004: Yellow Feathers: Courage at the Rodeo

Whether it’s bull riding, steer wrestling, or saddle broncs, rodeos rely on the pickup man: the person who keeps riders safe and helps them out of harm’s way. In this episode, we hear about the fantastic Yellow Feather - Pickup Man campaign for mental health in rodeo - and how you can be part of it. Content Warning: this episode discusses suicide. If you are struggling, please check the resources we've compiled for you here.

Morgan Lehmann grew up with cattle near Rosthern, Sask. In this episode she shares the heartbreak of losing her brother, Josh, to suicide. Lehmann and her family started the Josh Lehmann Memorial Team Roping Jackpot in her brother’s memory. She then travelled to Cheyenne, Wyoming’s Frontier Days rodeo, where she felt the profound effect of seeing hundreds of people wearing yellow feathers in their hat bands. Those small symbols open bigger conversations, as rodeo participants reach out for help, and reach out to help others.

Tom Hirsig, CEO of Cheyenne Frontier Days, tells us the Pickup Man campaign started in 2022 when the long-running rodeo decided to showcase mental health and suicide awareness. The “Everybody Needs A Pickup Man” campaign was born.

Lehmann knows firsthand the importance of talking openly about mental challenges, especially in a community that often values toughness over vulnerability. She brought the yellow feather campaign to her own memorial rodeo in memory of her brother Josh, and encourages others to bring yellow feathers — and mental health awareness — to rodeos and western events everywhere. Her story shows how good ideas spread, building a culture of openness and transparency about mental health challenges. We all can become a “Pickup Man” for one another.

We’ve included the full transcript below.

Podcast Transcript: Yellow Feathers: Courage at the Rodeo

[0:00] Merle Massie: Hi, I'm so glad you're here. Come on in. Welcome to Hay Are We Okay? I'm Merle Massie, executive director of the Do More Agriculture Foundation. We're a national charity that helps farmers and rural communities cultivate a culture of connection for mental health. You see what we did there? I said cultivate. That's because I'm also a farmer.

What I know is that actions speak louder than words. We designed this podcast to inspire you to take action. You'll hear real-life examples, stories from farm communities, real people, practical ideas, and hopeful perspectives. Things we can do.  Because when we share what's working, what we know helps, and we do that [1:00] in our own communities, we cultivate a culture of connection and care, not through words, through action.

Okay, I want you to know in this episode we talk about suicide. And maybe for you that feels a bit heavy. But please stay because this is the kind of heavy that gets lighter. When someone else helps you pick up that weight, when they help you lift, weight becomes light as a feather. Yes, today we're talking about feathers. Yellow feathers, and why everyone needs a pickup man. This story hit my radar because of a young woman in Saskatchewan. Her name is Morgan Lehmann. Here's our conversation.

Merle Massie: Welcome to the Hay Are We Okay podcast Morgan, thanks for joining us. [2:00]

Morgan Lehmann: Thanks for having me, Merle. I really appreciate the invite.

Merle Massie: Tell me about where you operate and where you situate yourself within North America?

Morgan Lehmann: You bet. I grew up on a mixed operation, but mostly cattle, near Rosthern, Saskatchewan. So pretty central prairies. It's a family operation, so it's run by my parents and my aunt and uncles, and uh, started by my great-grandfather in the late 1800s. And so, uh, basically, we've been there for a while, so it was me, um, and then I had two younger brothers: Josh, who was two years younger than me, and Gavin, who was five years younger than me. So there was three of us in my family, and then my uncle Murray and Aunt Kathy had a daughter named Emma. So she is nine years younger than me. But we were all raised on the same yard. So it's like we have a fourth sibling.  [3:00]

And, um, we grew up doing 4H, and my family went to church, so we participated in church activities as one group. And then we attended a one-room that turned into a two-room schoolhouse. So we, like, did all of our elementary school in the same class, and we probably spent more time with each other than a lot of other siblings do. And that's, I'm very thankful for that, so.

