Rigby rodeo director retires after 52 years of service

RIGBY – Eighty-six-year-old Steve Cook of Rigby still remembers when he was called upon by the city to revitalize the rodeo grounds.

It was the spring of 1969. There was an upcoming rodeo and the fences, corrals and chutes were in disrepair.

“Keith Scott, a former mayor who was a member of the city council at the time, called a few of us in so we could get things ready for the rodeo,” Cook tells EastIdahoNews.com.

That experience led to him becoming the city’s rodeo director, a position he would hold for the next 52 years.

Cook officially retired in December after a lifetime of service to the community. Now several months into his retirement, Cook speaks fondly of the people he worked with over the years and their efforts in making the fairgrounds an attractive spot to hold events.

“You’ve got to make it look nice. I don’t like playing second fiddle to Idaho Falls and Rexburg. We did a lot of work out there,” says Cook. “I had a choice park and rodeo board and a choice county fair board (which he also served on). It takes a lot of good people to make it all work.”

Cook and his wife, Valeta, raised their four children together in Rigby. He worked full-time for what was then Utah Power & Light in his professional career, which he retired from in 1998.

In his younger days, he enjoyed riding with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Posse and in chariot races at the fairgrounds, a once-popular activity community members have unsuccessfully tried to resurrect in recent years.

He also enjoyed flat track horse racing and owned 20 head of racehorses at one point. It’s an interest that apparently runs in the family because his two sons, Don and Lyle, went on to work as professional jockeys for a short time.

Cook recalls several experiences that stand out to him during his time as the rodeo director. One of them is when he and his board put a roof on the building that houses the animals during the Jefferson County Fair.

“The animals were inside and there was no roof. There was no place for rabbits or chickens in there. It was just kind of thrown together so we kept working a piece at a time until we finally got enough money to put the roof on,” he says.

There was also a time when one of the buildings caved in during the winter and Cook and his team had to rebuild it.

Cook describes the fairgrounds original appearance as a “junk box” that had no organization and he’s proud of all the improvements they’ve made over the years, which include adding a chain-link and other fencing around the property, as well as putting in paved roads and a parking lot.

He’s especially grateful for the American flag donated by the VFW many years ago.

“We put it behind the bucking chutes so people can see it when we play the National Anthem at events,” says Cook.

Cook says the dedication of those around him is what motivated him to stay with it for more than half a century. Though he would’ve loved to keep doing it, multiple health problems prompted him to step down.

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Former Mayor Jason Richardson, who left office in December after two terms, says Cook is one of his heroes and someone who is worthy of emulation.

“It is through the actions of people like Steve Cook that communities thrive. He’s given Rigby one of the most active rodeo grounds around,” Richardson says. “I hope I learn to serve like Steve has and I hope my kids learn to do the same. He’s just plain impressive.”