Hastings Rodeo Honors Members
Hastings, Neb. (September 8, 2025) – Two individuals have been recognized for their volunteer work with the Oregon Trail Rodeo in Hastings, Neb.
Cindy Hinrichs, Ayr, and Logan Zeckser, Glenvil, were awarded the Committee Person of the Year and Volunteer of the Year, respectively, for the 2024 rodeo season.
Hinrichs has volunteered at the rodeo since 2016.
Her main role is to work with the calves and steers used in the roping and wrestling events, but she is happy to pitch in anywhere.
“I fill in to do whatever is needed,” she said. “It has ranged from helping with supper, running errands, serving the barbecue meal, and helping with rodeo production.”
Hinrichs was instrumental in bringing the women’s breakaway roping event to the rodeo in 2021, securing the sponsor money to pay for the cattle and the prize money.
She and her husband Scott, who is chair of the rodeo committee, donate the beef for the free barbecue held on the first night of the rodeo. They are members of the South Central Cattlemen Association, which serves the meal.
Hinrichs is quick to give credit to the other committee members, of which all are volunteers.
“I am humbled and honored, but it has nothing to do with one person. It’s everybody,” she said. “Everybody brings something to the table, and sometimes you didn’t even know you needed it till it showed up.
“That’s the beauty of it all, everybody coming together. Everybody has a set of skills and there’s a place where those skills are needed.”
Logan Zeckser began volunteering with the Oregon Trail Rodeo about eight years ago, when he was still in high school.
A fellow 4-H member and friend got him started, and now Zeckser serves in several roles at the rodeo: untying calves during the tie-down roping; running the stripping chutes (where equipment is taken off the bareback horses, saddle bronc horses and bulls and the ropes off the roping steers and calves); and pulling gates for the roughstock events.
He’s a city kid who has turned into a farm kid, he said.
“I got a lot out of 4-H, growing up in Hastings, and now I own my own cattle and horses.
“I can’t repay that. That’s why I love helping. My life wouldn’t be what it is without the Adams County Fair (in Hastings) and especially the (Oregon Trail) rodeo.”
The excitement is another reason he enjoys volunteering at the rodeo. “Especially opening chute gates,” he said. “There’s a lot of adrenaline to it. There’s a bull in front of your face,” (during the bull riding.)
Both Hinrichs and Zeckser will receive a buckle. Hinrichs was awarded a pair of Justin Boots, as she is the local recipient of the John Justin Standard of the West award.
The 2026 Oregon Trail Rodeo will take place August 14-16 at the Adams County Fairgrounds in Hastings.
For more information, visit the website at AdamsCountyFairgrounds.com