Merle Massie: Tell us about your brother Josh. What was, what was he like? What was it like growing up with him? He's two years younger than you. I think you're probably pretty close. Tell us about him.

Morgan Lehmann: He, he was so into cowboy culture and just really wanted that Western way of life and he knew, like from very young, he uh, probably was maybe one and a half or two, and he... My grandma had a very sentimental jade plant.[4:00] If you know what kind of leaves those are, they're like juicy, like, anyways, he pulled and picked all the leaves off of that plant and put them in an ice cream pail, a very sentimental plant. It killed the plant. And he brought the pail and my mom found him and was like, what are you doing? And he's like, well, I'm just uh, I'm going to go help Uncle Murray feed the heifers. And, and, it was always Uncle Murray and Rick, and he was going to go feed the heifers, and he had this like, little toy phone and would call Rick because Uncle Murray always called Rick. And so he, he very much modelled Uncle Murray's behaviour and then also just wanted to be a cowboy. And at one, you can't really explain that you, you don't feed cows the house plants. It's just not a thing so. [laughter] 

Um, He was intensely loyal and always willing to help. He was, he went to college at Lakeland College, and so, uh, I was at University [5:00] of Saskatchewan. So I'd phoned him one night, and he, uh, he could never talk and not do something at the same time. So he had to, he had to be occupied to be able to have a conversation. So I know he would pace  back and forth as he visited with me, except he was a big, big guy. He was 6'5" and quite large and like really had a big presence. And so he lived on the second floor. So anybody living below him, he would stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp back and forth, uh, as he was visiting with me, and then I heard him stop walking. And he's like, oh, I get another call. I got to go. So he hung up on me. He's like, I'll call you back. And he called me back and he's like, somebody got stuck and I have to go pull them out. And just like, just very, very loyal, always willing to help. And so, yeah, that's how I remember my brother.

Merle Massie: Absolutely. 6'5"?

Morgan Lehmann: Um-hum. [6:00] My other brother is now 6'8" or 6’9". So I at 5'9" am the shortest in my family and I'm thankful that I stopped growing when I did. [laughter]

Merle Massie: Oh my gosh, I can just, I can just picture him. You've painted such a picture. Morgan, a really, really important event happened in your family, a sad event. Tell us about that.

Morgan Lehmann: So in October 2023, my brother Josh died by suicide. And obviously, that's not a thing that happens that you just can move past. It's... losing anybody is deeply impacting and carries a lot of grief that you have to process. And obviously, no person goes through losing a member of your family without still having those impacts felt. [7:00] It's not something that we're just going to not remember or have it never be a -- like it's always going to be a part of what our family has become. So. And losing Josh in that way was, like especially for my, for my parents and for, for people who felt a responsibility for his safety. They, they really still struggle with those impacts and how everybody who's left behind, how the responsibility that they feel, that not necessarily that they should feel, but they do feel for a death like that.

Merle Massie: Morgan, when, when Josh died by suicide, I'm certain that it had a huge impact across your family. But one of the things that I wanted to share with the listeners of the Hay Are We Okay? podcast is that you've also created something incredibly positive [8:00] for your whole community. Can you tell us about that?

Morgan Lehmann: Yeah. So in memory of Josh, we were honoured and had been asked to host a memorial roping in his honour. And so we knew that if, if Josh had his way, it would definitely be a ranch roping. But none of my family is in the ranch roping space. We're team ropers. And so we decided to have a team roping, um, a jackpot. And so for anybody that doesn't know the difference, ranch roping is very low stress, fancy loops, like something that you can do out in a pasture. Team roping requires more equipment, as in chutes. And just as a visual to set up. You have a steer in a chute. Your header is on the left. Your heeler is on the right. And you both leave at the same time as the chute opens, the steer [9:00] leaves the chute or the box that it was standing in. And so it leaves and as the header, you rope first and you rope the head of the animal. And you dally, you wrap your rope around your horn, you turn to the left and pull the steer across the arena to give the heeler a shot at the heels. And as the heeler catches the heels, he will also wrap his rope around his horn. And as you catch the steer, that is your end time is when they stop timing you.

