Five new members to be inducted into the St. Paul Rodeo Hall of Fame
St. Paul, Ore. (June 15, 2026) – Four people and an animal athlete will be inducted into this year’s St. Paul Rodeo Hall of Fame.
From a world champion cowboy to a pickup man, volunteers, and a bucking horse, their efforts, accomplishments and skills will be memorialized.
This year’s inductees include RoseAnn Richardson (St. Paul Rodeo member); Randy Ernst (St. Paul Rodeo director); world champion Trevor Brazile (timed-event cowboy category); pickup man Mitch Coleman (contract personnel); and the horse THE Black Tie, owned by Sankey Pro Rodeo and Phenom Genetics (animal athlete.)
For RoseAnn Richardson, in the St. Paul Rodeo member category, the St. Paul Rodeo is woven into her life.
She has spent sixty-two of her 84 years as a volunteer, working in a variety of roles: on the Trail Ride Breakfast and Luncheon committee; the ticket committee, the Hall of Fame committee, and as an usher.
When she and Ray married in 1963, they were told “you are rodeo members, no excuses,” she recalls, with someone anonymously paying their membership fees. For nearly a half-century, she has helped with the berries, syrup, butter and milk for the Trail Ride breakfast. Before tickets were sold online and digitally, she and other women worked in Donna Smith’s basement, sorting the paper tickets into their correct order for the rows and the seats.
Her father-in-law, Willie Richardson, was a director from 1950-1953 and Ray, her husband, grew up at the rodeo, running a gate when he was still in grade school. Ray was on the arena crew and was responsible for turning the lights off when the fireworks started, then on after they ended each night.
“I’d go to the paddock, where my husband was,” she said, “and wait with him till he turned the lights back on. That was our routine.”
RoseAnn spent twenty years on the Hall of Fame committee, renovating it and creating a bigger display with large framed pictures of Hall of Fame members.
But her favorite volunteer job was ushering. “I loved watching all the people. I worked Section F, and I loved seeing all the people.”
RoseAnn and Ray have three daughters, Brenda Richardson, Cindy Hillyard and Sheryl Scott. Sheryl is now a rodeo director. Before Ray passed away in February, he had the joy of knowing his daughter was a director and his wife was joining him in the Hall of Fame (he was inducted in 2004.) Cindy is also involved as a member.
Randy Ernst, inducted in the St. Paul Rodeo Director category, remembers cutting onions for the hamburger stand at the rodeo when he was five years old.
His parents, James and Shirley (Smith) Ernst, built the hamburger stand, which evolved into the chicken barbecue stand. It still exists, and is used today by the St. Paul Catholic Church Parish to sell chicken.
Ernst was elected to the board in 2010 and served in every officer role, including as president for three years. One part of his work was launching the Membership Development committee, tailoring the needs of volunteers and members with roles at the rodeo, and working to involve communities beyond St. Paul with the rodeo.
“It takes everybody to make this rodeo work,” he said. “When we embrace other communities, we get more support. If we didn’t have the volunteers from beyond St. Paul, we wouldn’t be able to host this rodeo.”
He comes from a long line of St. Paul Rodeo members. His mother was the 1944 St. Paul Rodeo Queen, and her dad, Maurice Smith, was one of the founding directors.
For thirty years, he and his wife Shannon, a current director, ran the Tack Room Saloon. His favorite memories were late at night, after the Saloon closed and they locked up.
“We’d have a drink and sit in the empty grandstands,” he said. “The lights were on in the arena, and it was quiet. You’d think about the day, what went well and what didn’t go well. Those were good days.”
World Champion Trevor Brazile, inducted in the Timed Event Cowboy category, won three St. Paul Rodeo all-around titles, in 2000, 2008 and 2011, and the tie-down roping title in 2008. Brazile, Decatur, Texas, holds the record for the most PRCA all-around titles, at 14. He is the most decorated PRCA cowboy in history, with 26 world titles.
Pickup man Mitch Coleman, in the Contract Personnel category, has worked as a pickup man at the St. Paul Rodeo since 2000, only missing two years, once due to injury and one year as he competed as a tie-down roper and saddle bronc rider.
The son of long-time director and past president Steve Coleman, Mitch loves the atmosphere of St. Paul and the uniqueness of the arena: its size and the arborvitae that are placed there each year.
He and his wife Millie, along with their three daughters, live in Molalla. But for Coleman, St. Paul is his hometown rodeo.
In the Animal Athlete category, THE Black Tie, owned by Sankey Pro Rodeo and Phenom Genetics, will be memorialized in the Hall of Fame.
The 15-year-old bay gelding was voted the 2022 PRCA Saddle Bronc of the Year, and for three years (2023-2025), was reserve champion Saddle Bronc of the Year. The horse holds the St. Paul Rodeo arena record, with Stu Wright in 2023 and a ride for 91.5 points.
But the most amazing thing about the horse, according to Wade Sankey, is that he came back after injury. After being hurt at a rodeo in July of 2021, veterinarians did stifle surgery on the animal and told Sankey the horse may never perform again.
The next year, THE Black Tie came back like he’d never quit, carrying cowboys to scores of 91 and 92 in his first rides back.
THE Black Tie gives every cowboy a fair shot to win money, “but he makes them earn every single point,” Sankey said. “Everybody who can ride should be able to make a good ride on him, but it certainly isn’t a layup.” He has been selected to buck at the National Finals Rodeo seven times.
The Legacy Hall of Fame Dinner honoring the Class of 2026 will be held June 29 at the St. Paul Rodeo grounds, beginning at 5 pm. A meal will be served, with live and silent auctions. Auction proceeds benefit the Austin Smith Foundation.
Tickets for the barbecue are $70 and must be purchased in advance. They can be purchased online at StPaulRodeo.com.
The rodeo is June 30-July 4. Tickets for the rodeo are available online at StPaulRodeo.com. For more information, visit the website or call the rodeo office at 800.237.5920.