Somber Celebration
October 31st, 2007, 2:30 pm · Post a Comment · posted by patrickdonohue
Tonight before the last night celebration at the Destin Fishing Rodeo drifts toward felonious behavior, Rodeo weighmaster Bruce Cheves will pay tribute to those lost in the past year.
Long a Rodeo tradition, Cheves has assembled a list of names of those from Destin’s fishing community and from the community at large that have passed away in the past year.
When he deems appropriate, Cheves will ask the crowd to be quiet and he will ring the bell once for each name on the list.
Normally a pretty jovial, fun-loving guy, Cheves takes the tradition very seriously.
“Well, let’s just put it like this. If someone wants to talk while I’m ringing that bell, we’re going to turn that cannon around,” he said, referring to the small but noisy cannon used primarily for fish gut art, positioned toward the water.
-Patrick Donohue