Merle Massie: Amazing. So, how do you organize such an event? So, so do you advertise? How did, how did you set up the event itself?

Morgan Lehmann: Having people who have been to and competed in a lot of events definitely helps organize something like that. And to start with, we knew that we -- to have a place for it to happen, uh, our local Rosthern Ag Society hosts a KCRA. And so their rodeo event was happening Saturday [10:00] Sunday. So they invited us to host our memorial jackpot the Friday before, which not only would bring in anybody that we invited in association with Josh, but anybody just attending the rodeo in the next couple of days would all just be able to pull in that day before and rope. Um, then we also had stock from different people that my uncle Murray has connections with. And then in the first year, we also organized a silent auction leading up to the day of to raise money and contacted donors, which is what where my role came in. We contacted a lot of people for sponsorship and I organized some prizes and some memorial roping buckles, trophy buckles. 

SFX Morgan at Roping Jackpot: “Today is about celebrating Josh's life by roping and doing something that he loved. We are choosing to focus on the way he lived and who he was. And remembering Josh, you might think of a funny, passionate, tenacious...." [fades]

Merle Massie: Sounds like a huge event and, and, and [11:00] how smart to attach it onto an existing rodeo. That makes total sense because then you're capturing uh that larger, broader market and it's not all sitting on your shoulders.

Morgan Lehmann: Absolutely.

Merle Massie: Well done, well thought out. Tell us about the so you've ran this event now two times. That's okay. Tell us about how it's going. How is it building? How is it different from one year to the next?

Morgan Lehmann: The first year, we had a lot of interest like right away. I think we had probably a 3,000 people reach on the Facebook announcement or post. And that was really encouraging. I was like, this is going to be great and I had a lot of people reach out and uh friends of Josh from college that they were going to come. And and seeing everybody there, having them at the rodeo was really encouraging and a nice way to remember Josh and just know how many people that cared and were also standing behind me [12:00] and my family, not that they didn't also lose a friend and in that way, but just to know how many people were there and thinking about us, so.

SFX Rodeo Announcer: “...a bit of housecleaning first. There are more headers than heelers, so you'll be, uh, you'll be pencilled in if you're a heeler a few more times. And if it turns out…” 

Morgan Lehmann: That first year we had terrible weather [wind sfx] and the wind was gusting stronger than I, I would say stronger than I've ever seen, but it's probably not, I've probably seen worse wind, but it was pretty bad. And it was blowing [sfx horse whinny] in the direct opposite way that we were roping. So you were roping into the wind. So every – even if the wind had been going with you, you would have been fine, but it like, blew so hard your loops were coming almost back at you. So, uh, this next in 2025, our weather was much better [13:00] and we weren't quite sure what we would get for numbers of people. Because there was two or three other major jackpots in Saskatchewan and Alberta, I guess I should say, that uh would have pulled people and definitely higher money, higher paying jackpots, but we had a bigger turnout this year than in 2024 and we really appreciated everybody that came out.

Merle Massie: I think that that's just brilliant. And the fact that you have this, this large scale event that requires lots of people to organize, lots of people to run, lots of people helping out, lots of people providing donations. You know, it's a, it's a huge community event that you have, that you've created uh to really showcase and focus. And just to be completely transparent with our listeners, in 2024, you chose uh a charitable foundation. And you chose the Do More Agriculture Foundation to um, to roll up and we appreciate that so very much. And this year, again, you also chose a foundation that does work [14:00] in that agriculture, rural space and mental health. And in 2025 you chose uh one of our collaborators and close friends, Sask Ag Matters. And we're so pleased to hear that you, you know, raised these funds and did these, this event. I wanted to ask specifically though, Morgan, you raised a story about something that you saw in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Tell me about that.

