The lecture is based on highlights from the 100-year history of the Fortuna Rodeo which held its first-ever event on August 27, 1921. For this presentation, O’Hara and Service will focus on a selection of “Fortuna Rodeo Firsts,” including the rodeo, the rodeo parade and rodeo queen contest, the first time the rodeo was cancelled (during the Great Depression), and later highlights such as the first "kidnapped tourists" event, the first Rodeo Week chili cook-off, the first time an original painting was commissioned to illustrate the rodeo poster, and the first time a woman won the Local All-Around Champion saddle. The presentation will be illustrated with numerous historic photographs of the Fortuna Rodeo. O'Hara and Service are the authors of a forthcoming book, In and Around the Arena: The 100 Year History of the Fortuna Rodeo, to be published later in 2021. O'Hara is a historian and educator who teaches at Casterlin School in southern Humboldt, and Service is curator of the Fortuna Depot Museum and a member of the Humboldt County Historical Society board. In and Around the Arena is O'Hara and Service's fifth published collaboration in the field of Humboldt County history.

The lecture is free and will be hosted via Zoom by the Humboldt County Library. To sign up, go to https://forms.gle/NLCKpwFLTJTC1PjD7.