Every year around the beginning of summer, Reno has a special event called the Reno Rodeo. It’s been a long-standing tradition (this year was its 90th) in this area, where many Reno citizens and tons of out-of-towners come out to enjoy a week-long event filled with ropers, bull riders, barrel racing, and much more. With the city of Reno going all out for this event, how could the Southgate Coins crew not be a part of it and join in on the celebration? Read on to see how the we celebrated the Reno Rodeo.
To start off the event, we had good ‘ol country music playing over our loud speakers this past weekend, which is tradition during Rodeo week around here. I (Crystal) don’t usually listen to any country music stations during rest of the year, but for the Reno Rodeo, it helps get me in the spirit, as I’m sure it does for the other girls here.
Now, Maya will tell you all about the Southgate Coins Reno Rodeo tradition.
During the past 28 months, I (Maya) have witnessed three separate celebrations of Reno Rodeo Day at Southgate Coins. Although there are some traditions that remain the same from year to year (like country music in the background and Claim Jumpers on the lunch table), each event is always tailored to fit the types of girls working at the time.
For instance, the first Reno Rodeo Day celebration (2007) I participated in was full out, with two dress-up days, on which all the girls donned the traditional cowboy hats, as well as western wear. (This could mean anything from flannel shirts and jeans to flowing blouses, skirts, and cowboy boots.) The second Reno Rodeo Day (2008) I participated in was a little different, because two of our girls had just been hired that month, and we felt that since they were such newbies, we didn’t want to issue a mandatory dress-up day to them just yet. We decided to nix all western attire, and instead, celebrate with good food and music. This year (2009), we compromised (that is, everyone except Rusty—but Nicole will tell you about that!)—everyone wore cowboy hats, ate food from Claim Jumper, and listened to music.
Since this was my (Nicole) first Reno Rodeo celebration at Southgate Coins, I was thrilled when we were all able to wear cowboy hats for the day! I wore a straw hat with different shades of brown, and Maya wore one similar to mine, accentuated with a brown band around the brim and a star. Marie’s hat was also similar to both Maya’s and mine – I guess straw hats were pretty popular around here at Southgate Coins! I was jealous of Crystal’s though, because hers was a cute, all-pink straw hat. Cara wore a perfect traditional creamy-tan-colored cowboy hat. Then there was Rusty! I was so surprised to see him in full attire for the special day, and I’m not just talking about a hat! He wore a traditional cowboy hat like Cara’s, but he also wore a classic rodeo shirt, a red bandana around his neck, Wranglers, boots, and a big belt buckle.
The customers loved all our hats as we greeted them at the door, and we got many compliments on them! Thank goodness more people were much more familiar with the Reno Rodeo than they were with Kentucky Derby Day – This prevented us from getting any strange or dumbfounded looks!
The next greatest part about the day was all the yummy food! Here’s Cara to give you the scoop:
What really topped off Reno Rodeo Day was the special lunch that we were treated to from one of Southgate Coins’ favorite restaurants, Claim Jumper. Crystal was given the task of picking up the food because it was such a big order compared to other Free Lunch Fridays. She returned with a whole box full of yummy food, which she could barely carry by herself. After laying everything out on the table in the conference office, we all began to dig in. Our lunch was fit for any hardworking cowboy (or cowgirl). It included tasty ribs, salad, mashed potatoes, garlic bread, roasted vegetables, and fries. Crystal, who isn’t a fan of ribs, had a whole tuna sandwich and a cup of fruit to herself. After stuffing ourselves full of food, it was time to get back to work for the rest of the day. Reno Rodeo Day turned out to be tons of fun, with finger-licking good food, cowboy hats, country music, and many pictures. It was definitely another Southgate tradition that I was happy to be a part of.