For more than half a century, the Abbyville Rodeo has been a launching point for many prosperous careers.
It was where Will Lowe, a 14-time NFR qualifier and three-time world champion, made his PRCA rodeo debut. The greatest bullfighters competing today, Cody Webster and Dusty Tuckness, came to Abbyville in the first years of their career. Roy Duvall, Donna Kay Rule, Tanner Brunner and many world champions have traveled to compete in the tiny town of Abbyville, Kansas.
Abbyville is a town so small that you might miss it from the busy highway. That is of course, if it wasn’t for the large sign promoting the annual rodeo and the towering grain elevators that catch your eye while driving by.
While small towns all across the country disappear each year due to lack of business and generations of farmers coming to an end, Abbyville, population 87, lives on. And since 1963, the rodeo has lived on too.
Abbyville hosts a PRCA rodeo every year and is one of few small-town rodeos that has withstood the test of time. Abbyville continues to draw a crowd that comes for the pies made, barbecue served and community gathering that the small town hosts. This year, despite rodeos everywhere canceling in the wake of COVID-19, will be no exception.
55 years of rodeo history wouldn’t have been possible without one man’s idea and a community that breaks it’s back working diligently all year round.
Most people credit Floyd Rumford, a lifelong Abbyville resident, founder of Rumford rodeo company and provided the stock at the Abbyville rodeo, with the idea. But even he didn't think that his friend, “Pinky” (Clifford Busick Jr.) should attempt putting on a rodeo in Abbyville.
“He tried to talk Pinky out of it,” Lola Rumford, Floyd’s wife for 52 years, said. “He said, ‘Pinky, it will never work. You can’t put on a production in a town like this.’ But he was wrong, it did work. And it’s still going. And I don’t know why.”
All of the founding contributors to the Abbyville Rodeo have passed, but their wives were more than willing to tell their husband’s stories. This version, told by women, probably has more detail anyways.
Floyd Rumford discovered Pinky Busick while he was in high school.
“Pinky could do gymnastics, and when he was in high school, different organizations would ask him to put on a show where he would perform, sing and tumble,” said his wife, Connie Busick.
Back when the stock contractors were in charge of hiring the entertainment instead of the committee, Rumford hired Pinky to perform as a clown at just 15 years old.
Pinky would travel with the Rumford’s to rodeos all across the state during the summer, making $25 a performance. Following high school, Pinky went to Sterling College where he studied theater.
That’s where he got the idea for hosting an event in Abbyville on Centennial Day, July 15, 1961.
For that event, Pinky built a stage in the middle of where the rodeo grounds stand today, and he put on a “musical comedy produced and directed by a rodeo clown and stage comedian.” There was a horse show with races and stunts, a bonnet contest, a beard contest, a parade, food served, an antique display and competitions for children.
“He brought a group of singers and actors from Sterling College and I played the piano,” Connie Busick said. “People came from all over to see it. He figured if that many people showed up for that, people would show up for a rodeo.”
Two years later, Pinky took the idea to Rumford.
“The only reason we were a part of it was because Floyd couldn’t talk Pinky out of it,” Lola Rumford said. “So he joined him and they just produced it and it happened.”
Pinky did have doubts and trouble getting others to support his idea.
“Pinky’s dad told him, ‘If you want to do that so bad, you just go get it done,’ ” Connie Busick said. “Then he handed him a $10 bill and told him to go raise the rest of the money. So he did.”
While some people were laughing at the idea of having a rodeo in Abbyville, others in the community donated money and went to work building an arena.
The first arena was built with the chutes on the opposite end of where they stand today. Bob Jones helped build the arena while his wife cooked for the workers. He was also a pickup man and competitor in the first rodeo. Dean Dellenbach organized the barbecue for supper and his wife, Glenna, made pies to sell. Linda Krenzin was the organist and Lola Rumford was the timekeeper.
And, of course, Pinky Busick was the entertainment.
“He could organize, plan and produce,” Connie Busick said. “He got it to happen.”
After the first year, they knew they could do a second year. They moved the chutes to the opposite end and started expecting more and more people each year as they often ran out of meat to serve.
“We started out with not even a reputation, but after two big nights and a day, we found out that we had started something that wasn’t easy to stop,” wrote Mary Louise (Dellenbach) Krenzin about the experience.
