It is the team work that inspires 2023 Williams Lake Stampede Lifetime Pass Recipient Cindy Brady to return and help out each year.
She credits her late father Jim Brady for getting her involved in her early 20s.
They would help scrape and repaint the grandstand, as well as clean up the grounds to prepare for the rodeo.
Born in Alberta on a ranch to James and her mom, Thelma Brady, she has two sisters.
One time her family came to Williams Lake for a vacation and her parents fell in love with the area and decided to move there.
She was a nine-year-old at the time and does not remember much about her first impressions.
James was a well driller and made his living doing that in the Cariboo.
Today one of her sisters lives in Williams Lake and the other in Fort St. John.
Over the years she also helped in the grandstand office, where there is always lots to do and was a director for decades, starting in her 20s.
More recently she has helped in the beer garden, which she really enjoys because it is busy at night and there is always something to do.
She reached out and told the Stampede she would be available to volunteer in the beer garden this year, will help with the setup, the work bees or wherever she is needed.
Retired for a couple of years from Finning, she also volunteers with the Harvest Fair, the Indoor Spring Classic Rodeo this year, and three days a week at the Seniors Activity Centre in the concession Monday and Friday and on Thursdays afternoons is part of a group making baby quilts and lap quilts to donate to the community.
Volunteering is her favourite thing to do and one of the ways she has made good friends throughout her adult life and met lots of new people.
It is the Stampede’s volunteers and sponsors who make the rodeo a success each year, Brady said as she encouraged others to consider volunteering too.
“It feels good,” she said. “I love seeing things completed when I help out.”
To see this rodeo feature and much more, check out the 95th Williams Lake Stampede magazine out now.
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