Cattlemen’s Days Parade Marshals

John
Malensek

Quick to laugh, John is a son of the valley. He spent his early years in Crested Butte on his family ranch which is now the bulk of the town of Mt. Crested Butte. In fact, his family sold to the original developers of the ski area in 1959 and bought a small ranch near the Gunnison River. In 1964, his folks, aunt, and uncle bought the Walker Dairy to have additional ground.

John grew up in that house. He loved the ranch work, especially working side-by-side with his father and uncle Matt. There was a doubt in his mind he was going to take over the ranch despite having a versatile degree from Colorado State University. John worked hard and still does. He grows quality hay that he sells since he stopped raising cattle.

In the early 1980’s, John signed onto the Cattlemen’s Days program, which at the time was run by the Gunnison County Stockgrowers Assoc. Early on, he got the assignment of leading the racehorses with the jockeys aboard in front of the grandstand to showcase them for the calcutta, then loading them in the starting gate, a dangerous job.

John took on a larger role with horse racing, then moved from there into the role of committee secretary from 1990-2001. In 2002, the committee created the Coordinator position which he was asked to do and held that seat until 2009. The coordinator is a vital role for they do a bit of everything to organize committee members and bring the show together. In 1996 John won the Justin Boot Award as Committee Man of the Year.

John holds community dear, and it shows in his warm hugs and commitment to Cattlemen’s Days, ranching, and people. In the meetings, he would always come forth with words of wisdom about various aspects of the rodeo presentation that served to guide the committee as well as to coordinate efforts.

His lasting fondness on the committee was the camaraderie, friendships, and working to help promote ranching.