Rodeo Officials

Atlantic Stampede Rodeo
September 5, 6, 7, 2008
Atlantic States Gay Rodeo Association

Last update
Jul 9, 2008

It takes a great many people to put together a rodeo. Almost everyone involved is a volunteer. Each year, they take time from their already busy schedules to assist in producing our rodeo. There are literally hundreds of people involved. Below are the key organizers for this year's Atlantic Stampede. We appreciate their time, efforts and dedication.

Rodeo Director

Jon H., (ASGRA)
The Rodeo Director has the total responsibility for arranging all aspects of the rodeo.

Jon has been involved with ASGRA since 2004. He has held the position of Membership Chair for the past two years, and also serves on the By-Laws Committee. Jon also served as contestant registration coordinator for Atlantic Stampede for the past two years and volunteered as Assistant Rodeo Secretary during Atlantic Stampede 2007.

Assistant Rodeo Director

Mike Benner, (ASGRA)
The Assistant Rodeo Director helps manage the planning and production of the rodeo according to the needs identified by the Rodeo Director.

Mike started his participation in rodeo back in the beginning days of ASGRA. He volunteered to work in the arena the first three years. He then moved up to timer - so he could see the rodeo better from the scorekeeper stand. After timing for two years, he decided to get his certification as scorekeeper and worked as assistant scorekeeper and finally as the big cheese- official scorekeeper. All this work tired the poor guy out and he took a leave of absence during the early 2000s. He returned as timer in 2006 doing a splendid job for the 2006 and 2007 rodeos. He's now following Jon around as assistant rodeo director.

Arena Director

Jorge Ramirez, (TGRA)
The Arena Director is responsible for the set-up of the arena for each event. He has to always be thinking two events ahead to make sure everything goes correctly in the arena.

Jorge has a Bachelor of Rodeo Arts from IGRA University, 2007. He obtained his Chute Coordinator certification in February of 1993, followed shortly by certifications as arena Director, in May 1993, and Judge in November of 1993. He has worked over 100 rodeos as a certified official including 40+ as arena director. Jorge was the IGRA arena director committee, chair, for 2003-2004. He has been rodeo Trustee for NMGRA in 2002-2004, and the TGRA Trustee for 2005.

Chute Coordinator

Matt Komornik, (ASGRA)
The Chute Coordinator is in charge of getting the animals ready for the events in the roping or bucking chutes. He assigns an animal to each contestant and his staff open the chutes at the start of each go.

Matt has been a certified chute coordinator since 2001. He had several years of experience working on the chute crews at IGRA rodeos before that. Matt is a former Miss ASGRA (performing as Miss Patty Komo) and was later part of the IGRA Royalty team. He has also served in several positions on the ASGRA board of directors, and is involved in several choral music groups.

Rodeo Judges

Kyle Putnam, (NSGRA)
The primary responsibility of the rodeo judge is to monitor the conduct of the events to assure that contestants follow the rules and to signal the start and end of each event.

Kyle began competing in 1999 and is an experienced bareback bronc and steer rider. He became a rodeo judge in 2004. He lives in the town of Braham, Minnesota, north of Minneapolis.

Jack Morgan, (NSGRA)

Terry Bartlett, ARGRA

Rodeo Secretary

Guy Puglisi, (NGRA)
The Rodeo Secretary is responsible for quickly and accurately verifying and posting scores and times into the official rodeo record. He oversees the score keeping staff and works closely with the auditor.

Guy, more commonly known as "Porkchop" on the rodeo circuit, became a member of NGRA in March 2000 immediately following his first exposure to the sport of gay rodeo. With a passion for the sport of gay rodeo and the gay community at large, Guy has been a certified Scorekeeper for the International Gay Rodeo Association (IGRA) since 2000 and a certified Secretary since 2002. He travels to numerous rodeos each year representing NGRA and participating in the production of rodeos across the country. Guy works in Human Services Management and recently completed his Bachelor's in Business Administration.

