Don MacDonald ’67: This rodeo life: ‘What a special thing’

For more than a quarter century and well into his retirement years, Don MacDonald ’67 has played key roles in producing an annual rodeo in his hometown of Evergreen, Colorado. Back in 1995, his son, Darin, needed a service project to earn his Eagle Scout badge. Darin suggested he organize a group of scouts to build a wooden fence 160 feet long and 6 feet high to create a private area for competitors, workers, and storage.

As his son’s scoutmaster, MacDonald approved, and thus began his commitment to the rodeo. He has helped the rodeo association construct an office building, a ticket booth and entrance, an accessible ramp, new fencing around the arena, an expanded concession area, and a VIP section for sponsors.

MacDonald manages the rodeo association’s 15-acre site and is a member of its board. As the group’s parliamentarian he wrote most of its bylaws. 

The rodeo, a celebration of the area’s ranching history, is unusual in several respects: It is one of the few small-town rodeos sanctioned by the Pro Rodeo Cowboy Association; it is managed and staffed entirely by unpaid volunteers; and it has been in continuous operation for 55 years. It attracted nearly 70 sponsors and more than 7,000 spectators in 2022. 

The two-day rodeo features a parade, a queen and her court, and events for kids, but MacDonald is always busy preparing for next year and working with groups that rent the site.

“Why do I stay involved?” MacDonald said. “It’s the people I work with, the friendships, the reward of watching fans enjoy the show. And when the rodeo is over, I look out at the empty arena and grounds and reflect on what a special thing we accomplished.” 

MacDonald’s devotion to community service is matched by his wife, Barbara Birmingham MacDonald ’70, who raises scholarship funds for Achievement Rewards for College Scientists. They met at Cornell when MacDonald was a senior and Barbara a first-year. She transferred to the University of Iowa and later earned a master’s degree in library science from Denver University. The couple married in 1968.

MacDonald grew up on the outskirts of Iowa City where he owned a quarter horse “who could run barrels and knew what to do around a rope.” He seldom rides today, saying, “I enjoy just being around the animals.”

At Cornell he majored in geology, forming a lifelong friendship with the late Professor Emeritus of Geology Herb Hendriks ’40. “Dr. Hendriks continued to be a mentor years after I left the campus,” he said.

MacDonald began a management career with an energy-producing subsidiary of Coors Brewing in 1970 after serving in Vietnam as a forward artillery observer. When the Coors energy subsidiary was phased out, MacDonald arranged a shipment of scientific equipment to the college, including an electron microscope and a diamond rock saw. He retired in 2012.

“I will always feel grateful to Cornell for the friendships I formed and the faith my teachers and advisors had in me,” he said.

After a public relations career spanning nearly 50 years in New York City, Dan Kellams ’58 wrote two books set in his hometown of Marion, Iowa.