When one of the biggest and best rodeo stock companies says your farm would be a great location for a rodeo, what would you say?
The Colburn family said, ‘why not?’
And so, Why Not Arena was born.
Why Not Arena is located on the Colburns’ 1,000+ head cattle farm just south of Liberty Pole on Tainter Hollow Road. It’s a venue that brings rodeo back to where it originated.
“Most of the rodeos that you see now are either in the center of town, at a fairgrounds, or in an [indoor] arena,” said Preston Colburn, one of the organizers. “There’s cattle all over, there’s fields all over. This is the heart of where rodeo started, doing a rodeo on a farm, just having fun on the farm.”
The Colburns’ rodeo story starts over 40 years ago when eventual-patriarch and cowboy Michael Colburn lay on a stretcher outside an arena. As a young college student, Diane was attending her first rodeo and said a prayer for the young injured man.
Eventually the two would meet later, not knowing that they had already crossed paths.
They were married in the summer of 1986 and went on to raise three agriculture-passionate children, Mitchell, Preston, and Elizabeth, who, now as adults, along with their significant others, are instrumental in the organizing of the rodeo.
But it’s been a rodeo in and of itself to make a rodeo happen.
The eldest, Mitchell, whose experience is in engineering, has been working on the safety and legality aspects. He’s married to Cashton High School alum Cory neé Headrick, who handles many different aspects of the rodeo organizing aside from running her own ruminant nutrition consulting business. They have two children who keep them busy running around to various 4-H, FFA, and sporting activities.
As the middle child, Preston does a lot of hands-on tasks, such as dismantling a set of sizable bleachers and bringing them back from Arkansas, amongst many other duties. He is married to Hannah, a volunteer EMT and with who he is raising three children.
Elizabeth, the youngest who is still in college, helps with social media and marketing. Her boyfriend of three years Treyton is always willing to lend a hand.
In just two weeks, the Colburns will be hosting their first Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association event, the Bad Axe PRCA Rodeo, and they’ve been working non-stop in between uncertain weather to make it happen.
However, the Colburn family seems to be extra resilient to adversity, and have risen to each opportunity with optimism and positivity with the simple phrase of ‘why not?’
“‘Why not?’ is our life philosophy,” said Cory. “Each of us kind of have pieces woven throughout our stories of asking ‘why not?’ to do something...Being willing to put in the work and the effort to do something because the good outweighs the hard.”
The first-time event kicks off on Friday, July 24 at 7 p.m. under the lights and continues through Saturday, July 25. A dance will take place both nights. Saturday will serve as family day with merchants and vendors as well as some amateur rodeo and mutton bustin’, amongst many other activities.
There is a fee for parking, which will support local FFA chapters.
As for the stock company, Barnes PRCA, Preston says they are lucky to be able to work with the best.
“Were jumping in with the top, the best, rodeo contractor in the world,” said Preston.
Why Not Arena is located at S7589 Tainter Hollow Rd., Viroqua, WI 54665. For more information, or to sign up as a volunteer or sponsor, visit whynotarena.com or call (608) 606-4192.
