History of the Casey Tibbs Tribute Dinner:
In 1990, following the death of Casey Tibbs, the Casey Tibbs Foundation hosted the very first Tribute Dinner. The Tribute Dinner is held on an annual basis as a fund-raiser to honor people in the South Dakota rodeo community and to celebrate their accomplishments.
Individuals, families and exceptional rodeo animals are nominated by the public for six different categories. All nominations are reviewed by the nominating committee comprised of people from six different South Dakota regions. The committee recommends two nominees from each category to the Casey Tibbs Board of Directors who choose the final nominees.
Those chosen for the six categories are honored at the Tribute Dinner in November with a social, dinner and presentations. Their photos are added to the permanent wall display along with many other Tribute Honorees from past years.
Tribute Dinner tickets can be purchased beginning the first week of October, by phone or by visiting the Rodeo Center. It is recommended to purchase advance tickets as seating is limited. Contact the Casey Tibbs SD Rodeo Center at 605-494-1094 for ticket information or at www.caseytibbs.com
How to Nominate:
Interested parties may turn in a nomination in by June 1, for the current year's Tribute Dinner. Please contact Kalyn at the Casey Tibbs South Dakota Rodeo Center to obtain a nomination form.
Are you interested in being on the Tribute
Dinner Nominating Committee?
Each year the Casey Tibbs Foundation holds a Tribute Dinner to honor deserving individuals’ and families who have been involved in the world of rodeo and ranching in South Dakota. We do not consider this an induction into the Casey Tibbs South Dakota Rodeo Center because an induction is not necessary for individuals to be a part of the Rodeo Center. This is simply a way we can pay tribute to some very deserving people and help preserve the history of rodeo in our state. We do hope however, that the people we honor throughout the years will want to be a part of the Rodeo Center. Casey did not want the Casey Tibbs South Dakota Rodeo Center to become a “Hall of Fame” where people had to be inducted into to be able to be a part of. Therefore the Tribute Dinner was born.
The Casey Tibbs Foundation has assembled a committee made up of individuals from across the state. We divided the state into 6 regions with 2 committee spots in each region. Each year at a meeting in August the Committee reviews all of the nominations submitted to the Casey Tibbs Foundation choosing two nominations in each category to recommend to the Casey Tibbs Foundation Board of Directors to be honored at that year’s Casey Tibbs Foundation Tribute Dinner. The Board of Directors makes the final selection from their two recommendations in each category.
The six categories for nomination are:
Rodeo Cowgirl Great, Rodeo Cowboy Great, Past Rodeo Great, Rodeo Promoter, Ranch-Cowboy Family, Rodeo Animal Athlete
The committee spots are two year spots, members will rotate off and new members will come on the committee. If you are interested in participating on this committee, helping to choose who we honor each year at the Casey Tibbs Tribute Dinner, please fill out the form and send it to the Casey Tibbs Foundation, PO Box 911, Fort Pierre SD 57532.
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In 1990, the event honored the memory of Casey Tibbs.
In 1991, the event honorees were Mattie Goff-Newcombe, Irv & LaFola Korkow, and Bud Day.
Starting in 1992, categories were developed and the honorees for each category are listed below:
Past Rodeo Great Category 1992 Carl Huckfeldt 2018 Steve Mowry 2019 Romey Gunville 2020 Bill Myers Sr. 2021 Dennis Hintz 2022 Pete Longbrake 2023 Johnny Tibbs
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Rodeo Promoter Category 1992 Jim & Julie Sutton 2019 Mike Steiger 2020 Paul & Brenda Gropper 2021 Donna Keffeler 2022 Dave Dahl 2023 Dick Ward
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Cowboy Great Category 1992 Marty Melvin 2019 Marty Jandreau 2020 Bob Shedeed 2021 Dugan LeBeaux 2022 Monte Melvin 2023 Ora Taton
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Cowgirl Great Category 1995 Kristi Price 2018 Kristi Lensgrav-Birkeland 2019 Sherry Ann (Maher) Taylor 2020 Carole Hollers 2021 Jana Griemsmann 2022 Roxee Holloway 2023 Summer Kosel
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Ranch Family Category 1995 Krogman Family 2013 Walter & Marian Klein Family 2019 The Russ Madison Family 2020 The Stanley Johnston Family 2021 Jess & Edie Knight Family 2022 Gordon & Janet Good Family 2023 The Buster Berry Family |
Rodeo Animal Athlete 2009 Unc & Snort -Owned by: Allen & Gordon Good Families) 2014 Pony Baroni - owned by Duane Reichert 2019 Willie- Owned by the Woodward Family 2020 Dillon & Doc- Owned by Jim Whiting 2021 Oakie With Cash (Louie)- Owned by Lisa Lockhart 2022 Captain's Darkie (Doc)- Owned by Nikki & Kristi Steffes 2023 747 South Point- Owned by Sutton Rodeo Co. |