Gollaher boys winning; And Delight is delighted
CASCADE – With that original first name and the rodeo history of her boys, it’s a given that every day is pretty dang nice for Delight Gollaher.
“That might be the wrong assumption,” the Cascade woman said with a laugh. “But there’s a lot more good ones than bad.”
And this week? Pretty delightful for sure.
That’s because the PRCA Cascade Rodeo is coming up. And right on cue, the steer wrestling Gollaher brothers — Mike and Ted — are heating up.
Mike, 42, is leading the bulldogging standings in the Montana Pro Rodeo Circuit. And Ted, 39, is coming off the best victory of his rodeo career.
Ted won the steer wrestling last weekend in Strathmore, Alberta, collecting nearly $6,000 for two snappy runs.
“It’d be neat to win in Cascade, that’s for sure,” he said. “But it’s always hard to win your hometown rodeo.”
The event in Cascade is scheduled Friday and Saturday night at a refurbished, picturesque arena three miles southeast of town.
“It’s definitely a community-based event,” said Mike, a former Montana Circuit champion bulldogger. “We’re growing as we go. Really a great thing for the town.”
Delight and her husband, Myrle, raise black angus cattle on a ranch about six miles east of Cascade and about three miles to the rodeo grounds.
“It’s really gorgeous. A beautiful set-up,” said Delight.
She hopes many folks will be there this weekend for the action, which features mutton bustin’ at 6:30 both nights and a special “McClintock” wild bronc riding right out of a John Wayne movie on Saturday following the performance.
“We’ve got a little rodeo committee and a little town,” Delight said. “And we have some fantastic sponsors who have really stepped up to the plate. I think it’s going to be a great rodeo.”
A large section of slack follows Friday night’s first performance. Both Gollaher brothers will be in the steer wrestling slack.
Their mother won’t miss it. It was suggested to her that the boys are truly enjoying a solid summer.
“I think they are,” Delight said. “Of course I’m a pretty partial mother. They’ve got good horses, which makes a big difference.”
“Very much so,” Mike agrees. “I’m just been drawing good, and I’m healthy. That’s the biggest part of it. Plus I’ve got two good horses. They just fit me.”
Ted didn’t have his horses north of the border last weekend, so he elected to ride one owned by good buddy Hunter Cure, a traveling partner who currently leads the PRCA standings in the bulldogging.
It worked out great.
“We both made the short round,” Ted said.
The Cascade Rodeo is fairly new to the PRCA schedule, returning to the slate a few years ago after an absence of several decades.
“They’ve done a great work getting the rodeo put back together here,” Ted said.
The Gollaher brothers played football and basketball at Cascade High and both graduated from Montana State.
“We’ve been up and down the road a long time with them,” Delight said. “Mike was at his first horse show when he was 2, and I pregnant with Ted at the time. The boys have been on the rodeo road from the time they were little. But they got to be such big guys they couldn’t really follow in their Dad’s footsteps.”
Myrle was a bareback rider.
Even if the boys weren’t such talented bulldoggers, there’s reason for their folks to be proud. Because they put the family ranch ahead of their rodeo careers. They’re always willing to help their parents on the home place.
“Absolutely,” Delight said. “It’s more like we’re helping them. They’re always home for calving. Always home for the bull sale.”
If the Gollahers can count on each other, it also seems true that central Montana rodeo fans can count on Cascade providing another quality event.
“We’ve got a great community,” said Delight. “Tell you what, (rodeo chairman) Debbi Hamann and her husband (Dan) and mom (Joann Eisenzimmer) just work their hearts out for this. And we’ve got such great support. There’s a lot of folks who help and give a lot of money so we can offer a better purse. They just want to see us make a go of it with this rodeo.”