SE Rodeo Announces 2021 Hall of Fame Inductees

DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern Rodeo is excited to announce that Steve Bland (posthumously), Blair Burk, and Cindy Ann Perrin (posthumously) have been selected for induction into the Southeastern Rodeo Hall of Fame. Induction ceremonies are slated for Nov. 6 at the Visual and Performing Arts Center on campus at Southeastern.
 
The fifth-annual Hall of Fame Induction begins at 6:30 on Nov. 6 with a cocktail reception, followed by dinner at 6:30 p.m. with the induction ceremony slated for 7 p.m.
 
Cost to attend the function is $50 per person, or tables of eight can be reserved for $350, with all proceeds going to fund scholarships for SE Rodeo.
 
Tickets can be purchased from any Southeastern Rodeo Team member or by calling 580-745-2173.
 
Steven Montgomery Bland was born into a rodeo family in Trent, Texas, and was the youngest of 5 children born to RL and Rosemary Bland. Not to be out done by his older siblings, Steve's personality trait, as once noted by Tuf Cooper Sr., of "never give up or give in" wins his first saddle at the age of five and sets in motion a collection of All Around Championships and saddles from AJRA through NIRA and on to the National Finals Rodeo in Oklahoma City, building the respect of his peers who often referred to him as "the Cowboy's Cowboy".
 
Not one to follow a beaten path, Steve chose Southeastern as his school of choice, and with the help of fellow teammates, SE dominated the NIRA with five consecutive Championships under coach Betty Gayle Cooper. He was the only member of the men's team to date to be a member of a Collegiate National Championship team for four years.
 
Bland would become the only cowboy in the history of NIRA to win five consecutive Championships, a feat that teammate and longtime friend Roy Cooper stated "Will never be done again."
 
Bland would go on to join the PRCA in 1977, and over what adds up to a 35-year career of this 6-event man, Steve Bland, the list of All-Around titles and Championships in calf roping, steer wrestling, bareback riding, steer tripping, bull riding and team roping is a mountain of awards and accomplishments.
 
The highlights of this "Cowboy's Cowboy" rodeo career would be most notably, a two-time recipient of the Linderman Award, two year consecutive Pendleton All Around and calf roper champion, Champion Steer Wrestler at the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo and the Pendleton Round-Up, PRCA Texas Circuit All Around and Calf Roping Champion, OS Champion Calf Roper, Albuquerque PRCA Champion Calf Roper, 1980 National Finals Rodeo qualifier in calf roping in Oklahoma City and the 1977 National Finals Rodeo Rookie of the Year in Oklahoma City in calf roping and Steer Wrestling.
 
Bland would also live quite the busy life outside the arena, which included his work in ranching, part owner in the family feed yard, and an in-depth movie career as an actor, livestock wrangler and a stuntman are just some of the occupations he enjoyed most.
 
He was also a talented musician and singer, but his most important role was a husband, father, brother, son, and friend. Bland lived every moment of life to its fullest and was taken too early at the age of 47.
 
Blair Burk was born into a family that had been synonymous with the word "champion" for four generations.  He was born to Barry and Cheryl Burk on July 25, 1973 in Duncan, Okla. Barry, Blair's father was no stranger to ProRodeo and qualified himself to the NFR 16 times and was inducted to the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 1994.
 
The younger Burk won numerous tie down, team roping, steer wrestling and all-around championships throughout AJRA junior rodeos and Oklahoma High School Rodeo and National High School Rodeo competitions. He would break out in his collegiate career by winning the Central Plains Region All-Around and Tie Down Roping Championships in 1993.
 
During the CNFR that same year, he was able to qualify to finals in tie down roping and team roping with partner Britt Bockius, finishing in third place and fourth in the All Around.
 
In 1993, Burk broke out professionally as well by winning the PRCA and Resistol Overall Rookie of The Year and Tie Down Rookie of the Year, and in 2006 his horse "Sweetness" was voted 3rd best Tie Down Horse of the Year.
 
Burk went on to qualify to the NFR 14 times in tie down roping. He has also qualified and competed in The American in 2017 at AT&T stadium in Dallas, Texas. He has been the American Quarter Horse Tie Down Champion three times and qualified to the Indian National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas twice.
 
In 2008 Burk became the 13th cowboy in the PRCA to surpass $2 million in career earnings and has won a plethora of PRCA rodeos including the Prairie Circuit Tie Down Championship, Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, The Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo, Calgary Alberta Stampede for 50,000, Silver Medallion of the Olympic Command Performance Rodeo, and Pendleton Roundup to highlight a prestigious career.
 
Burk and wife Chelsey have a blended family of five children; T'Lee, Kennedy, Hudson, Gentry, and Bryler Roy.  He is a proud member of Choctaw Nation and spends much of his time with his children at livestock shows, hunting, and watching sporting events.
 
Cindy Ann Perrin was born on May 15, 1961, to Billy and Ann Perrin in Antlers, Okla., and attended school in Antlers. It was during her time in school that she began her rodeo career, competing in the Oklahoma Youth Rodeo Association (OYRA) and the Oklahoma High School Rodeo Association (OHSRA), winning numerous titles while competing throughout her childhood, before continuing her rodeo journey at Southeastern Oklahoma State.
 
Perrin enjoyed competing in barrel racing, breakaway roping, and goat tying during her collegiate career and in the youth rodeo associations where she also excelled in pole bending. Known for her quick smile and great sense of humor, her friends were numerous and she made everyone feel like her best friend.
 
She was the NIRA Central Plains Region Championship barrel racer in 1980, qualifying for the CNFR in barrel racing on her way to helping Southeastern to the Women's NIRA National Championship in 1980.
 
Unfortunately, Perrin passed away at the young age of 36 from a car accident. She is survived by one son Lane Perrin and family, her parents Billy and Ann Perrin, and one sister Jackie Jo Perrin, a lawyer in Durant, and family.