Skip to content

WPCA returning to Bonnyville

The World Professional Chuckwagon Association (WPCA) is returning to Bonnyville in the 2020 season. The Bonnyville Ag Society announced on Nov. 4 that the WPCA will come back to town from July 23 to 26.
WPCAweb
The World Professional Chuckwagon Association (WPCA) are coming back to Bonnyville after a two year hiatus.

The World Professional Chuckwagon Association (WPCA) is returning to Bonnyville in the 2020 season.

The Bonnyville Ag Society announced on Nov. 4 that the WPCA will come back to town from July 23 to 26.

"We heard a lot of feedback from the sponsorship that we acquire, as well as from the fan base, that there was a little bit of a higher appetite for the WPCA," explained Bonnyville Ag Society president Corey Styba.

After the ag society signed a contract with the Canadian Professional Chuckwagon Association (CPCA) in 2018, the WPCA pulled their event due to their strict policies against hosting races in the same communities as the CPCA.

"When we signed the contract with the CPCA, it physically didn't allow the WPCA to come to Bonnyville anymore," Styba noted.

After two years with the CPCA, the local ag society decided to allow the contract to expire and pursued negotiations with the WPCA for the upcoming chuckwagon season.

According to WPCA president Ed Wittchen, discussions began in August to strike up a deal to see the association come back to Bonnyville.

"We go way back with Bonnyville for a long time. George Normand was one of our greatest champions, and he's the number one name in chuckwagons in Bonnyville, followed closely by the Croteaus, and followed closely by Doug Irvine," he explained, adding the three-year contract allows either party to opt out at the end of the first year if they aren't happy with the arrangement.

"I think we have a standing in the chuckwagon world that's well deserved. With both parties wanting to get it happening, it wasn't that difficult to get to that point."

Styba is excited they were able to reach an agreement.

"The Bonnyville track and Bonnyville chuckwagon races have always been built around the WPCA, and there's a lot of history with that association. We're glad to see it back. Obviously, it's a little bit higher priced of a show, but with that comes, hopefully, more sponsorship value for those sponsorship dollars that we're going to have to pay for this year and, hopefully, the sponsors step up for what they asked for and welcome the WPCA back," he expressed.

Work has already begun on the track at the ag grounds to meet WPCA standards, and Wittchen is confident it will be finished before the races.

"(The ag society) have already done a bunch of the work that we said had to be done, and we've got an agreement that says we'll come back in probably mid-June and see what's been done. They can only do so much of it in the fall, but they've done a lot of it."

Although the decision to not have the CPCA back again was the right one to make, Styba said "you can never feel good about letting something like that go."

"It's never a good thing to switch back and forth, but I'm glad we're back in this position with history and some track record," he continued. "Bonnyville deserves that; they've got a lot of good businesses that stood behind us and we're glad to be able to bring something back that they wanted and supported initially."

With the contract signed, Wittchen noted the WPCA is excited to come back to the area.

"We're pretty positive the business community in the Lakeland, not just in Bonnyville, will step up to the plate and help us put on a good show. We're confident with the Bonnyville Ag Society committee they've got, and we're looking forward to working with them to build a great show."

The ag society plans to host the rodeo in conjunction with the chuckwagons, and are just waiting for approval from the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association (CPRA).

push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks