Rodeo volunteers and council call for sponsorship committee, better vendor logistics after record attendance

Volunteers and council members on July 21 said Lewiston’s Fourth of July and rodeo events saw record attendance and strained volunteer resources, prompting calls for structural changes to sponsorship and event logistics.

“Sponsors was a catastrophe,” a volunteer reported during the after‑action review, summarizing the committee’s experience. Another committee member said ticket revenue was strong: “We sold $13,500 worth of tickets on Friday alone,” adding that Thursday was roughly “about 8,500,” comments councilors used to illustrate the scale of demand that overwhelmed vendors.

Chris Dunn, who introduced himself at the meeting and said he had been placed in charge of dividing sponsors, acknowledged coordination failures and supported creating a sponsorship committee. “My name is Chris Dunn. I was apparently in charge of, dividing up sponsors. Apparently. It did not go well,” he said, and urged more frequent communication and standardized tracking.

The mayor and council members proposed a master sponsor list, an online payment and registration system and monthly check‑ins beginning in January so sponsors are not solicited multiple times. The city will also pursue a standardized sponsor recognition package (program placement, banners and printed logos) and consider different vendor placements next year to avoid placing popular vendors inside ticketed areas where non‑ticket holders cannot purchase food.

Councilors also discussed operational items raised by volunteers: more food trucks at the rodeo, additional garbage can placement, porta‑potties near the parade staging area, a visible lost‑and‑found for one week after events and the possibility of hiring a post‑event cleanup crew or securing a volunteer cleanup partner. The council agreed to add these items to a planned January committee agenda and to develop sponsor packages and a timeline for online payments and check‑ins.