Bull riding and more slated at Northern Winz today and Saturday

Havre Daily News staff

A full slate of events is happening at Northern Winz Casino south of Havre on Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation off of U.S. Highway 87 starting at 6 p.m. tonight.

Organizer Carter Coffee said tonight’s events include MMA fights and junior bull riding, including an added $4,000 to the pot for the children doing the riding tonight.

Saturday, also starting at 6 p.m., is the third annual Jerod Reed Coffee Memorial Bull Riding Event, with riders — going up on animals provided by Professional Bull Riding Association contractor Bird Bucking Bulls — coming from as far away as New Orleans, Dallas, Utah, Washington and Saskatchewan and Alberta, Canada.

“We have 36 riders as we speak and we are expecting more,” Carter Coffee said.

He said he and his wife, Billi Jo, decided to start the event in memory of their son, Jerod Reed Coffee, who died as a result of a car crash in 2014, and it is becoming a major event.

“We’re hopefully opening the doors to bigger and better things,” he added.

The Crawford Band also will be performing at Northern Winz in conjunction with the event.

For the Jerod Reed Coffee event, sponsors have added $15,000 to to the total pot, as well as Leon’s Buy and Sell donating a rifle to the top point earner and Sundogs donating $500 Pendleton jackets as prizes.

Carter Coffee said many bull riders have started looking at the event at Northern Winz as a leg up to bigger competitions on the professional circuit.

“We’ve had some good champions that passed through this place,” he said. “ … We’re just kind of making history.”