Scorekeeper

Mitch Gill, (NGRA)
The Scorekeeper supervises a staff of timers who are responsible for recording official times and scores for all events. It is his job to make sure that the announcer receives the scores quickly so that they can be announced to the contestants and audience as the events take place.

Mitch has been an active member of gay rodeo for 19 years. He started competing in Camp Events at his first rodeo in Oklahoma City, in the 80's. Mitch has been honored to serve on several rodeo boards through the country. Mitch has served on the boards of these great associations, TGRA, CGRA, NGRA, GSGRA, HSRA and the experience of that has filled his life with valuable lessons.

Rodeo Clown

Kelly Poorman, (Avis T-Bone Magroin) (ASGRA)
The rodeo clown serves two primary functions. He is an entertainer who performs feats to excite and engage the crowd and he acts as a safety valve willing to help the cowboy or cowgirl who gets in trouble in the arena. He is often the first person to come to the aid of an injured contestant.

Avis T-Bone Magroin rodeo Clown. Kelly lives near State College, PA and has many years of experience as an Arena Crew Coordinator. He is the author of a fictional novel about gay rodeo.

Announcers

Tamara Marks (HGRA)
TAMARA MARKS is a member of Heartland Gay Rodeo Association, and has been involved with the International Gay Rodeo Association since 1996. In the ensuing years, she has won and held many titles and awards. Included in these are Ms IGRA 1998, IGRA Vice President from 2000 - 2003, IGRA Finals Rodeo Director 2004 and has served as the IGRA Finals Rodeo Scorekeeper the past 2 years. Tamara was certified as a Scorekeeper in 1999 and has been Announcing since 2003. She says, 'Working as an Announcer or Scorekeeper is just a small part of the big rodeo picture. It takes many volunteers, all working together, to pull off this event.' You can also find her at rodeos timing, competing, working in the arena, or singing. When asked "why gay rodeo?" her response is, "Because it's a place where it doesn't matter whether you're gay, straight, bisexual, or transgender, we all work and play together without prejudices. It's like a family reunion at every rodeo!"

Before rodeo, Tamara worked in the gay community raising money for charity. She received numerous awards for her vocal talents including Female Entertainer of the Year and top female Live Vocalist presented by the Performer's Award of Detroit.

Versatile Tamara is still true to her first love as a singer, performing at countless Rodeos and fund-raising functions throughout the country. Last year, Tamara traveled to Nashville to realize her dream of recording a CD. You can check out her CD at www.tamaramarks.com.

Tamara and her partner, Bryn Geerdes, live on a horse farm in Ashland, Nebraska. At last count, 19 animals were in their care: horses, miniature donkeys, a cow, and assorted dogs and cats.

Barry Luke,

Barry Luke started competing in gay rodeo in 1994 and began rodeo announcing in 1998. Known as "Cowboy Luke" on the microphone he has announced at many rodeos both on and off the IGRA circuit. He and his partner operate the Lake Douglas Ranch in Christmas, Florida where they raise a herd of Brangus beef cattle.

Auditor

Jeffery Shaw, (ASGRA, CGRA)
The rodeo auditor is the official in charge of making sure that the scores are entered in to the official records accurately and that the contestant payouts are correct.

Jeff was the first membership chairman of ASGRA and was the first person from that association to become a certified official. He also served as the IGRA Trustee from ASGRA before relocating to Denver in 1993. He remains a long-distance member of ASGRA while being very active in the work of the Colorado Gay Rodeo Association.

Arena Crew Coordinator

Eric Korpon, (ASGRA)
The arena crew coordinator is in charge of the special equipment that must be set up for each event. He leads the crew that prepares the arena for each contestant coming in to compete. In that sense, he has to be thinking several events ahead at all times.

Eric has been a member of ASGRA since 1992 and has gotten his boots dirty in the arena in every one of its rodeos. First as Camp Events Coordinator and then, after he qualified, as Arena Crew Coordinator. He now lives in Rehobth Beach, Delaware where he moved after retiring from the Department of Defense. He runs a home inspection business there and looks forward to putting aside his surfboards and kayaks and getting down and dirty in the arena once again.

