's a well-run outfit."
He says the crowds who attend the Lions rodeo are lively and fun to work with, making it one of the highlights of every year.
"The days can get pretty long at this rodeo. We've had some 4 to 4 1/2 hour rodeos here. I've seen people that stick it out the whole time and when you talk to them afterward, they feel like they were barely even here an hour or two."
"Every year this is the rodeo that I'm ready to come to, this is the one that I'm gearing up for. I've been around to a lot of rodeos, and. of course, there is some other big rodeos, but you don't get the hometown feel.
"This rodeo is something special for this town."
It's the final day of the 2024 Cochrane Lions rodeo.
