BEMIDJI, Minn. — A rodeo this weekend in northern Minnesota will feature the usual events like bull riding, barrel racing and calf roping but also personal stories of breast cancer survivors, and a lot of pink.
The Edith Sanford Breast Center Wojo’s Rodeo Circuit Finals will be held Friday and Saturday at the Sanford Center in Bemidji, Minnesota. Proceeds will benefit the Edith Sanford Cancer Center.
Dana and Keith Wojciechowski, of Greenbush, Minnesota, created Wojo’s Rodeo in 2006 to provide opportunities for cowboys and cowgirls in the region to sharpen their skills.
“In the past, we have done a ‘Tough Enough to Wear Pink’ rodeo at our house and I wondered if we could do one with the Edith Sanford (Breast Center),” Dana Wojciechowski said. “And they were very excited to partner with me on this.”
The rodeo season began in June with the first of 16 events. During the season, more than 200 contestants collected points and the top 15 finishers in each event have been invited to the circuit finals.
“There will be 119 competitors at the finals,” Dana Wojciechowski said, “and all of them will be wearing pink. From start to finish each night, the rodeo will be cancer-oriented.”
Since summer, event organizers have been selling T-shirts, which will also be available during the rodeo finals. Besides proceeds from those shirt sales, organizers are also donating $1 of every admission to the cancer center, which also is auctioning a pink guitar signed by Brad Paisley.
The goal is to promote awareness around breast cancer and the importance of screening. The local fundraising effort helps pay for mammograms for women who can’t afford them.
During the rodeo, Sanford Health will also honor breast cancer survivors and those who have lost their lives to breast cancer, and people will have the opportunity to sign the pink ribbon Edith Wall.
“We like to give back through our rodeos, and all the pieces came together to give back to the Sanford Breast Center,” Dana Wojciechowski said. “We all have friends or relatives who have had breast cancer and (in honor of them) we are highly encouraging everybody to wear pink both nights.”
Riding for her cousin
Among those who will be dressed in pink at are Sabrina Haugen and son Trent, who live in Puposky, Minnesota. Sabrina will enter the finals in second place in the open barrel competition while 11-year-old Trent is the leader in the junior barrels.
“I competed in all but two of the events this season, but I missed out on a possible 40 points because I missed those two events,” said Sabrina Haugen, who won the championship last year. “I have 11 points to make up, but there are 40 available points, so, hopefully, I can win enough points.”
She’ll have extra incentive to do well this weekend as she is riding in support of her cousin, Laura Olsen VanDyke, a breast cancer survivor.
“Laura is doing great,” Haugen said. “She had her treatment at Sanford Bemidji and now her breast cancer is in remission. Laura is the first one from our family to have cancer and, hopefully, she will be the last. Trent and I are both proud to support her and her efforts.”
This weekend, Haugen’s favorite color will be pink and her riding outfit will include pink ribbons and a pink shirt.
“Pink represents the fight for a cure,” she said. “Breast cancer can affect anybody and everybody, and pink helps people become more aware of what breast cancer is. Sometimes you hear people say that if they ignore (the signs) it will go away, but people shouldn’t be afraid to have things checked over.
“If you catch things early, the better your chances of survival will be. Trent and I are proud to support Laura and I know she’ll be pretty proud of seeing me in pink.”
Mother vs. daughter
Stacey Stoskopf of Gully, Minnesota, and her 11-year-old daughter, Aubrey, will have fans in the stands when they compete in the barrel racing event. Both qualified for the finals and will be competing against each other, and making the trip from Baudette, Minnesota, will be Stacey’s parents.
“Mom and dad will be at the rodeo to cheer us and give us support,” she said. “And we will give mom support by wearing pink.”
Mom is Nancy Olson who was diagnosed a year ago with an early stage of breast cancer after a mammogram discovered some irregularities.
“They found some pre-cancer stuff, removed it and then mom had radiation at Sanford in Bemidji,” Stacey Stoskopf said. “My mom was really happy with how Sanford treated her and her cancer. She is clear now and it turned out that we had a good experience from what was a bad situation. Mom is one of the cancer success stories.”
Stacey Stoskopf, her mom and her daughter face their obstacles head-on, and that’s why Aubrey is competing in the open barrel racing division instead of the junior class.
“I like to challenge Aubrey,” Stacey Stoskopf said. “You never are going to get better if you don’t have high standards. I made it to the top 15 and the finals. Aubrey is neck-and-neck with me, and I care more about how she does than how I do.”
Aubrey’s wardrobe includes many pink items, so she and mom will have plenty of apparel options this weekend.
“Pink represents awareness and support for all the good hospital care that is available, the survivors and all who have passed,” Stacey Stoskopf said. “It is just amazing how many people have breast cancer and with the great doctors and hospitals now in the preventative care, you can catch breast cancer early like they did with my mom.
“I’m a big advocate that (detection) sooner rather than later is important.”
8 second goal
Sean Vedbraaten of Fosston, Minnesota, will be wearing a pink shirt when he attempts to stay on a bull for the full 8 seconds on Friday and Saturday. Vedbraaten currently is 10th in the open bull riding standings and doesn’t have a realistic shot at winning the overall championship. But he does have a personal goal this weekend.
“Riding the full 8 seconds in my runs is my goal. I want to end the season as well as I can,” said Vedbraaten, whose pink shirt was a present from his mother. “When I was playing high school football at Fosston (Minnesota), I wore pink socks with a breast cancer sign on the back. And during the rodeos in October, I wear pink.”
His mother, Candi Sanford, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014 when he was a freshman in high school. Doctors removed a mass that year and initiated a chemo pill treatment. In 2016, they found another lump and she had a double mastectomy.
“And I’m doing well now,” said Sanford, a patient access representative in the obstetrics and gynecology department at Sanford Health in Fargo, North Dakota. “Some people think I took a radical approach (to treatment), but I want to be here for my kids. I was very lucky they caught it early and we are taking things day by day.”
Vedbraaten is proud of his mom.
“She has taught me to never give up. She thinks I’m crazy for wanting to ride a bull, but she is very supportive,” he said.
And wearing the pink shirt this weekend that she gave him demonstrates his support for her.
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Posted In Cancer, Imaging, News
