Bid total up at Stampede Canvas Auction signalling possible uptick in Calgary economy

The annual Calgary Stampede Canvas Auction has wrapped up and the numbers are slightly up from last year.

The 36 tarps, auctioned off Thursday evening, brought in a grand total of $2,422,500 compared to $2,299,500 in 2016.

The “King” Kelly Sutherland was the top earner, bringing in $110,000 in his last ever auction.

Drivers are forced to retire at age 65.

“This is the 50th year of me racing and a lot has changed since the sixties,” he said. “There has been many tragedies in the sport, very close friends of mine and some of them fatal and I just feel kind of blessed by the career I’ve had,” said Sutherland.

The fan favourite has feared for the last couple of years that he would hurt himself and he’s ready to step back and enjoy life in Peace Country.

“I don’t know what it is about Calgary but every time I drive on the grounds I just think that I’m going to win it and that it’s mine to lose or everyone’s got to beat me,” he said. “It’s just been that way since I’ve been a kid.”

Sutherland has had great success at the Grandstand winning the Rangeland Derby 12 times and he’s placed second nine times during his years on the track.

Newly elected Stampede President and Chairman of the Board Dave Sibbald says he couldn’t have been happier as to how things turned out.

“It was fabulous to see the community come out and support, we had repeat buyers and we had a bunch of brand new buyers that are going to support the chuck racing community, the families and all the people that support that industry,” said Sibbald.

Sibbald doesn’t read too much into only one driver breaking the six figure mark and adds the rest of the drivers were much more compressed into an equal value.

Jason Glass was pleased with his bid as he tied for second with $95,000 with Rick Fraser.

“I feel great, I got lots of money to get started. It’s very nerve-wracking for a lot of wagon drivers. This is the day you figure out how you can budget for the whole summer so I’m very happy with it,” said the High River native. “I think it’s a huge worry (the economy) for not just wagon drivers but for any families and anyone that owns a business, everyone is just trying to survive and we’re no different.”

“The tarp auction is going really well for everybody, the average is coming up and that means the bottom wagons are coming up and we don’t have those big bids that scare potential sponsors off so this just goes to show people it’s getting more affordable all the time,” said Fraser.

The auction is considered an economic bellwether for the city and could signify confidence in the oil patch. Crude prices continue to linger below $50 US a barrel.

“We’re pretty excited, we have a new partnership with West Industrial so we’re excited to have a new partnership back at the barns,” said Kurt Bensmiller. “This is kinda how we budget our whole summer, buying new horses in the fall. This is how we set the whole budget and we really ration it. It’s a big deal for us.”

The record year was 2012 with a total of just over $4 million and wagons catching an average of $112,000.