Editor's note: for information on a 4-H silent auction going on at this year's Osceola County Fair to benefit the family of a teenage 4-H member who was scheduled to show her animals at the Fair, click here.
Who knows if they wanted to do something special after not being able to give out their annual awards last year because of Covid-19. But the Silver Spurs Riding Club has honored its 2021 and 2022 award winners, and it’s a family affair — two of them.
At a ceremony last month at the Spurs’ Kenansville facility, the club honored Tom Booth as the 2021 Coca-Cola Cowboy, and Martha Booth earned the Women’s Lifetime Achievement Award along with Brenda Hensel, and Clemie Jo Lamb. At the same time, Brenda and Mike Walker were presented with the 2022 Women’s Lifetime Achievement Award and Coca-Cola Cowboy.
The Coca-Cola Cowboy Award was created in 1982 to award deserving club members for their dedication and efforts to keep the Silver Spurs Rodeo and Osceola County’s ranching history alive. The winner is awarded a red satin jacket and fresh new Stetson hat, and he and his family are distinguished guests at the Rodeo weekend.
The Women’s Lifetime Achievement Award is just that, honoring the ladies who have put in many years of diligent work promoting ranching, the rodeo way of life, and the Silver Spurs Riding Club.
The Booths are long-time Silver Spurs Riding Club members — in Martha’s case, quite literally a lifetime member. She comes from the Partin legacy family of county ranchers, and joined her parents working at the rodeo from her youngest, youngest days.
“My mother had this crib she had me in at the concession stand and offices,” Martha said. “I grew up at my parents feet, so I’ve literally been there all my life.”
She’d go on to ride in the Quadrille, the Spurs’ “square dance on horseback” — her daughter Ashley Fluke continues that legacy — and married Tom, who became a member and, through his volunteer work, worked his way up to becoming the rodeo’s Big Boss in 1989-90.
“I’ve been telling my friends for years that we’re not old enough for these awards yet,” Martha Booth said last weekend from her longtime family home, while mixing up her famous banana pudding for the Rodeo and Fair’s hospitality room.
“Us grandmas have taken that room over,” she said.
The Wilders have served on the ticket and livestock committees since the early 1980s, and were initiated into the Silver Spurs Riding Club in 1989. They weren’t born or married into the club; Brenda was born in Brevard County and Mike, a rancher who also makes the trophy saddles and chaps for rodeo athletes and queens, is from the Tampa area. They moved to Osceola County and quickly became involved.
“I attended the rodeos with my family ever since I was little, so I’ve always had this idea of how great it was,” Brenda said. “It still is wonderful, I never thought it be as big as it is today.”
Martha Booth said the only thing that’s changed much about the event over the years is the indoor arena that replaced the old outdoor rodeo ring about 20 years ago.
“It’s the same families and people helping run it, and their children are now involved,” she said. “We’ve increased the crowds as the years have gone on, but the difference is the whole community used to come out. Now the crowd is a lot of tourists.”
Both ladies said Osceola County is doing a good job of carrying on its rodeo and ranching heritage.
“We’re losing some of our ranches to development, but I still feel like we have the county’s support,” Booth said, noting the expected crowds for Saturday morning’s Silver Spurs Rodeo parade in downtown St. Cloud.
Wilder said the important thing is for longtime residents to recognize what agriculture has meant and still does for Osceola County.
“We have to remember our roots, and the rodeo helps us do that every year,” she said.
As for the other 2021 honorees:
Brenda Hensel was a member of a pioneer Osceola County family and a member of the Silver Spurs Riding Club since 1977, volunteering her time as an usher during rodeo events, handing out programs, and greeting rodeo fans in the lobby. Hensel passed away in January 2021, prior to being recognized as the 2021 Women’s Lifetime Achievement recipient.
Clemie Jo Lamb was a 4-H leader, a member of the Osceola Cattlewomen, a member of the Silver Spurs Riding Club since 1994, and a chaperone for Miss Rodeo America for 15 years. She served cooking for those involved in the rodeo in the hospitality room, and became famous for her own banana pudding. Lamb passed away in December 2020, prior to being recognized as the 2021 Women’s Lifetime Achievement recipient.
Their families were presented with theirs awards at the reception in Kenansville.
