History

In the Summer of 2001 girls from all over the Peace Country were hosting Jackpots and anticipating a finals with the 3DBRA, an Association based out of Quesnel, BC.  Unfortunately this Barrel Racing venue folded and was no longer an option.

A small group of girls burned up the phone lines with tossed out comments such as “we need an association here.”

At a Jackpot in the Chetwynd Indoor Arena, scheduled for a practice run before the NRA finals,  Niki Courtoreille, Justine Berg and I presented the question…..If we were to form an Association, would you girls support it.  The enthusiasm that I saw that day has been one of the things that has remained constant throughout these last five years.  Standing in this particular spot awarded me with the title of President, Niki as Vice President and Justine, befittingly as we had made her take notes that day, as Secretary/Treasurer.

The first formative years we were not officially an Association, as we were growing and entirely uncertain if what we wished would become a strong association would actually transpire. 

As we were not really “Anything” yet and unsure if what we set out to do would become a reality the jobs that are now being taken care of by many different volunteers began to take shape.  Qualifications, Newsletters, membership’s etc were done out of the home base hangout Horsefeathers Tack n Western Wear.  Many offers were made of  “what can I do to help” and my common response was “I don’t know, I don’t know what I am doing”.

At the very first Peace Country Barrel Racing Finals in 2002,  we had a saddle up for 1^st in the Open 1D and 1^st in the Junior 3D and the other divisions were given smaller prizes.  Our group had worked so hard at getting sponsors enough to have two saddles. 

To my dismay, at the AGM the members voted that if we didn’t have enough money to sponsor Saddles in all three divisions, both Open and Junior, then we would not have any saddles for prizes at all.  At this time, I thought to myself, well this is the end of it, we’ll never be able to have that much growth in a year to have 6 saddles and people will not remain interested if we don’t.  Well, 24 prize saddles later, thank you to the members for this motion and vote that worried me so, because now I see it as it was…. Belief and Commitment, on all your behalves, in the Peace Country Barrel Racing Association!!!!! 

I mentioned earlier that the enthusiasm has been one thing that has remained constant, but there are many things that made this Association so successful.  Many of the Directors that you rely on today are the same who have volunteered throughout all of our growing years.  Some have served a position for a term and moved on, but many, many of our biggest contributors are behind the scenes and just there to help when called upon, or even when they go unnoticed.  Please take every opportunity to thank these people when you see them.

So please, remember to enjoy your association, be proud of your association and welcome new members to your association,

We have come so far and our future looks so wonderful!!!

Thank you for believing,

Becky Schreiber