08/05/2026
Wild Weippe Rodeo Grand Marshals
Buck and Gloria Jared
By Lenta Hall
Gloria and Buck Jared were surprised and honored to be chosen as this year’s Wild Weippe Rodeo Grand Marshals, set for Aug. 14–16.
Buck just came through neck surgery and three neck fuses, fixing up damages from a fall off a scaffold earlier in his life, but he is ready to go in spite of it all.
He has lived in Weippe all his life, and Gloria has been there for 53 years, so the town is definitely “Home”.
Buck says, “I enjoy the camping, hunting and fishing, I like the trees, I like the mountains and just the outdoors. Weippe has it all.”
Both chimed in to say, “And the people. There’s a lot of good people in Weippe. And we don’t just speak of Weippe, there’s Pierce, Fraser and the surrounding areas. We’re the Hilltop People.”
Buck has fond memories of being able to walk over to the basketball court to shoot baskets with all the other kids as he was growing up.
“We all got along. We were all the neighborhood kids.”
Gloria was raised in Deary. But then her family moved to Orofino which is where she met Buck. She worked for Barneys and also did in-home health care for a lot of years.
She and Buck have been married for 53 years, have three kids, two boys and a girl, six grandchildren and nine great grandchildren with another on the way. Both Gloria and Buck come from families having five children, so get-togethers made for quite a large group to go to the rodeo together.
Buck was a sawyer for many years and then he went to work for Ron Beck. For 10 years he worked as a loader operator at Jaype.
After the woods industry Buck went into work for the School District and worked as the head janitor for 10 years – but, unfortunately, he took a tumble off a scaffolding while working in the gym in the 80s.
Buck has a great love for children and seeing them succeed. He coached in Timberline for years: football (eight years as junior high coach), basketball (assistant coach the first time they went to state), T-Ball, and Little League. This all started when his own kids got involved in sports.
Buck also plays Santa Claus each year and has for years.
He and Gloria enjoy doing Toys for Tots and have for about 28 years. This entailed putting out the applications, picking them up when the time for applying is complete, and then going to pick up the toys in Lewiston for delivery.
Another joy comes when they make special food baskets and deliver to seniors who they find out are in need. They have several special friends that help with buying the foods.
Their interest in the rodeo has always been a family thing, attending the yearly event. There have always been competitors in their family.
Come rodeo time. In earlier days, there were few places to stay in town, so it was very usual to see a yard full of tents at their home and a crowd at the dinner table. Of course, with younger brother Bill rodeoing there were always friends gathered around who had come to town to take part in the rodeo weekend.
Bill rode in the rodeo ever since he was a kid and now his son and his grandson all ride in the rodeo.
Gloria and Buck started selling items for the rodeo to help raise support and they will be doing it again this year. They have tee-shirts, caps and tickets. Not only does it help Weippe’s event to stay on the front line, but it is great to meet all their friends from the town. Sometimes it is the only time they will meet.
For years Buck’s parents donated buckles for the winners in the kid’s calf riding and other categories. His parents started the donations and then, when they passed on, Buck and Gloria started keeping the tradition, for approximately 50 years. Now there’s sponsors that do it.
Buck, himself never rode bulls, but he was involved in the wild cow milking competition with his brother, Bill.
When asked, “How did that go?” he said, “Rough!
He says, “My brother was good at milking. I got drug around by the rope. I was the skids trying to stop the cow. I tell you what, some of them don’t stop. They tromp you down in the dirt and you look like something awful. “
Buck commented, ones handling the rodeo are doing a great job. There has been an increase in participation in the last few years. The president is Tony Christopherson, vice president is Jake Jared, and the Sec./Treasurer is Ana Jared.
Ana is a barrel racer and Jake is a bull rider and ba****ck rider. As a result, both know many people, so connections come easily.
Work has been done in the last few years, fixing up the announcers stand and the bleachers are getting more covering. All in all, the Wild Weippe Rodeo’s popularity is on the increase.
Buck declares, “What I love the most about the Weippe Rodeo is that it is an event that brings families together. In my family we always had a great big picnic and then all enjoyed the rodeo together. It was a family event.”
Buck and Gloria just plain love their community and do a lot for it without asking for a return. They were very surprised and honored greatly to be asked to be the Wild Weippe Rodeo Grand Marshals.
