COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Saddle bronc rider Marty Wood, bulldogger Rod Lyman, former Daily Record editor and publisher John Ludtka, the Frank Beard Rodeo Company and the "Spirit of the Trail" Pageant will be inducted into the Ellensburg Rodeo Hall of Fame. The induction will be held at an August 31 banquet in Central Washington University's historic, newly renovated, Sue Lombard Hall.

Wood and Lyman will be inducted into the Hall of Fame as "National Competitors," Ludtka will enter in the "Volunteer" category and the Beard Rodeo Company and "Spirit of the Trail" Pageant will be inducted in the "Participant" category.

Wood, a native of Bowness, Alberta, hit the rodeo trail in 1953 and won many championship buckles before his retirement in 1974. He qualified for the National Finals Rodeo fourteen times and won three saddle bronc riding world titles (1958, 1964 and 1966). He finished runner-up four times and won the Canadian saddle bronc riding title three times. During his career, Wood also won the Ellensburg Rodeo three times (1957-58 and 1967).

Lyman (Victor, Mont.) joined the PRCA in 1984 and has qualified for the Wrangler NFR a total of 16 times. In Ellensburg, he has won the bulldogging title a near-record four times (1990, 1994, 1996 and 2000) and has won the all-around title in 1990.

Ludkta, a native of South Dakota, moved to Ellensburg in 1963 as a Central Washington State College Journalism Professor, and with his wife Janice, purchased the Record Printing Company in 1968. He served as editor and publisher of the Ellensburg Daily Record until the paper was sold in 1993. He is the official historian of the Ellensburg Rodeo.

Frank Beard grew up in the Yakama Indian Reservation near Toppenish, Wash., and began his rodeo career as a roughstock rider, pickup man, farrier and horse trainer. He founded the Frank Beard Rodeo Company in 1973 and has built it into one of North America's premier rodeo stock contracting operations. As a surprise addition, a Frank Beard animal will be inducted into the Hall of Fame at the Aug. 31st banquet.

The "Blazers of the Trail" (renamed "Spirit of the Trail") Pageant was a mounted theatrical production staged in the rodeo grounds as a night show from 1926-1940. Mirroring similar pageants across the American West, "The Spirit of the Trail" acted out the early history of the Kittitas Valley.

The Ellensburg Rodeo Hall of Fame Association formed in 1997 to preserve the history and traditions of the Ellensburg Rodeo.