Prout Siblings Named 2023 Chief Joseph Days Grand Marshals
By Garrett Christensen on Tuesday, April 18th, 2023 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
JOSEPH – (Release from Chief Joseph Days Rodeo) Last year, when a second lap around the arena at Chief Joseph Days for the stagecoach honored the Prouts for taking the stagecoach around the country, who could have thought there would be more? Now, here we are again, but this time Grand Marshalls for the 2023 celebration.
They all began volunteerism at early ages. Gary and Max, both as Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts helped pick up trash and empties each day after the rodeo, and Karen was a regular at the grounds as her father’s shadow and then Queen of the 1966 show.
After high school the U. S. took both Gary and Max away from Joseph to serve in the Navy, then to live away from Wallowa County as adults starting their new lives and families.
Similarly, for Karen after graduation, but she returned almost yearly, only to watch and enjoy the celebration.
Karen and Gary ended up settling in Pendleton, and Karen remained closely tied with dear friends Darlene and David Turner. In one conversation, Karen recalls Darlene saying she wasn’t sure how much help they would have at the next parade, so Karen volunteered their help. Thus, Gary and Karen began Chief Joseph Days’ volunteerism again!
That was the beginning of traveling with the Turners and learning about being teamsters. Oh, the wonderful memories! Many friends were made and the fun, unforgettable!
That partnership continued until Dave needed a knee replacement, so Gary and Karen took over the stagecoach and enjoyed much encouragement from the Turners. That must have been about 2010! That was the beginning of learning “what we didn’t know!”
The same year they decided the coach needed a bit of brightening up. It hadn’t been repainted since being refurbished in 1966! The process included tracing the stencils, repainting, constructing new canvas upholstery, and putting the stencils back. That year they were rewarded by Chief Joseph Days as the Volunteers of the Year.
Then in 2012 a new era began with a new team, Sadie and Skeeter, half quarter horse and half Shire draft horses. Gary moved to Joseph weeks before the rodeo and called Brother Max (who said he knew nothing about horses!) The two have many stories to tell of “getting the new farm team” ready to traipse through public events, perk up but not run from cheering crowds, and stand for sightseers to come up for photo ops. That’s when the history with the Turner’s and coaching from friends Larry and Juanita Waters was especially helpful. That celebration went off without a hitch and there have only been a few minor instances since! To this day Gary’s remark about his knowledge about horses is, “I don’t know much about horses, but I know a quite a bit about two horses!”
Since traveling with the coach around Oregon, Washington, and Idaho until 2021 the Prouts continue to volunteer at the grounds. Max and Gary were a part of installing the bathroom fixtures in the nice new bathrooms in 2019 and continue to take up residency at the grounds each summer to be on hand for the comradery and to work on whatever needs doing to keep things in shape for the celebration. Each year they take on a special project to improve the visitor’s experience.
Both Gary (2019) and Max (2020) have been recipients of the Justin Boot Award for volunteering to support the western lifestyle and contributing to the spirit of rodeo, and Karen is there on weekends to see what she can do.
Gary is “retired” but continues his volunteerism at Chief Joseph Days as well as the Echo Golf Course where he is the “go to” guy to fix anything, help keep the water system operating, and keep the gophers at bay. Karen is a Program Manager for a Community Action Program in Pendleton, CAPECO, Managing a Representative Payee Service for clients in rural counties in Oregon counties.
