Recently I had a listener write me about the words to "Tipperary." My cousin, Pete Larson, formerly of Reva and now retired in Spearfish, found them. His mother, Martha, would write important things in a ledger that she kept - birthdays, anniversaries and important things to remember like poems and songs that the family enjoyed.

So we got the words. This song was one of three written by Tex Fletcher. The other two are My Harding County Home and The Grand River Hymn:

Way out in old South Dakota, where flows the ole River Grande, once roamed the greatest bronco, who was known all over this land.

His name was ole Tipperary -Tipperary of rodeo fame. The greatest of all the bronc riders will never forget that great name.

The grandstand at Belle Fourche was crowded.'Twas on the Fourth of July. Tipperary, the king of the Outlaws, came out of the chutes on the fly.

He went to frog walkin' and buckin,' and then did an old Spanish dance, with a be bopp thrown in for good measure, and a quadrille imported from France.

His rider was neatly unloaded; That 'buster was sure badly shook. And when he came back down from heaven, Tipperary was back in Camp Crook.

His fame had spread o'er this nation from Buffalo on the Banks of the Grande. To home and the big eastern cities and the Bighorns way up in Montan'

Old Tipperary would have been mighty proud to have people still remember him all these years later.

- I see, and you've probably already heard that the Womens' Pro Rodeo Association lost their case for an injunction against the Pro Rodeo Cowboys Association and their new barrel racing group. The PRCA expressed pleasure, as for the WPRA, it appears to be a death knell for the stature of the organization.

Without the National Finals Rodeo as a carrot, not many barrel racers are going to choose the WPRA over the PRCA.

- The May issue of the National High School Rodeo magazine includes a nice story on Blake Baade of Artesian as the male athlete of the month, and Cassie Biersta of Twin Falls, Idaho, is showcased as the female athlete for May.

The National High School Rodeo Finals will be July 19-28 in Illinois.

- What a wonderful note from Lisa Fulton about husband Brian's cancer treatments:

Jim,

Brian took his last chemo on Friday evening, he is all done!! We go back to Omaha on June 13th for another MRI and every 3 months following. … nowhere to go but upward from here. Thanks to everyone for all your phone calls, e-mails, prayers and thoughts, not a one of you goes unthought of.

The Fultons

Brian, Lisa, Jake, Jared & John