Morgan Lehmann: So, I had a couple of friends and in 2024, we went down to Cheyenne Frontier Days in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

[SFX rodeo] ..."championship Sunday goes through this NFR horse named Ragin' Lunatic. Here's Zeke..."

Morgan Lehmann: And we mostly because it had been on our bucket list of things that we'd wanted to do within our lifetime and it seemed like the right year to do it.

[SFX rodeo music] "...That's why he's won four world titles. That's why he's the reigning world champion. Come on, Cheyenne, what do you say?..."  [15:00] 

Morgan Lehmann: And I had seen all of these yellow feathers at Cheyenne Frontier Days and in and around the grounds. And I had kind of wondered about why they were there, what the purpose of them was, because once in a while you might see someone wearing a feather in their hat, but it's not as common. And then a yellow feather in your hat is even less common. So, it had caused me to wonder and think about it. And then at one of the rodeo performances that we attended, at the first one actually, uh they highlighted an initiative that they started there called Everybody Needs a Pickup Man. And so when the pickup men rode into the arena the first time, they started talking about this initiative. And my friends looked at me and I started crying and I was there like, I was like, there is no way that this is the rodeo that this, that I came to that that that and so [16:00] it was quite, [sfx music] it felt really special to me and you know how people say like things happen for a reason, you encounter people for a reason. You –those, I wouldn't, I don't say that I'm a strong believer in everything  happens for a reason, but I believe certain things happen for a reason. [music fades]

Merle Massie: Those yellow feathers, they were there for a reason. Did you know that Cheyenne Frontier Days is the world's largest outdoor rodeo and western celebration? It was there before San Antonio, before the Calgary Stampede. It's the one that started them all. So, to find out about those yellow feathers, about where this 'pickup man' campaign began, I called Tom Hirsig, the man who leads Cheyenne Frontier Days.

Merle Massie: Tom [17:00] I'd love to hear more. How did your family first get started with Cheyenne Frontier Days?

Tom Hirsig: My family, we grew up on a cattle ranch north of Cheyenne. Our closest neighbour was about 14 miles from, from where. So that's I, I kind of grew up as, um, living 14 miles from, from our closest neighbour to going to Cheyenne Frontier Days in the end of July. That's quite a contrast. [laughter]

Merle Massie: It's like, oh my gosh, look at all these people.

Tom Hirsig: Yeah, where'd they all come from? [laughter]

Merle Massie: And, and Cheyenne Frontier Days is one of the oldest uh rodeos in Wyoming.

Tom Hirsig: Well, I think it's one actually one of the oldest rodeos there is. Um, this will be our 130th year this year. And the end of July is not a great time to leave your cattle and haying operation, but you know, that's just something my family did every year. We go to town and volunteer. I started running calves out of the arena with my -- my dad was the arena director for 37 years. [18:00] So I, I started when I was like 10 years old running, uh, calves and steers out of the arena and then worked up to, you know, helping him during the rodeo. And then I took over as the arena director and was the contestants' chairman and uh, and so that, that's kind of my background with Cheyenne Frontier Days. My family's been involved since day one.

Merle Massie: That's just phenomenal. Tell me about the origins of the Pickup Man campaign. Where did the idea come from?

Tom Hirsig: Well, you know, a few years back, Cheyenne Frontier Days was touched very closely by uh suicide of a young man. So we started talking. At that time, uh the president of our board was a 30-year CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield. So, you know, we started talking about gosh, you know, we need to do something to make this better and, and how do we do that? So, you know, he said, uh, Rick Schum was his name. [19:00] He said, you know, we really don't want to get in the suicide prevention business because there's, there's lots of people that are in, experts that do suicide prevention. And, and, you know, helping people with that. He said, you know, he, he compared it to breast cancer years ago. That was something you didn't talk about, right? You didn't talk about breast cancer. Now it's, you know, it's a topic that's widely discussed and it's -- and so it's okay. 

