Pueblo County Biographies

Pueblo County, Colorado
Himes Family

Contributed by Jean, Gracie, Phyllis and Karen.

Colorado Springs Gazette 6-29-1989 - Sport is a Way of Life for Beulah Family - For Himeses, High School Competition an Excuse for a Reunion - It was a Himes family reunion Wednesday at the Colorado High School Rodeo Association Finals at Penrose Stadium. Daughter Jaylene, junior-to-be at Pueblo South, was smack in the fight for the all-around title. Son Clyde, home from college, was working the arena floor, helping with the scoring. Jay, patriarch of the Beulah-based family, was manning the gates for the rough-stock events. Mother Charlene was tabulating scores. "It's been this way forever," Charlene said. "Clyde was two weeks old when he went to his first rodeo, and Jaylene was going before she was born." Jay was one of the best college rodeo performers ever as a member of the powerhouse University of Southern Colorado teams of the late 1960s and early '70s. He was a Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association rookie of the year in 1967. He qualified for the National Finals Rodeo "two or three times," enjoying his best season in 1971 when he finished third in the bareback-riding standings. Charlene, self-professed "city girl," married into what she calls the "highly competitive – in everything – Himes family." Clyde is on a rodeo scholarship at West Texas College. And Jaylene is in the spotlight. "I've got a chance in the all-around," said Jaylene, who also plays on the girls basketball and volleyball teams at Pueblo South. "I came into the finals third, but if things fall together, I can make it." She participates in all five events - breakaway roping, pole bending, barrel racing, goat-tying and cutting - and has notched points in all five during the first two days of the high school finals. "Things are going pretty good right now," she said. She had a slight bobble Wednesday in the second go of pole bending, when she knocked over one of the poles - incurring a five-second penalty. She still finished sixth. She added a fourth-place finish in the second go of goat-tying and a third-place finish in the cutting. On Tuesday, the first day of competition, she had a first-place clocking in the first go of the breakaway roping and a fourth-place in the first go of the barrels. "It's going to be tight," said Charlene. "She's getting her share of points, but so are the other girls. We'll just have to see what happens." Waiting to see is common to rodeo. It's very common to the Himes family. Jay's rodeo career was cut short when he suffered a broken neck during competition. "You can't worry about things like that," Charlene said. "But you notice neither one of my kids are riding bucking horses. Clyde works the other end of the arena (the timed events), and Jaylene isn't going to do anything like that. As for Jay, he was already riding bucking horses when I married him." Still, there is always the concern any parent has for their children. "You're more concerned than if you're out there yourself," Jay said. "You just give them your support and hope for the best. It's their decision." The top performers in each event will compete again today, with the final countdown starting at 1 p.m. "You can't think about anything except what you're doing at the moment," Jaylene said. "You just go out there and go for it."

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