St. Joseph Equipment hosted a Case Rodeo at its equipment store, located at N1626 Wuench Road in La Crosse, Wis., Oct. 26.

Fifty-five contestants competed in the event, with 275 people in attendance. The competition was hot. Guests checked out the demonstration area while keeping track of the current leaders in the backhoe rodeo competition.

Nationwide in 2007, Case dealers will be holding more than 80 backhoe rodeo events to commemorate the 50-year anniversary of the first factory-integrated tractor loader backhoe — the Case Model 320.

All first place winners of the Case Rodeo Series events will receive a $500 VISA card, a collectible 1/16 scale model of the Case 50th Anniversary Edition backhoe and a special edition Rodeo Series jacket. All first place contestants will receive a trip for two with accommodations to the March 2008 Con-Expo-Con/AGG show in Las Vegas, where they will compete in the Case North American Championship Event. The grand champion will win a fully loaded 50th Anniversary Edition Case 580 Super M Series 2 backhoe valued at $119,203.

During the events, each participating Case dealer also will donate at least $1,000 to a local Habitat for Humanity chapter while helping to raise awareness of the organization as well as recruit volunteers.

St. Joseph Equipment donated $1,000 to the to the La Crosse chapter of Habitat for Humanity.

Local contractors competed in three skilled events, which will be featured at all Case Series Rodeo events: the Balance Beam, Drop in the Bucket and Setting the Charge.

The Balance Beam event features a beam with a PVC pipe attached to each end. The beam is initially set on a T-stand with softballs set on each pipe. Contestants then must pick up the beam using two chains and relocate it to another T-stand without losing the softballs atop the PVC pipes.

The Drop in the Bucket event features three balls — basketball, soccer ball and softball — that contestants must scoop off a pylon and subsequently drop into a container.

For the Setting the Charge event, contestants must pick up two puzzle pieces hanging (and often swinging) from chains — a triangle and square — and carefully set each into its corresponding mat on the ground.

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