Meeteetse saddles up for 105th Labor Day event
Share
Tweet
Karla Pomeroy
The Ab Meier Memorial Team Roping event, held annually on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend, is just one of the many events in Meeteetse during the Labor Day weekend. Other events include quilt show, rodeo, parade, horseshoe and corn hole tournaments and an archaeological fair.
MEETEETSE – Back in 1912, the town of Meeteetse decided to celebrate Labor Day with a free cookout and rodeo for local families. Now, 105 years later, the celebration is still going strong, with events planned for all four days of the holiday weekend.
Starting on Friday, Meeteetse will kick off the festivities with a high school football game at the school, and Chicken Drop Bingo at 6 p.m. behind the famous Cowboy Bar.
On Saturday morning, the day kicks off with a quilt show at the museum and a horseshoe contest downtown, followed by the Ab Meier Memorial Team Roping event at the Meeteetse rodeo grounds at 10 a.m.
Tess Fremlin, event coordinator for this year's celebration, noted that the roping event has 35 registered teams, with over 100 contestants registered for the rodeo, scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on Monday.
"We've had a real good turnout for the rodeo this year," said Fremlin, "and should have around 75 riders total for the roping events."
Saturday concludes with live music downtown and another round of Chicken Drop Bingo.
"Everything is going to be family-friendly this year, so we have quite a few games on the schedule," said Fremlin.
Sunday's celebration begins with Cowboy Church at the rodeo grounds starting at 9 a.m., followed by team roping. A corn hole tournament starts at noon downtown and the town park will play host to a kids stick horse rodeo at 1 p.m.
At 8:30 on Sunday night, the town park will host a showing of the movie "The Ride," followed by live music downtown.
On Labor Day Monday, after a pancake breakfast and craft fair, the rodeo parade "Legends of Meeteetse" will begin downtown at 9:30 a.m. At 10:30 the famous Meeteetse Outhouse Race will be held on Main Street, followed by street games for all ages.
The Meeteetse Museums will be hosting its inaugural Labor Day Archaeology Fair on Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 4. Admission is free. The fair will consist of a variety of fun hands-on stations (for youths as well as adults) operated by archaeologists and museum professionals from around Wyoming. The stations will run from 10 a.m. (immediately following the Meeteetse Labor Day parade) until 4 p.m.
The annual rodeo kicks off at 1:30 p.m. at the rodeo grounds, and for kids, a Frisbee toss.
Labor Day wraps up with the annual duck race starting at the town bridge, where over 400 rubber ducks will be dropped into the river. The owner of the winning duck will receive $100.
"Ducks can be sponsored for $5 each," said Fremlin, noting that ducks will be sold by Meeteetse students during the rodeo, or right before the race.
