Grossmiller honored by Spray rodeo

Grossmiller remembers the first time he announced the Spray rodeo. It was 1961 and he was attending Eastern Oregon College in La Grande. “When they asked, I wasn’t sure about it. I had heard how wild and woolly Spray was. But I arranged for my sound equipment to be shipped and drove down for the weekend,” he said.

“After the Sunday rodeo, two girls, Dinah Stirewalt and Marilee Croissaant, asked if they could have a ride back to La Grande. I didn’t know them, but said ok. Dinah gave me directions to pick them up at her house. It was way out across the river, up over a ridge, and down through a basin, but I found it. They turned out to be the nicest girls for companions back to school.”

Later, after he was married and his first child was six months old, he brought his family to the Spray Rodeo. He said they stayed at the “Spray Hilton,” in a room the size of a closet with the bathroom down the hall. The next year, he bought the first of many travel trailers he wore out over the years, driving to rodeos nearly every weekend.

Grossmiller’s father, Kenny, was a rodeo announcer and Jake started going with him to rodeos when he was about six. Jake didn’t just sit and watch the action from a perch high in the announcer’s stand: His dad had him picking out and playing the music before the rodeo and during the grand entry.

“I liked fast music, I didn’t play any moaners,” Grossmiller recalled. “It was a variety of singers, but all country.”

Kenny Grossmiller started Jake announcing slack when he was about 10, at the Arlington rodeo. “Dad was insistent that I speak clearly and chop my words, instead of trailing them off. Most important was pronouncing the cowboys’ names correctly. It’s a habit I still have that, whenever I see a printed name, I sound it out.”

Soon Kenny and Jake were splitting announcing duties. Kenny announced the rough stock from the stands and Jake announced timed events from the roping chutes. “We had about 100 feet of cord on a reel that we strung along the fence. No wireless mics in those days,” Jake said. “I believe we were the first to work with two announcers from the rodeo arena.”

Jake was 18 when the Umatilla Sage Riders asked him to come to their rodeo. It would be the first time he announced on his own, so he loaded his ’48 Plymouth with sound equipment and drove over the night before. He was at the dance when someone said they didn’t need him because they already had an announcer.

The next day it turned out that the announcer was too busy so Jake was told he could announce — but there was no money to pay him. Jake set up his speakers and announced the entire rodeo in 105-degree heat without complaining. He ended up getting paid after all and was invited back to announce for many years.

At the peak of his career as a radio announcer, Grossmiller was announcing 22 to 24 rodeos around the Northwest every year.

In 1968, he announced the Pacific International Livestock Exposition and Rodeo in Portland.

“There were 12 performances in ten days,” Grossmiller said. “I was working days driving a Pepsi truck out of The Dalles. In the morning I would do my rounds and then load my truck for the next morning. After that, I’d drive to Portland, announce the rodeo, drive back home to sleep a few hours, deliver Pepsi the next day, and then drive back to Portland.”

The long days — and nights — paid off. Jake’s work was noticed, and his announcing career kicked off. The Roy Pioneer Rodeo and Molalla Buckaroo immediately contracted with him to announce their rodeos, and it was the beginning of a relationship with both rodeos that lasted for 20 years.

After nearly 70 years announcing rodeos, Grossmiller has endless memories of cowboys and rodeo clowns, pickup men and stock contractors. Lifelong friendships cemented from working and camping together on summer weekends. He is in the process of writing a book of his experiences, titled, Around the Arena.

For those starting out in the announcer’s stand, Grossmiller has some advice: “Take all the speech classes you can find. And don’t expect to go to the top at the beginning. It’s like making a good saddle horse – it takes lots of wet saddle blankets.”

“The most important thing to remember when you’re announcing rodeos is that you are not in it for yourself or for your own glory,” he advised.

“You are there to do the best possible job for the people who have invested their time and money to be there – the contestants. That means being aware of everything around you, taking any opportunity to become acquainted with the cowboys and getting to know them. The better you know the contestants, the better announcer you will be.”