A successful heritage rodeo last summer led to the presentation of $4,500 in grants to four groups in Jasper last week.

The mission of the rodeo has always been to give back to the community, while also providing an event to entertain locals and tourists alike.

“We had a really successful year this year,” Stephen Pavlov, rodeo president, said after the grant presentation Dec. 15.

Pavlov attributes the rodeo’s great success to the partnership it made with Tourism Jasper this year. 

He said that partnership increased the number of people at the gates, which in turn increased the amount of money the rodeo was able to award to local organizations.

The four grant recipients were: the Alpine Summit Seniors Lodge, HIV West Yellowhead, the Jasper Community Outreach Team and the Jasper Yellowhead Museum and Archives.

Each of the recipients submitted grant requests to the rodeo board for specific projects.

The seniors lodge will put their money toward its activity fund. HIV West Yellowhead is organizing a Much Music Dance for youth. The outreach team will put their funds toward a Go Girl workshop for young girls in the Yellowhead region. And finally, the museum will use its grant for a new display case.

The rodeo either funds a portion or the entire project, depending on the request and the availability of funds.

“In this case, we pretty much funded everybody’s entire request,” Pavlov said.