Longtime Lyon County Rodeo do-it-all dies at the age of 86
A poignant moment took place at the PRCA Rodeo on Aug. 15, one that recognized one the event’s champions.
Sadly, it was the guest of honor’s final appearance at the rodeo grounds.
One of the backbones of the rodeo, Dick Richards, died this past Sunday at Avera Morningside Heights Care Center in Marshall at the age of 86.
“He really didn’t know that was happening,” Jeremy Trulock. rodeo board president, said of Richards’ special night. “We wanted to try to recognized him somehow. I asked his son, Bob, if he could be down there so we could recognize Dick, and he said if he could make it happen, he would see if he could get him out of hospice care and bring him out.”
The surprise turned out to a good one, and one that was greatly appreciated by Richards.
“Bob said, ‘They’re standing for you Dad!’” Trulock said. “Then he got really emotional. As they were backing out, ‘he told Bob, ‘I wish I would’ve blown all the fans a kiss goodbye.’” Richards was riding shotgun in a John Deere Gator as it made its way into the rodeo arena during this year’s rodeo to be honored by the capacity crowd. Although Richards was unable to exit the vehicle to blow that kiss, the moment nonetheless was a very special one for anyone who knew him.
“Dick was very touched by the whole crowd giving him a standing ovation — that’s not what we were in it for,” said Trulock, who shared with Richards a deep affinity to horses. “He never wanted the attention — he was a very modest person.”
It was 1994 when Richards and Roger Trulock, a fair board member at the time, got the rodeo at the Lyon County Fair off the ground.
“I remember bringing it up at a meeting, and there were a couple of board members opposed to it,” Trulock said. “We hired a rodeo out of Buffington, South Dakota, for the first two years.”
Although that rodeo drew nice crowds, Trulock and Richards wanted it to improve and grow. That’s when they contracted Bob Barnes to bring on PRCA Rodeo circuit.
“We booked him the first year, and it was a success,” Trulock said. “The quality and the stock … they’ve been outstanding for many years. We were looking for something to draw people in; the demolition derby has always had a good crowd on Saturday night, but Thursday and Friday … we had bigname entertainment coming in — it cost us a lot of money, but we never seemed to make anything. Everybody was looking for something, and Dick and I just thought (the rodeo) would be it. As it turned out, it was. We’ve expanded, and we put more seating in this year.”
But to Trulock and Richards, this was more than just an exercise in booking for an annual event.
“It kind of was our thing,” Trulock said. “We took it kind of personal. “The last few years, neither of us have been able to do any of the heavy work. Dick and I did a lot of work getting the banners together for all the sponsors. Our reward has always been — you look up at that grandstand and it’s always packed. It just gives you a really good feeling that you were a part of it.”
To put a rodeo together, it takes teamwork. The Trulocks, along with Richards and so many others, took on numerous tasks every year to put the rodeo on — the kind of behind-the-scenes work that commonly goes unnoticed.
“Dick did a lot for years and years,” he said. “When his body decided he couldn’t do all that, he still went out and got about 80% of our sponsors — he could still do that. The sponsors, they’re not going to tell Dick no, he’s been asking for 30 years and he was friends with most of the sponsors.”
Nick Kissner’s love of horses is rivaled only by his respect for his friend, Richards. The two go way back, starting with a trip to Granite Falls to inquire about replacing the amateur rodeo in Marshall with a professional affair. At the time, the rodeo in Granite Falls was well-established, and Kissner lined up a meeting with John Richter, the rodeo director there, to learn what would be expected from the Lyon County Fair Board if a pro rodeo circuit were to come.
“We had the meeting, and the rest is history,” Kissner said.
Kissner got to know Richards raising horses in their younger years. It was Dick and his wife, Delores, who helped Kissner get started in the world of showing horses.
“Anything horse-related, he was always a part of,” said Kissner. “Obviously in Lyon County, he was just a fixture if there was a horse event going on, Dick Richards was there — it didn’t matter if it was at the 4-H level, at the open level.”
Kissner calls Richards a quiet man who was someone you could depend on, no matter the task. Despite being a quiet man, his presence was felt everywhere he went.
“He was there making things work without anyone even knowing he was there,” Kissner said. “He wasn’t a real talkative fellow, but if you wanted to talk horses, or about the fair, or about the rodeo, you had his ear. Age catches up with us all, but he will definitely be missed.”
