Saturday, October 30, 2004

Monte and Lana Fastnacht

Keeping the Bosque Farms Rodeo Association alive and kicking

Clara Garcia News-Bulletin Staff Writer; cgarcia@news-bulletin.com

Bosque Farms Monte and Lana Fastnacht are busy people. They own a couple of businesses and a farm and they have five children and nine grandchildren. But they're not too busy to give their time, their effort and their hearts to the Bosque Farms Rodeo Association.

The Bosque Farms Rodeo Association is a non-profit organization that strives to serve the residents and improve the well-being of the community and to preserve the country atmosphere in Bosque Farms.

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With the help of the association, local high schools use the arena for their rodeos. A junior rodeo sponsored by the association has been an attraction for the younger people in the area to learn how to rodeo. Each November, the association sponsors the start of a winter rodeo series that attracts about 6,700 entries.

For the past several years, the Fastnachts have dedicated themselves to the association, not just as members, but in a much larger role. Monte, who was the first of the two to join the group in the mid-to-late '90s, has been elected to the association's board several times.

To become a member of the board of directors or to the executive branch of the association, a candidate has to be nominated and elected. Monte is currently serving his fifth year on the board.

Monte said he wanted to become a member of the association because he wanted to be able to be an active participant in the community while, at the same time, make a difference in the lives of children. He said becoming a board member was the next logical step in making sure his ideas were heard.

"At first, it was probably because no one else wanted to be on it (the board)," Monte joked. "It was mainly for the kids. I thought this was a great thing for the kids — to keep them off the street and do something positive.

"I also wanted to make sure that the association was going in the right direction," he said. "I wanted things to be done for the kids."

Lana, who says she was basically roped into joining the association a year later by her husband, has served two terms as vice-president before being elected president. She has served in this position for the past three years.

"I remember it vividly — we were coming back from Albuquerque one night and it was late and he had a Tuesday night (association) meeting," Lana said. "He said he didn't have time to drop me off at the house and told me to come with him to the meeting.

"Well, I ended up going and before the meeting was over, they had an application under my nose. I then became a member."

Being a non-profit organization that is in charge of the privately-owned rodeo arena and Cowboy Hall, the Bosque Farms Rodeo Association has a lot of responsibility. And a lot of that accountability falls on the shoulders of the board and its president.

That's where Monte and Lana Fastnacht come in.

"I tell everybody that it's the easiest job over there," Lana said. "It really requires keeping yourself organized and helping everyone to get along. I like to think of myself as a cheerleader/promoter.

"I have tried to really encourage the board to come up with ideas to do things because my biggest soap box issue is that, if you have passion for something, you're going to make sure it works. My deal is just to keep them motivated and keep them working together."

Depending on the week or which event is coming up next, Lana will put in about two to three hours every day making contacts or working on the meeting's agenda. After three years as president, she said the time has come to give up her position and hand over the reins to someone else.

"Last year, I considered not running again, but I had some unfinished business that I wanted to see get done," she said. "This year, I feel all the projects we started with have been completed or under control and there are other people who can take over. I just feel the time is right."

The Fastnachts made it clear that they were only two of many people on the board and in the membership who turned the association around. They said that all the hard work was a combined effort in order to make sure that the rodeo arena would prosper.

Because the arena is privately owned by the association, all their expenses are paid through dues, fund-raisers and events, such as the rodeos, scheduled throughout the year. Other things that bring in funds to the association are monthly dances and their annual Cowboy's Night Out — the association's major fund-raiser.

All this takes a lot of time and commitment — something that the Fastnachts have constantly invested.

"Every organization goes through their ups and downs, and we think we've been able to help it some," Monte said. "Hopefully, it's going in the right direction now. It's become a little more solvent now and things have gotten done. We are really proud of the arena and how it looks."

"I'm sort of reluctant to give up my current position because I really enjoy the work that I do," Lana said. "I enjoy communicating with people and the challenge. It really doesn't seem like a job to me."

When told that they were named Unsung Heroes this year, both Monte and Lana were grateful for the recognition, but also said that the association is a true team effort. They said all-volunteer board and executive branch are really a collective unit that deserve much of the credit.

"I appreciate it and it's very flattering, but there could be about 10 more people here for this," Lana said. "There are a lot of people in the association who can be called unsung heroes."

The Fastnachts have been married for almost 36 years and moved to New Mexico in 1971 from South Dakota. After living in Santa Fe for about 20 years, the couple moved to Bosque Farms.

"We originally came with the (horse) races, Monte was a jockey," Lana said. "Then he went into training race horses. Then I guess when our oldest son was school age, we decided to stop the fun and stop traveling."

While living in Santa Fe and raising their family, the Fastnachts opened up a wood-shaving business in Albuquerque's South Valley. Every day, Monte would commute from the City Different to the South Valley to earn a living. After a while, the traveling became tiresome and the couple decided to move closer to their business.

"This was as close as we could live to it and not be in Bernalillo County," Lana said. "It was a little more rural, it was more open and we found this place here."

About 12 years ago, after making Bosque Farms their home, the couple ventured into another business, LaMont's Wild West Buffalo. This unique business sells buffalo meat products, offers private hunts and stagecoach rides.

The couple began their buffalo business when they bought two orphan cows off the film set of Dances with Wolves.

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