Over the years, Jackson has rubbed shoulders
with Christian cowboys, including the legendary Phil Doan who started the
Cowboy Church at Ranchman’s in Calgary. Cowboys who know Christ are a
comfort to those with emotional problems, as the rodeo circuit can be rough
with long weeks away from family, heavy drinking and personal injuries.
“Some of these guys can be in two to three rodeos in one day,” said Jackson.
“They can be in Utah in the morning, fly to ride in the Calgary Stampede in
the afternoon and then fly down to Seattle for an evening rodeo. It’s almost
nuts.”
Prayer meetings and chapel are offered for
rodeo cowboys on the road, but Jackson admits that it’s hard to know if
they’re committed or if they’re there to repent after a night of boozing it
up. He’s observed, however, that there are more professing Christians among
American cowboys than Canadian.
“At award time, about 50 per cent of
Americans will thank God, and say that it was Him who helped them win a
world title,” he said.
Jackson’s own walk with Christ began as a boy, attending the old Prophetic
Bible Institute downtown, which evolved into Bethel Baptist. He and his wife
Beverley still attend Bethel, which is now located just blocks from the
Calgary Christian High School where Arnie teaches broadcasting and runs the
bus program.
Jackson started his radio career in Calgary
at CFAC Radio, and got into rodeo in the 1960’s calculating the chuck wagon
times for Joe Carbury when the races were broadcast live on the radio.
“Those were the days before computer, when
you had to manually add the times. Then they found that they needed to fill
time while they were harrowing the track between the 4th and 6th races, so
they asked me to go to the rodeo in the afternoon and get background
information.”
From there, Jackson went to CKGY in Red Deer,
all the while covering rodeo events and attending the National Finals (NFR)
and the Canadian Finals when they began in Edmonton 32 years ago. He
returned to Calgary, holding down a variety of radio jobs before deciding to
freelance during rodeo season. He was finally recognized for his years of
media work by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, winning the 2005
Best in Broadcast Journalism award at last fall’s NFR in Las Vegas.
“It was a special honor – I didn’t know going
down that I was up for it,” said Jackson, who is the first Canadian to ever
win the award for broadcasting.
This rodeo season, as he does every summer,
Jackson puts his job in God’s hands and prays that radio stations across
Western Canada will continue to pick up his daily reports on the results and
stories from the Canadian Rodeo circuit.
“People see me in Wal-Mart and say, hey,
there’s Mr. Rodeo,” Jackson said. “I love what I do.”
