It was an event that we waited a year and a half for and it did not disappoint. The Strathmore Stampede saw record-breaking attendance records after having to cancel last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  

For MLA of Chestermere-Strathmore, Leela Sharon Aheer, the weekend was more than what scratched the surface.  

Photo by Kim Bodeux

“There was a lot of healing that went on this weekend. The ability for the community to come together and seeing those smiles on those kids, all of those athletes working together. It was just really special after what we went through last year.” 

Aheer was able to tour the entire grounds and was treated to see the Chuckwagon horse stables after the races. She said she was blown away by the beauty of the horses. 

“The amount of love and energy and time that is put into these beautiful animals from the families that do this, is really overwhelming. The spaces that these horses live in, you could literally eat off the floor. The animals are very loved and well taken care of.” 

One of the more thrilling things that Aheer experienced was participating in the legendary Running with the Bulls event before the Chuckwagons on Sunday evening.  

“I really didn't think that that was going to happen. I thought they were joking,” Aheer chuckled. “When we actually came to the point of having to sign off on a waiver and then I was standing out there. I was like ‘what have I done?’ You have to be half crazy to want to do that!” 

Thankfully, the MLA was not squashed by a bull in the event and came out unscathed. She said that she watched in awe as the winner of the event was picked up by bull horns and thrown a good distance. 

“I don't know what it looks like from the stands, but the bulls come right up against that “fence.” They could literally lift the fence up with their horns! I thought to myself ‘I'm going to stay near the platform so that if I get like launched into the air that at the very least, I can maybe grab on to something,” she laughed.  

After Aheer was able to catch her breath from being so close to the bulls, she was able to witness some of the amazing work of the volunteers at the Stampede. She was able to attend the Volunteer Appreciation dinner on Monday night and really was impressed with the hard work of the volunteers.  

Event Coordinator, Meagan Miller, received a special shout-out from the CEO and General Manager of the Strathmore and District Agricultural Society, and Aheer agreed wholeheartedly with their praise of Miller’s work.  

“Even during the volunteers' evening, she was just running full tilt working the entire time. To have your General Manager and CEO point you out like that, to give her props like that. Meagan, If you get to hear this, we love you so much and we're so proud of you and we were just honoured to be part of everything.”  

Aheer said she is extremely proud of her constituency and of all who helped put on the Strathmore Stampede this year!