South Dakota, Minnesota families gather in Minot to watch competition, enjoy family
Minot, N.D. (September 24, 2018) – When the Minot Y’s Men’s Rodeo kicks off next weekend, there will be a mini-family reunion taking place.
Dane Kissack, a tie-down roper from Spearfish, S.D., his family, and his wife’s family have congregated in Minot the last several years to enjoy each other’s company and the rodeo.
Kissack, his wife Kelli, his parents, Phil and Terri Kissack, his maternal grandmother, Marlene Griffith, Kelli’s mom, Kim Bones, her maternal grandmother, Kari Kannenberg and her aunt LuAnn Grossman, plus a few friends, will be on hand to watch him compete. (Kelli’s dad John will be helping harvest on the family farm in South Dakota.)
The combined families use their time in Minot to hang out, visit, and watch the rodeo.
It’s one of the few times of the year that Dane is at one rodeo for more than a few hours. Usually cowboys get to a rodeo, make their run or ride, then leave when it’s over, headed to the next one. But in Minot, because it’s the Badlands Circuit Finals Rodeo, the top twelve in each event compete in four performances October 5-6-7. That means that Dane is in one place for multiple days, and the families can get together.
Kelli’s family comes from the Minneapolis area, and although Minot isn’t geographically centrally located between Spearfish and Minneapolis, the family can gather and spend several days together as Dane ropes.
Spearfish, South Dakota’s Dane Kissack competes at the 2016 Minot Y’s Men’s Rodeo. His parents and grandmother, along with his wife Kelli’s mom, grandmother and aunt, along with friends, get together during the Y’s Men’s Rodeo for a mini family reunion. – Peggy Gander, Cowboy Images.
They stay in several hotel suites, buy groceries in Minot, and enjoy burgers, steaks and plenty of good food at lunch and after the rodeo each night. It’s a great way to enjoy each other, relax, and enjoy the slower pace of the rodeo.
Minot is also a good time for the women of the bunch to shop. They visit the mall, the special unique shops, and the trade show at the rodeo, then have fun dressing up for the rodeo each day. “It’s a fun time to get dressed up,” said Terri Kissack, Dane’s mom. “We’ll go shopping, we share what everybody got that is new. We have a blast doing that.”
Terri loves coming to the Y’s Men’s Rodeo. Because it’s the best cowboys and cowgirls in the Badlands Circuit, the contestants get special treatment. The rodeo is “a big deal to Minot,” she said. Even as a mother of one of the contestants, “you feel special. We are treated very, very well. Minot is a great place.”
Dane, along with the other contestants at the Y’s Men’s Rodeo, hosted by the Badlands Circuit Finals Rodeo, will compete October 5-7. Performances are at 7 pm on Fri., Oct. 5; 1 pm and 7 pm, on Sat., Oct. 6, and 1:30 pm on Sun., Oct. 7.
Tickets are discounted for the Family Day performance at 1 pm on Sat., Oct. 6, and for the military appreciation performance at 1:30 pm on Sun., Oct. 7. Tickets range in price from $13 to $33 and can be purchased online at www.MinotYsMensRodeo.com. For more information, visit the website or call 701.833.1761.
