Tara Suddeby-Johnson, right poses with fellow volunteer Fran Ebey in the Calgary Stampede Parade carriage.
A Carbon resident has followed her family’s example and is an integral part of the Calgary Stampede Parade.
Tara Suddaby-Johnson of Carbon has had a busy Calgary Stampede. She is a member of the Calgary Stampede Parade Committee.
“I have been doing it for 22 years,” said Tara. “I started out with my dad, (Darrel Suddaby) and he eventually got me on the committee.”
Originally, she would volunteer on parade day.
‘I did this for 10 years, I would come and help my dad,” she said.
They always worked on the equestrian entries. Now as a member of the committee, the work starts in September, and does not stop until Stampede time. There are over 100 on the committee.
“The applications to be in the parade have to be in by March and then we have the selection in April. After that, we start dealing with entries and come parade day we are at Fort Calgary,” she said.
On Friday morning they start lining them up and the judging is complete before they head out on the route.
“It is quite the event, we are our city on the night of the parade, and then it all just disappears,” said Tara.
The parade, and in fact, service to the community has always been a family effort. Her mother Eleanor Suddaby, while not on the parade committee has always assisted. This year she won the Heart and Soul of Calgary Volunteer Award.
This dedication has continued as now Tara’s daughter Talyn, 17, has helped with the parade for the last few years.
This was a special year for the Calgary Stampede. After celebrating its centennial in 2012, the city was struck by the flood of the century. Despite this, they carried on with the parade.
Tara said they lost quite a bit of space at their mustering point at Fort Calgary.
“We made it work, we didn’t have judging just because we thought it wouldn’t be fair because so many floats had issues with the flooding, and didn’t have enough time to work on them,” she said, adding just pulling off the Stampede was a great feat.