KENNEDY — Jill Lowe’s name is synonymous with the Moose Mountain Pro Rodeo in Kennedy, and on Sept. 30, Lowe was recognized for her 25-year involvement with the Moose Mountain Pro Rodeo Committee when she received the Committee Member of the Year Award from the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association at the Canadian Rodeo Finals in Edmonton.
Lowe joined the Moose Mountain Pro Rodeo Committee in 2000 and has been the president since 2019. Every year, Kennedy’s population swells from 200 people to 1,500 during rodeo weekend as Kennedy hosts the only fully sanctioned rodeo in Saskatchewan other than the Maple Leaf Finals in Regina during Agribition.
Lowe says she was nominated by the rest of the committee for the award.
“It’s amazing. I couldn’t believe it! I knew I was nominated but never in a million years did I think I would win that award,” she says.
“I joined the committee in 2000 so I’ve been there for 25 years. I’ve been the president since 2019 and I still am. It’s a lot of work but, like I said in my acceptance speech, I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t love it. I think I can clearly speak for all committee members that we wouldn’t be involved if we didn’t love it.
“I am a very strong believer in community involvement and I love my community of Kennedy. Plus, my great-grandfather was a founding member of the rodeo.”
Lowe says around 600 people were at the awards gala, with six people attending from Kennedy. She says she was unaware she was receiving the award until it was announced.
“I just couldn’t even believe it and then of course when I’m nervous I start to laugh so I started to laugh,” she says. “It definitely wasn’t a laughing matter. I got up and I said ‘I think there is some trickery going on!’ ”
Lowe says it feels good to be recognized, but the rodeo is a huge community effort every year.
“It should really never be an individual award because you can’t put on a professional event without volunteers, and so I accepted it on behalf of the community and not just myself. You really have to have a full team to pull something like that off,” she says.
Lowe says planning for the next rodeo starts about two weeks after the event is over each year.
“We meet about two weeks after and then we talk about what went well and what we can improve on. We then have our annual meeting in October whenever harvest is over.
“I eat, sleep and always think about it. I think about our rodeo all the time and I’m always thinking of what more we can do. It’s endless hours. I always joke and say my brain is like a hamster wheel.”
Lowe says it was a good year overall for Saskatchewan at the Canadian Rodeo Finals.
“Jared Parsonage from Maple Creek was the Canadian Bull Riding Champion, Miss Rodeo Agribition Abbey Harty was crowned the 2026 Miss Rodeo Canada, and I was awarded the 2025 Committee Member of the Year. Saskatchewan had 13 contestants representing at the rodeo finals.”