Pinky Busick eventually left Rumford Rodeo Co. and was hired professionally. Pinky was expected to fight bulls, clown and sort cattle, while Connie worked as a secretary for the PRCA and took care of their children.
“We enjoyed it,” Connie Busick said. “We got to travel all over the country. Ron Howard even traveled with us for one summer as an act. It wasn’t really something we could live on but just something he enjoyed.”
Pinky made the decision to quit rodeoing in 1972 so he could earn more money, as he was making $125 a performance and was expecting his third child.
He was the rodeo clown at the Abbyville Rodeo for 10 more years after he quit entertaining full time, never asking for a dime.
His last year with the PRCA, he traveled and performed with the late Lecille Harris. You can imagine the stories those two have.
But this isn’t just a story about Pinky Busick. This is a story about the Abbyville Rodeo.
In their first years as stock contractors, the Rumfords needed a lot of help. They didn't have to look very far for good help in nearby neighbors and good friends of theirs, the Joneses.
Bob Jones drove trucks carrying livestock, tended to the livestock and competed, while Wanda Jones helped time the events for the Rumfords. And when they were double booked in one weekend, Bob Jones and Lola would travel to a rodeo and Floyd and Wanda Jones would go to another rodeo somewhere else in the state.
They were a large part in starting the Rumford Rodeo Company until 1974 when they decided to focus more on their children’s rodeo careers.
“Bob Jones played a big part in the Abbyville Rodeo,” Connie Busick said. “He helped figure out the logistics of the first rodeo arena.”
“My dad helped with the Abbyville rodeo his entire life,” said Betty Davis, daughter of Wanda and Bob Jones. “He maintained the rodeo grounds from day one and took pride in that.”
Betty Davis was married in the rodeo arena in 1983, the same year the Abbyville rodeo became a PRCA sanctioned rodeo.
One year later, Tommy Rumford, Floyd and Lola’s son, found someone to donate all of the pipe and fencing and went to work welding it together with the help of Betty Davis and other members of the community to build the Abbyville Rodeo Arena.
The white pipe arena is one of the only attractions Abbyville has to offer apart from the co-op and the brick church. It has hosted weddings, family reunions, funerals and rodeo schools.
Lyle Sankey is one of only four roughstock riders to have competed at the NFR in all three events; bareback, saddle bronc and bull riding. In the late 80s, he began hosting a rodeo school in Abbyville every Thanksgiving and Easter weekend for roughstock riders.
70-100 rodeo athletes and instructors would come to Abbyville to enhance their skills. The Sankey rodeo school continues to this day in 7 various states, no longer in Abbyville.
The common thread that stitched together the history of the Abbyville Rodeo, is Floyd Rumford.
“Floyd was an individual that people admired,” his wife said. “He was a cowboy.”
In Lola Rumford’s basement, there is a display of photographs that show what a full life she and her husband lived during their years of traveling to rodeos as stock contractors.
There are photos of the couple with Will Rogers, famous trick riders, Reba McEntire, a signed football from the Kansas City Chiefs’ first super bowl champions (they owned Chiefs mascot “War Paint”), and several rodeo queens and personalities that had the pleasure of meeting the Rumfords.
“It was our life and we just lived it,” Lola Rumford said. “If you love it, it doesn’t seem hard. But it really was hard work.”
Before the Abbyville Rodeo was a “professional” rodeo, it was open to anyone who wanted to compete. The cowboys were mostly locals and those that followed Floyd Rumford’s “circuit,” mostly Kansas and midwest cowboys.
“The cowboys just followed our rodeos,” said Lola Rumford, who secretaried the Abbyville Rodeo for many years before her granddaughter Haley (Rumford) Bridwell filled her shoes. “So we had it and they came.”
Working as his own boss, Floyd was able to take a chance on whatever young talent he saw fit – and he had a knack for recognizing talent. He was responsible for the careers of many competitors who lacked the encouragement they needed before they met Floyd Rumford.
One famous rodeo announcer came to Abbyville, and continues to do so, for that very reason.
“My first year with a PRCA card was in 1993,” Justin McKee said. “One of the first rodeos I ever announced was right here in Abbyville. One of my favorite rodeo memories ever was when 71-year-old Floyd Rumford got on and rode a bareback horse.”
In 27 years, McKee has missed very few Abbyville Rodeos. This will be a rare year in which McKee will not be announcing the rodeo in Abbyville.
