Rodeo Officials

Atlantic Stampede Rodeo
September 7, 8, 9, 2007

Last update
Feb 8, 2008

It takes a great many people to put together a rodeo. Almost everyone involved is a volunteer. Each year, they take time from their already busy schedules to assist in producing our rodeo. There are literally hundreds of people involved. Below are the key organizers for this year's Atlantic Stampede. We appreciate their time, efforts and dedication.

Rodeo Director

The Rodeo Director has the total responsibility for arranging all aspects of the rodeo.

Matt Komornik, ASGRA

Matt has been a certified chute coordinator since 2001. He had several years of experience working on the chute crews at IGRA rodeos before that. Matt is a former Miss ASGRA (performing as Miss Patty Komo) and was later part of the IGRA Royalty team. He has also served in several positions on the ASGRA board of directors, and is involved in several choral music groups.

Assistant Rodeo Director

Mike S.
The Assistant Rodeo Director helps manage the planning and production of the rodeo according to the needs identified by the Rodeo Director.

Mike has been involved with ASGRA for several years. He has served as Membership chair, our Vice President, and is now our ASGRA President.

Arena Director

Jorge Ramirez,
The Arena Director is responsible for the set-up of the arena for each event. He has to always be thinking two events ahead to make sure everything goes correctly in the arena.

Jorge has a Bachelor of Rodeo Arts from IGRA University, 2007. He obtained his Chute Coordinator certification in February of 1993, followed shortly by certifications as arena Director, in May 1993, and Judge in November of 1993. He has worked over 100 rodeos as a certified official including 40+ as arena director. Jorge was the IGRA arena director committee, chair, for 2003-2004. He has been rodeo Trustee for NMGRA in 2002-2004, and the TGRA Trustee for 2005.

Chute Coordinator

David Hallwood,
The Chute Coordinator is in charge of getting the animals ready for the events in the roping or bucking chutes. He assigns an animal to each contestant and his staff open the chutes at the start of each go.

Rodeo Judges

Jack Morgan.,
The primary responsibility of the rodeo judge is to monitor the conduct of the events to assure that contestants follow the rules and to signal the start and end of each event.

Kyle Putman,
Kyle began competing in 1999 and is an experienced bareback bronc and steer rider. He became a rodeo judge in 2004. He lives in the town of Braham, Minnesota, north of Minneapolis.

Dee Zuspan,
I have been involved in gay rodeos since the early 1990's and have been a judge since 1992-1993. Right now, I am the 'senior' continuous serving judge in the program. I am still a truck driver and now deliver CO2 to developing natural gas fields in the midwest. I was Miss IGRA in 1993. I love working with the contestants, new and old, and watching them grow in confidence the more they compete.

Rodeo Secretary

Mitch Gill,
The Rodeo Secretary is responsible for quickly and accurately verifying and posting scores and times into the official rodeo record. He oversees the score keeping staff and works closely with the auditor.

Scorekeeper

Patrick Terry,
The Scorekeeper supervises a staff of timers who are responsible for recording official times and scores for all events. It is his job to make sure that the announcer receives the scores quickly so that they can be announced to the contestants and audience as the events take place.

Rodeo Clown

Kelly Poorman, ARGRA,
The rodeo clown is an entertainer who performs feats to excite and engage the crowd and he acts as a safety valve willing to help the cowboy or cowgirl who gets in trouble in the arena. Sometimes the position of Rodeo Clown can cross over to or from the position of Bull Fighter.

BoBelly the Nelly rodeo Clown. Kelly lives near State College, PA and has many years of experience as an Arena Crew Coordinator. He is the author of a fictional novel about gay rodeo.

Bull Fighter

Barry Ratliff,
The Bull Fighter is a safety valve to help the cowboy or cowgirl who gets in trouble in the arena. He is often the first person to come to the aid of an injured contestant. This is a very dangerous job and every rough stock contestant rely's on the Bull Fighter to save their lives if an animal decides to get back at the rider they just bucked off. The Bull Fighter is frequently hired by the stock contractor.

Announcer

Tamara Marks (HGRA)
TAMARA MARKS is a member of Heartland Gay Rodeo Association, and has been involved with the International Gay Rodeo Association since 1996. In the ensuing years, she has won and held many titles and awards. Included in these are Ms IGRA 1998, IGRA Vice President from 2000 - 2003, IGRA Finals Rodeo Director 2004 and has served as the IGRA Finals Rodeo Scorekeeper the past 2 years. Tamara was certified as a Scorekeeper in 1999 and has been Announcing since 2003. She says, 'Working as an Announcer or Scorekeeper is just a small part of the big rodeo picture. It takes many volunteers, all working together, to pull off this event.' You can also find her at rodeos timing, competing, working in the arena, or singing. When asked "why gay rodeo?" her response is, "Because it's a place where it doesn't matter whether you're gay, straight, bisexual, or transgender, we all work and play together without prejudices. It's like a family reunion at every rodeo!"