And he said, we need to make suicide prevention like that. We need, we need to make the awareness of, look, it's okay to talk about it. It's uh, we, we need to not just shove that... I mean, I, I've heard of schools that if uh child commits suicide, they don't ever talk about it. And, and really, we need to talk about it. We've got to have those conversations and we've got to be upfront about it. And as you well know in the ag industry, you know, or the Western way of life, um, you know, we teach people as kids growing up, we're taught, you know, don't cry, you know, [20:00] you need to, you need to stand on your own two feet, you need to do this on your own. And, and we're a very individualistic group when it comes to the western way of life. And, you know, there's just times that it, you just can't do it. You need some help. You need a, you need a friend, you need uh, and we need to be able to, be able to talk to somebody about suicide and talk about it in a, in a very intelligent manner. So that's, that's how we got this started is we just wanted to make sure that people know, hey, it's okay. We know it happens and it happens to all of us, and we all, we all got to be there for each other.

Merle Massie: How did it get branded as the "pickup man" campaign and the, the symbol of the yellow feather?

Tom Hirsig: Well, so we were just kind of sitting around and, and, you know, we were talking about how, how can we make suicide awareness fit within rodeo? And we started talking about, well, gosh, you know, the pickup men are the saviours of the rodeo, right? They're there when, when a guy gets off his ride, they're [21:00] there to save him. Um, so we just started talking about, well, you know, so a pickup man, when it, when you talk about suicide awareness is, sometimes you need a pickup man and you know, and sometimes you need to BE the pickup man. So, it just seemed real natural to use the pickup man as kind of that person, uh, because it makes sense to everybody, right? It's ,it you don't have to explain it. So, and then we then, uh, you know, a few years ago, the bronc riders at the NFR were wearing yellow feathers for suicide. And we said, well, you know what? That's a natural fit. We, we're not trying to steal anybody's ideas. We're just trying to make sure that this thing is that anybody can use this program. And you know, this program took off and we got calls from rodeos across the United States saying, can we use this? And we said, absolutely. We want everybody to use it. So, you know, it's, it it really kind of grew beyond our wildest [22:00] dreams.

Merle Massie: As you're walking around the rodeo, Tom, sometimes putting a feather in your cap or, or, you know, taking a selfie or doing a 5k walk, it can feel a little bit performative, but I don't get that sense here.

Tom: No. 

Merle Massie: How is it breaking open the conversation?

Tom Hirsig: Well, I think, you know, lots of people always wear feathers in their hats, right? So it's not like you know, you got to do, you know, you that you're making kind of a statement that any you only do it one day out of the year. Everybody around here, they wear their yellow feathers year-round, right? 

Merle Massie: I see yours.

Tom Hirsig: So it's just whenever you see one, it just reminds you of what, what that's all about. And I think it's just, you know, it's a very subtle reminder. In fact, you know, the the, uh, contractors association, that, they have a very, um, they've got a pretty high suicide rate. Uh, like we do in the West. And they said, well, we want to be part of that feather campaign [23:00]

but, you know, the hard hats, we can't put feathers in them. We said, well, why don't you just do a little decal? So they have, in Wyoming, all the contractors have little yellow feathers on their hard hats. So, yeah, it's, I mean, everybody's got involved in it.

Merle Massie: Has anyone ever said to you? Have you heard stories back about how it's impacted people, how they feel about the campaign?

Tom Hirsig: You know, a lot of times you just do these campaigns and you just kind of hope they, they work. And, and you know the people are talking about it and you and sometimes you really don't know if it really saves anybody or not. But, um, so during Christmas time, we make sure we have all the feathers out. We have a a Christmas party for every committee out here. So we make sure we put a lot of yellow feathers out because that's a tough time of year for people. And we had one of our volunteers, his wife and daughter came to their committee Christmas function. And he didn't come. And so  [24:00] he was at home and, and when his daughter and wife got home, his daughter or his wife, one of the two just had set that yellow feather on the counter. 