Not a lot has changed at the Abbyville Rodeo since that first year. Keith Dellenbach filled his dad’s shoes, handling the barbecue. Darren Busick, son of Pinky and Connie, is in charge of ticket sales. Kevin Davis, married to Betty Davis, tends to the arena. Bronc Rumford, Floyd and Lola’s oldest son, ensures the rodeo operates smoothly and is in charge of the pageantry. Kate Rumford, married to Bronc, now serves as the secretary of the rodeo.
The central question that no one seems to quite have an answer to, is how has the Abbyville rodeo continued to exist despite its lack of evolution?
“It's just a good family community function,” Lola Rumford said. “But how it’s ever lasted this long is a mystery to me.”
A time honoring tradition and Abbyville's uniqueness as a family-friendly rodeo (the only one in Kansas that doesn’t allow beer), might be part of the reason for its continued existence.
“I love coming back to Abbyville because it’s like a step back in time,” McKee said.
This year, with major rodeos everywhere canceling due to COVID-19, Abbyville had to make a decision. The Abbyville Rodeo committee, consisting of five members, made the bold decision to postpone the rodeo from the usual third weekend in May to the Fourth of July weekend.
The president of the Abbyville Rodeo Committee is Rod Bergkamp and the vice president is Jeff Welker who serves on the committee alongside his daughter and son-in-law.
Since the beginning of the rodeo, none of the founding members or their relatives have ever served on the rodeo committee except for Kate Rumford.
One might imagine Abbyville as a charming little town where everybody knows everybody, neighbor kids play in the yard together and pies are a love language. While that idea isn’t completely inaccurate, Abbyville deals with its fair share of small-town politics involving the rodeo. As a result, there’s a lot of hurt, too.
“Pinky would show up and work two weeks ahead of time and had no say in how the rodeo was ran,” Connie Busick said. “He didn't want the conflict so he worked in the background.”
For many years, the Rumfords couldn’t serve on the committee because of their conflict of interest as stock contractors. Floyd provided the stock, Lola was the secretary and their sons, Bronc and Tommy, were trick riding and roping at just 3 years old before growing up to take over the family business.
“Rodeo was a lot different back then,” Bronc Rumford said. “In those days, we’d hire everybody, and the committee would focus on ticket sales and concessions. It's still mostly that way today.”
In the 1990s, Bronc and Kate Rumford had the idea of bringing Miss America to the Abbyville Rodeo in hopes of bringing more rodeo royalty the following year. The booster club didn't support their idea, so they paid for her to come themselves. Queens have been coming every year since.
“It’s one of the hardest things about our business,” Bronc Rumford said. “I’ve spent my entire life rodeoing. I know rodeo. I live it every day. But I’m hired, fired and directed by people who do it one week a year.”
But Bronc knows that’s not just Abbyville. And that’s not just rodeo. That’s everywhere, and that’s part of life you learn to deal with.
“They (the committee) have good intentions,” Bronc Rumford said. “I can be just as influential from behind the scenes. There’s a lot to be said for that because if something falls through, it’s not on me.”
Vice President Jeff Welker says that the main job of the committee is to delegate.
“The board will make sure there’s an announcer, entertainer and decides ticket sale prices,” he said. “We also choose the hall of fame inductees for that year.”
The Abbyville Hall of Fame is featured every year in the program and recognizes people who have contributed to the longevity of the Abbyville rodeo. All of the founding members have already been recognized.
Welker also clarified why there aren't memorials or some form of monument to pay tribute to those who started the Abbyville Rodeo.
“Pinky Busick told me one time that Reuben Farney paid for the original arena,” Welker said. “There are names that are never heard, people that did a lot of things early on and a lot of money spent out of people’s pockets that were never reimbursed to help get the rodeo where it is today.”
Regardless of the past, this year’s rodeo is certainly going to look a lot different than it ever has before.
It will take place on a different weekend, with no parade, no ham and bean lunch, no barbecue, the introduction of breakaway roping for the first time and an expectation to see more contestants than ever before with the lack of rodeos in this area that weekend.
But there will still be pie available and a hard-working community that longs to continue the tradition of its very own, Abbyville Rodeo.
Why does a big event continue to succeed in a tiny town like Abbyville? Mary Louise Dellenbach believed it was because of, “The hard-working faithful few.”
Although everyone might not agree on who deserves the most credit for 55 years of history, Abbyville is and has always seen the most success as a community.