Before rodeo, Tamara worked in the gay community raising money for charity. She received numerous awards for her vocal talents including Female Entertainer of the Year and top female Live Vocalist presented by the Performer's Award of Detroit.

Versatile Tamara is still true to her first love as a singer, performing at countless Rodeos and fund-raising functions throughout the country. Last year, Tamara traveled to Nashville to realize her dream of recording a CD. You can check out her CD at www.tamaramarks.com.

Tamara and her partner, Bryn Geerdes, live on a horse farm in Ashland, Nebraska. At last count, 19 animals were in their care: horses, miniature donkeys, a cow, and assorted dogs and cats.

Auditor

Larry Lindstrom, CGRA
The rodeo auditor is the official in charge of making sure that the scores are entered in to the official records accurately and that the contestant payouts are correct.

Larry has been an active member for 19 years. He started competing in the camp events in the mid-80s winning his first buckle in Steer Decorating in 1988. From there he was elected to the CGRA board as secretary and then became their 5th president and presided for 3 years in the early 90s. He was also their rodeo director five times during this decade.

In 1987, Larry designed and wrote the computer program that audits each rodeo on the IGRA circuit. Even after countless modifications, the program is still being used today! In 1996, he registered www.igra.com and maintained the IGRA Web site for the next 9 years. He is also a certified auditor, secretary, and scorekeeper.

Larry is currently serving a two-year term as IGRA Secretary 2005-2006. By day he runs his own small business with nine employees and lives north of Denver with his life partner John, four horses, and two cats.

Arena Crew Coordinator

Eric Korpon,
The arena crew coordinator is in charge of the special equipment that must be set up for each event. He leads the crew that prepares the arena for each contestant coming in to compete. In that sense, he has to be thinking several events ahead at all times.

Front Gate Coordinator

Michael Swerda,
The front gate coordinator acts in a supervisory role welcoming the crowd to the rodeo grounds and providing information to volunteers and spectators alike. His staff handles ticketing issues, distributes the rodeo program, checks in staff and entertainers, gives directions, and even takes care of "lost and found" items.

Hospitality Coordinator

The hospitality coordinator helps welcome our guests to the host hotel and coordinates tickets sales and the rodeo information tables. If you are new to Stampede, then he is a great resource for you to question about what to do and where to go.

Contestant Registration

Jon H.
The contestant registration coordinator is responsible for orginizing the area and volunteers who check in contestants and make sure they all get numbers.

Internet Communications Coordinator

Frank Harrell, ASGRA
The Internet Communications Coordinator manages all content on the ASGRA website and maintains a digital holding pen for electronic materials such as source graphics used in rodeo publications, and lists of contacts for all association functions.

Cowboy Frank has been a member of ASGRA for several years and the organization's webmaster as well as secretary. Last year he became webmster for IGRA as well as HGRA. Frank is a computer fanatic, and enjoys digital photography, many of the photos on the ASGRA website are his. He lives in Northern Virginia with his life partner. They celebrated their 24th anniversary together this year.

Publicity/Promotions Coordinator

Patrick Hunter, ASGRA
Publicity Promotions Coordinator is responsible for arranging Rodeo Publications. These include contacting printers for the rodeo program, posters, and other printed media.

Patrick is a long standing member of ASGRA. He acts as host for our monthly trail rides and has served on our board of directors in a number of positions over the years.

Stable Coordinator

Terry Glenn,
The Stable Coordinator is responsible for arranging for and setup of all stable supplies and extra stalls. In addition he is the person who checks in the horses and makes sure they have all the required papers and health certificates.

Terry is an avid horse enthusiast who has been involved with horses since he was three. He joined ASGRA in 1991 and has competed in almost every Atlantic Stampede since. Terry competes in barrel racing pole bending and flag racing in rodeos and elsewhere. He lives on a small horse farm in the mountains of Virginia along with his partner and five horses.

Vendor Coordinator

Jackie Thompson,
The Vendor Coordinator processes all contact information and paperwork for our various vendors at the rodeo.

Volunteer Coordinator

Beth Brockelman, ASGRA
The Volunteer Coordinator is responsible for organizing the many volunteers who are so important to the success of our rodeo.

Beth was born in Hilo, Hawaii and now calls Forestville, Maryland home. She has been a volunteer at our rodeo since 1995. She is a former Ms. ASGRA who still performs as a vocalist at several benefits each year to help raise monies for various local charities.
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Security Coordinator

Bart Forbes,
The Security Coordinator is responsible for organizing all the volunteer and paid security personal needed during the day and night to secure the rodeo grounds.

Veterinarian

Linda Molesworth, VDM,
For the safety and health of the animals, a large animal veterinarian is on duty during the entire rodeo. We always hope that their services won't be needed but if any problem does come up with the health of an animal, we are prepared.

Doctor Molesworth has been our Stampede veterinarian for the past five years. She operates an equestrian facility in Huntingtown Maryland which offers large veterinary services along with many special programs for horses and their owners. Among these is Hooves 4 Hope a therapeutic horsemanship program. Fresh Meadows Farm

PO Box 22042
Alexandria, VA 22304-9204
(202) 547-9590