Redding Rodeo adds special addition for 75th anniversary in May

REDDING, Calif. — While they get ready for the Red Bluff Roundup this month, the Redding Rodeo has just announced a special addition as part of its 75th anniversary in May: the creation of the Redding Rodeo Hall of Fame.

The first six inductees include longtime Sheriff John Balma, and Bull Rider Lane Frost and the Bull he famously rode, Red Rock, who is buried on John Growney's ranch in Red Bluff. [Editor may remove this last sentence.} The chute where Red Rock came out is here, at the rodeo grounds.

Another inductee, Specialty Act "The One-Armed Bandit," John Payne, made his debut on the same night Lane Frost rode Red Rock in 1988.

“Lane Frost had studied that bull and watched him and learned a lot of things along the way. And, once he got here, he had an idea and he tired it and it was successful," said Bennett Gooch, the Redding Rodeo Association's President. "So, in 1988, he successfully rode Red Rock. And it just happens to be the same time the “One-Armed Bandit” was here as a specialty act. And that was the first time he had come out and was paid to perform at a real rodeo. And we brought him out from Oklahoma and that started his career off too.” Bennett Gooch, Redding Rodeo Association President.

An induction ceremony and dinner is set for Tuesday night of rodeo week: May 16. Then, the 75th Redding Rodeo comets out of the chute on Wednesday, May 17.

--

To report errors or issues with this article please email the editorial team.