CARBONDALE — Mike Land was a part-time rodeo photographer when he covered a rodeo at Johnson Corner, near Greeley, six summers ago. Before the show, the rodeo stock contractor who was promoting the rodeo came up to Land and said, “You’re announcing tonight.” Land explained to the man that he was there to photograph the event, and was much more comfortable doing that, thank you very much.

But the promoter insisted. The real announcer had had a heart attack, he said, and was not able to be there.

Land announced the show, and wasn’t too uncomfortable doing it. He announced another show for the same promoter that summer.

Over the winter, Land said, he got a call from former Carbondale rodeo promoter Roger Frahm. Land has been announcing for Carbondale’s summer rodeo series on Thursdays ever since.

Last year, the Carbondale Wild West Rodeo partnered with the Susan G. Komen Foundation Aspen affiliate for a “Tough Enough to Wear Pink” event — a breast cancer fundraiser and awareness-raising promotion sponsored by Wrangler. In order to make a credible showing as announcer, Land said, he spent some time researching breast cancer and the “Tough Enough to Wear Pink” concept.

“If I’m going to be the voice of this rodeo, I feel like I need to be an informed source of information,” Land said. “I can’t just pay lip service. It doesn’t mean anything. It’s like putting a ribbon on your car.”

“You need to show respect,” he said.

The Wild West Rodeo again hosts the Tough Enough to Wear Pink event on Thursday, July 17, at the Gus Darien Riding Arena on County Road 100, two miles east of Carbondale. Registration and pre events begin at 6:30 p.m., with the grand entry at 7:30.

Cancer strikes home

Land thought the effort he put into that rodeo promotion should have earned him some “Karma Kredits,” as he puts it on his blog. His involvement took on a different significance, though

On Oct. 25 last year, Land’s wife Leslie had a lump removed from her breast, and it proved to be cancerous.

Land’s reaction was mixed. He was defiant, vowing to defeat the cancer, but felt helpless in his own capacity to do anything beyond offering support.

“I didn’t feel like I’d been wronged, it’s just that the irony of it struck me.” The irony, of course, is that just after Land had joined the effort against breast cancer, the person closest to him became a victim of it.

In November, Land started a blog to record the events in the course of cancer treatment and his own reactions to those events. Here are some comments from one of the early entries in the blog, which can be viewed at tetwp.blogspot.com/.

“The newest kink in the plan is that on top of having another surgery on Monday to remove more tissue, remove the sentinel (lymph) node and insert the medi-port for chemo that we (and of course that still means Leslie, with me standing helplessly in a corner) get to go through radiation treatments after the chemo. I tell ya, if it isn’t one thing it’s another. ... Pretty cool. In a nutshell, she gets to be carved on like a Thanksgiving turkey (twice so far..), injected with chemicals that kill fast growing cells (like hair, finger nails and ... oh yea ... cancer) and then to make it wrap up neatly she gets to have radiation injected into her. Yea cancer! I’m betting you can see why the support of friends, family and others is so incredibly needed during cancer treatments. This stuff sucks.”

Leslie’s treatment has progressed through biopsies and debilitating episodes of chemotherapy and continuing radiation treatments. The outlook for her survival is good. Land praises the researchers who have advanced the state of cancer treatment, the doctors who administer those treatments and the organizations that have helped to fund those advances.

“Thanks to the American Cancer Society, Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the many other outstanding organizations that are fighting this fight it is finally being won,” Land writes in his blog. “Don’t give up the fight, folks. It takes a LOT to kill cancer and every penny you donate to finding a cure is a penny that might save the life of someone you love.”

Education, prevention and research

After his personal experience, Land said his approach at this year’s event will be different — he will be more intent on making it clear that breast cancer is all around us.

“I’ll make sure that I can explain to people that breast cancer is increasing in frequency,” he said. “We should be saving the lives of the people we love.”

We can help to do that, he said, by donating to cancer research and by awareness and taking preventive steps.

“Now we kind of understand what’s going on,” Land said. “If we can encourage one person to save her life through a self-exam, that’s why we’re doing it.”

The Tough Enough to Wear Pink night at the Carbondale Wild West Rodeo will feature a barbecue dinner for $7. Admission to the rodeo is $8, with children under 10 admitted free. Breast cancer survivors are invited to attend at no charge and enjoy a free barbecue dinner. There will be a survivor reception at 6:30 p.m.

Carolyn Hardin, a breast cancer survivor, said funds from the Tough Enough to Wear Pink rodeo and other Susan G. Komen events, such as the Race for the Cure (coming up Saturday in Aspen) and the Ride for the Cure, largely stay in the valley. These funds are devoted to organizations that promote breast health and prevention.

The biggest annual events in the Roaring Fork Valley, Hardin said, are the Race for the Cure in Aspen, which has related races and the Sleep-in for the Cure event, which allows people to register for the race and pay an entry fee, but doesn’t require them to run; and the Ride for the Cure in September.

Last Saturday, Phat Thai restaurant on Carbondale’s Main Street put on a Pink Party, a benefit for the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Leann Katchuk, co-chair of the Komen Race for the Cure, was hostess.

“People were really generous,” Katchuk said. “It was a lot of fun.”

Phat Thai donated all proceeds to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. A disc jockey donated his services, spinning records all evening long. Guests were urged to make a donation at the door. Organizers sold T-shirts and sweatshirts with the imprint “Save the boobs,” and the proceeds from shirt sales went to the cause, too.

“We had a really good response from people buying T-shirts,” Katchuk said.

The restaurant staff all wore the T-shirts and explained the event to diners.

“Mark Fischer, the owner, was so gracious to do this,” Katchuk said. “And the staff was really helpful.”

The T-shirts and sweatshirts will be available at this week’s rodeo, as well.