Savor the tri tip at Clovis Rodeo
By Pete BoeleFor more than two decades, the familiar, welcoming aroma of barbecue wafting through the air has become a Clovis Rodeo staple, right alongside the cowboys, bulls and robust competition.
And for most of the last 22 years, if you were roped in by the comforting smell, the scent would carry you straight to the Clovis Rodeo Association tri-tip sandwich booth started by Fred Uriarte.
Uriarte offered the tri-tip idea to the association in 1986, volunteering his own cooking skills because the food served before then seemed inconsistent — one year it would be steak, the next it would be hot dogs. So, the man with the big barbecue — who was already cooking tri-tip sandwiches for some of the participants — asked himself, “Why not cook it for the fans as well?” “You satisfy the people and that makes you feel good,” says the 89-year-old Uriarte. “People just like the tri tip and they just keep buying them.” And buy ‘em they have.
After running out of food for three straight days that first year, the number of sandwiches sold continues to climb each year. In 2006, 6,000 pounds of meat were cooked. This year, the amount was a record 6,500 pounds. “It’s a lot of sandwiches,” Uriarte says. “You get about five or six sandwiches out of a tri tip.”
At $5 each, the rodeo delicacy has left a lasting impression on the community. In fact, the tri-tip sandwiches ranked No. 1 on a community-composed list of 100 goods things about Clovis in a 2005 celebration of The Clovis Independent’s 100-year anniversary.
“People make it an annual event to come to the rodeo and have a sandwich,” says Vince Genco, a Clovis Rodeo association director and the arena director. Along with the amount of meat, the number of volunteers helping Uriarte has increased over the years as family and friends have grown to about 50. “Everybody just comes out and knows what to do,” says Scott Scharton, Uriarte’s grandson who has helped the past five or six years.
Although Uriarte, the 2002 rodeo grand marshal, retired from cooking and turned over the reins to Scharton and son-in-law George Barrera a few years back, Uriarte can still be found keeping an eye on things. “Once I started cooking I never saw much of the rodeo,” Uriarte jokes. “[This year,] I saw more than I generally do.”