So he posted on social media and said, you know, I, I don't know how this campaign works. I had a picture of that yellow feather on his counter and he said, I don't know how this campaign works, but started going into kind of like a dark side for him and he's, he's, he's thinking about taking his life and he's, you know, all the things that have gone wrong. And some of them were targeted at you know, at Cheyenne Frontier Days where he felt he was slighted on committees and, you know. But, but the great thing about it, by the next morning, he had 300 posts from volunteers that said, you know, you're really important to our family. And he got back on, he said, I had no idea this many people cared about me. So, you don't ever get to see results like that, but we got to see that and if it's one person, that's enough. [25:00] 

[SFX guitar strum, rodeo] "...Cheyenne, are you ready for John Crimber?..."

Merle Massie: I want to take you back, back to the rodeo.

[SFX rodeo cont...]

Merle Massie: Remember Morgan Lehmann, the girl from Saskatchewan? She's still in Cheyenne, still at Frontier Days. She sees those feathers. Her mind starts racing.

[SFX rodeo "ohhh boy..." crowd cheering]

Morgan Lehmann: In that moment, like having just attended those rodeo performances and knowing about Everybody Needs a Pickup Man, the sign for Everybody Needs a Pickup Man was wearing a yellow feather in your hat band. [sfx fade] And so when I went to the Rodeo History Museum at Cheyenne, I talked to someone who had was working a booth there. And so I kind of told them my story and they brought me over and gave me a yellow feather. And um I brought that home and I've worn it in my hat ever since then. [26:00] And I was like, man, if it, if that was something that we could start. It fits what we want to get across with our memorial roping and the awareness that we want to raise for why mental health supports and being a supportive person in somebody's life can be really impactful. 

And so I, I was elected as a board member and then uh started that initiative and then our our Everybody Needs a Pickup Man initiative at the memorial roping and then it was said by the Ag Society that we should continue this at our KCRA Rodeo. So then uh it just happened to be a whole weekend thing where they they announced it during the rodeo performances of the Everybody Needs a Pickup Man initiative. And the yellow feathers were um around that everybody could grab. 

And then something that's exciting that I -- that made me cry again this week, but [27:00] my aunt, she phoned me and she my my younger cousin Emma has started high school rodeoing. And there was some youth at the memorial roping that picked up yellow feathers and their dad picked up a yellow feather. And then they went to the High School Rodeo National Championships in Brandon, Manitoba and wore their yellow feathers and got a couple questions and then also they just personally felt touched by the initiative. And so for the high school rodeo to start that would be amazing and so it is starting. At this, at the North of the 312 High School Rodeo coming up actually this weekend. So.

Merle Massie: Absolutely brilliant. Well done. How does that make you feel?

Morgan Lehmann: It's honestly, I'm so happy. I don't want it to be that I started this. I'm just happy that that that everybody else can resonate that [28:00] that it hits them just as hard as it hit me hearing it for the first time. That they would be like, this is this is a good idea. This is something we need to promote. This is something we all need to talk about. This is, this is important. So it felt, it felt like what I was trying to get across and not just me, but the, the idea of being there for people, but also knowing that it's that you're not too tough to ask for help and that you're not too too needy that that that there is a purpose for assistance and help and just being a good friend. So, um, it felt really encouraging.

Merle Massie: This is going to be a tough question. Do you think Josh would have worn a yellow feather?

Morgan Lehmann: 100%, Josh would have definitely worn a yellow feather. And I think in just in talking with him because I did know Josh struggled with his mental health. And Josh had had a friend [29:00] who died by suicide. And so just, it's not that Josh wasn't aware of suicide and the impact that it had. But I don't believe that suicide is a choice that a healthy person makes. I don't, I don't believe that. I think that it's a combination of mental illness in the spiral of everything where it, life seems too overwhelming and you don't think that you can continue to live with the kind of pain that you're experiencing, combined with a chemical imbalance that that causes such destruction in people's lives. 