Front Gate Coordinator

Michael Swerda,
The front gate coordinator acts in a supervisory role welcoming the crowd to the rodeo grounds and providing information to volunteers and spectators alike. His staff handles ticketing issues, distributes the rodeo program, checks in staff and entertainers, gives directions, and even takes care of "lost and found" items.

Hospitality Coordinator

JT McMullen, (ASGRA)
The hospitality coordinator helps welcome our guests to the host hotel and coordinates tickets sales and the rodeo information tables. If you are new to Stampede, then he is a great resource for you to question about what to do and where to go.

Jonathan (JT) McMullen has lived in the Washington area for 38 years. He retired from Federal service in 2007 as Director, Administration and Security for the Export-Import Bank of the United States; responsible for budget, facilities, security, and travel. During his career, JT was logistics coordinator for annual conferences in Charleston, Chicago, San Antonio and Washington DC. JT is the Founder of the Paul Malerba HIV Health Care Assistance Fund. He is also Chairman of the Country Hoe-Down on the Potomac, an annual charity event benefiting the Inova Juniper Program and Paul Malerba Fund. JT enjoys being at home painting, gardening, traveling, and living life with his partner, Renato Salazar.

Contestant Registration Coordinator

Tom, (ASGRA)
The contestant registration coordinator is responsible for organizing the area and materials where volunteers check in contestants. This is the group that makes sure all the contestants have those numbers on their backs, that the announcer has information on each contestant, and the contestants have all paid their entry fees.

Tom is the life partner of Cowboy Frank, our webmaster. Tom joined ASGRA in 2002, and has served as its By-Laws Chairman for several years. Tom has retired from his second career and is now looking to the future, when he and Frank will begin touring our country in their travel trailer.

Webmaster

Frank Harrell, (ASGRA)
The Webmaster manages all content on the ASGRA website and maintains a digital holding pen for electronic materials such as source graphics used in rodeo publications, and lists of contacts for all association functions.

Cowboy Frank has been a member of ASGRA since 2001 and was the organization's secretary for almost 6 years. In February 2005 he became webmster for IGRA as well as HGRA. Frank is a computer fanatic, and enjoys digital photography, many of the photos on the ASGRA website are his. He lives in Northern Virginia with his life partner Tom. They will celebrate their 25th anniversary together this year.

Publicity/Promotions Coordinator

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Publicity Promotions Coordinator is responsible for arranging Rodeo Publications. These include contacting printers for the rodeo program, posters, and other printed media.

Stable Coordinator

Brett Thomas,
The Stable Coordinator is responsible for arranging for and setup of all stable supplies and extra stalls. In addition he is the person who checks in the horses and makes sure they have all the required papers and health certificates.

Vendor Coordinator

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The Vendor Coordinator processes all contact information and paperwork for our various vendors at the rodeo.

Volunteer Coordinator

Beth Brockelman, (ASGRA)
The Volunteer Coordinator is responsible for organizing the many volunteers who are so important to the success of our rodeo.

Beth was born in Hilo, Hawaii and now calls Forestville, Maryland home. She has been a volunteer at our rodeo since 1995. She is a former Ms. ASGRA who still performs as a vocalist at several benefits each year to help raise monies for various local charities.

Security Coordinator

Bart Forbes,
The Security Coordinator is responsible for organizing all the volunteer and paid security personal needed during the day and night to secure the rodeo grounds.

Veterinarian

Linda Molesworth, VDM,
For the safety and health of the animals, a large animal veterinarian is on duty during the entire rodeo. We always hope that their services won't be needed but if any problem does come up with the health of an animal, we are prepared.

Doctor Molesworth has been our Stampede veterinarian for the past five years. She operates an equestrian facility in Huntingtown Maryland which offers large veterinary services along with many special programs for horses and their owners. Among these is Hooves 4 Hope a therapeutic horsemanship program. Fresh Meadows Farm

PO Box 22042
Alexandria, VA 22304-9204
(202) 547-9590