Quite honestly, I think that Josh was experiencing some mental health challenges that he didn't know [30:00] what they were or how to describe them. Specifically, we think that he was having panic attacks and didn't -- didn't know really. Which the circumstances that Josh was in that I do know that he felt too tough to talk about it. That he shouldn't have to talk about experiencing mental health challenges. But I, on the other flip side of it, I know he would have wanted his friends, specifically his friend that he lost to suicide to have said something. To be able to say something. And I don't think that it's easy to talk about. I'm not saying that you should just do it because it makes sense, like because why not? I -- I it's a big deal to take a step to tell somebody that you feel that way, that that's something that you're going through. And it's very vulnerable. It's not that it's not that it should just be taken lightly and it's not that we can also say [31:00] to someone who hasn't told a friend or gotten help. It, you can't just look at it and say, well, you should have done that because it's not light and it's not easy. Um, 

But talking about it and having community initiatives and for kids, hopefully the next generation coming up, like, can know that talking about it's important even if it's hard. And have some knowledge of how you can be a supportive person. To not say, oh, you shouldn't feel like that or oh, other people are going through worse things and you shouldn't feel like that or like there's just so many unhelpful things. And then I also -- that shouldn't necessarily discourage someone from feeling like they can be supportive is being scared to say the wrong thing. That, that just you being there as a friend saying [32:00] like I'm here to listen, those things are really important. And your friends will know that you have a good interest at heart, I think. I, I don't think you should necessarily, sometimes it scares me. I'm like, what if I say the wrong thing? 

Merle Massie: You -- nobody expects all of us to all of a sudden become therapists. But that actively saying, I'm here to listen, that's, that sounds tough. Tell me more. Shaping that space is a huge gift. It's an incredible gift each of us can give to someone else.

Morgan Lehmann: Yeah. So. I think I know we we talk about um breaking down the stigma and just having it be conversations and community-building. That you know that it's a safe space that you can, that you can express when you're struggling, even if it's, you know, not with mental health. [33:00] If you're struggling in some way, to be transparent about that and to just say, you know, I don't have it all together, um, because the world that we live in, especially with social media can make it look like everybody else's life is going pretty good. So, just to be transparent about, you know, being able to say something and have your friends and and your community know that when you need help is something that I want to continue to help build.

Merle Massie: I think that that's an incredible and powerful statement. Morgan, where do you see the Josh Lehmann event going from here?

Morgan Lehmann: I would love to, to be able to have more fundraising for mental health charities for that to be part of our structure. Um, the first year we had really, really excellent support from donors and we, we had good support last year. But I maybe had less [34:00] time to reach out to people. So I would love to continue, especially on the admin side to just build an ongoing reach-out. And even if those businesses and organizations, if they aren't contributing directly to the Josh Lehmann Memorial roping, if they are contributing to mental health initiatives within their communities, I kind of just want that to be part, of part of what we're encouraging. So.

Merle Massie: Yeah, because absolutely, this is, this is about encouraging more conversations in whatever format.

Morgan Lehmann: Um-hum.

Merle Massie: And support in whatever format uh around mental health and and helping people to be as well as they can be.

Morgan Lehmann: Um-hum. Absolutely. And I guess to add, if you don't wear a hat at a rodeo, we, some people were pinning their yellow feathers on their shirts. Perfectly appropriate way to wear that. I I would just, even hopefully in five years from now, I end up walking around [35:00] a rodeo in Alberta or going down to the NFR or something like that. That you would see yellow feathers everywhere. That, that we create a community in agriculture and rodeo that you are not too tough to talk about those things. That, that, that it matters and that it's important.

Merle Massie: And that's exactly where we want everyone to be. So, Morgan, thank you so much for joining us on the Hay Are We Okay? podcast.

Morgan Lehmann: Thank you for having me, Merle.

Merle Massie: Morgan Lehmann works on her family's cattle operation. And she's with the Rosthern Agricultural Society. Morgan is the driving force behind the Josh Lehmann Memorial Team Roping Jackpot. The yellow feathers you see there, that's because of Morgan.

Now, remember Tom Hirsig, the man behind Cheyenne Frontier Days? As we were saying goodbye, he had one more thought.

Tom Hirsig: We all, all of us to some degree [36:00] uh, struggle with mental health, whether it's, you know, a trying time in our life or a consistent, you know, darkness that that we deal with and I think everybody needs to really understand that we all need help. We need somebody to talk to. You know, whether it's your spouse or your sibling or parent or whoever that might be, but boy, it all gets a lot better if you open up and talk about it than if you just try to keep it all in. And don't think that the person sitting right next to you doesn't have moments of struggles with mental health because we all do. I mean, it doesn't matter who you are. Um, and I'll tell you, our world needs exactly what you're doing right now. [taps mic] There's so much negativity and criticism out there to to everybody. We need this because I think I think the majority of people kind of think like we do. We think good thoughts and we try to help people out, but it seems like we've got this loud minority that just, they ruin everything.[37:00] They just, they have nothing good to say about anything. So we need to overtake that too.

Merle Massie: And giving those communities those ideas, those sparks, those tools, off we go, right?

Tom Hirsig: Yep, you're right. You're right. 

Merle Massie: Tom Hirsig is the CEO of Cheyenne Frontier Days, the world's largest outdoor rodeo. Whether you can get to a rodeo or not, farmers love to have fun. So, if you've built something cool or something kind of quirky on your land, this is what I want you to do. Take out your phone, find the voice recorder, and tell me all about it. Tell me who you are and where you are. And what exactly you do for fun on your farm. 

Justin Anderson: Hey Merle, this is Justin Anderson. I farm with my family right between Vermilion and Vegreville ,Alberta, which is about an hour and a half east of Edmonton. Um we're a mixed farm, reading purebred [38:00] Charolais and various, you know, grains. So just for fun, I decided to create a four-hole golf course. And I mainly did this because of my ego. [laughs] I really didn't want my friends to see just how bad I was. So this was really a way to practice away from prying eyes. Um, but actually, I found it was extremely fun and a good way to bond with my friends and family, you know, especially in the dog days of summer. Um, I have to give credit to my very cool um elderly neighbour who has a full nine-hole golf course, which includes a cocktail bar as well as a few golf carts. So that's where I got the idea. Thanks.

Merle Massie: Thank you, Justin. That was fantastic. Merle's not the best golfer, but next time I'm in your area, maybe I'll drop by and we can play a couple of holes together. So the question is  [39:00] over to you. What do you do on your farm for fun? Open up your phone's voice recorder, hit that big red button and tell me your story. Send it to info@domore.ag. You never know when you might be Hay Are We Okay? famous.

[THEME MUSIC]

Merle Massie: Thanks for listening to Hay Are We Okay? I'm Merle Massie, executive director of the Do More Agriculture Foundation, and a farmer.

So here's what we're going to do next, just before we leave. Number one, big shout out to our sponsor, the Agco Foundation, and full credit to PCRA Pro Rodeo, Shad Mayfield and PBR for the Cheyenne Rodeo footage that we used in the episode. Thanks.

Number two, you can find out more about our work or find some resources. Go visit DoMore.ag.

Number three, give us a follow. Because together we can [40:00] cultivate a culture where we ask one another, Hay Are We Okay?

One more thing. Just so you know, I'm not a therapist. This podcast is not a substitute for professional mental health care. If you or someone you know is struggling, click the show notes. We have links to urgent care and support lines. So if this episode resonated with you, please share it with a friend, share it with a neighbour, share it with a person that you do everything with in your rural town. Leave us a review and help more people find these stories. Together, we are okay, and you know why? Because together is a wonderful place to be. 

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