Boulder City cowgirl’s passion for Helldorado Days is ‘family affair’

Tandi Remy has attended and participated in Helldorado Days since birth and she has the pictures to prove it.

Remy, 43, owns countless pictures from the last five decades with her family at the historic Las Vegas festival and rodeo.

The Boulder City native’s timeline starts with a Polaroid of her as an infant with her father, Lorald Gunter, and older sister, Lori Leas, at the 1973 Helldorado Days.

The memorable shot features a horse in a background, a pattern in Remy’s collection of photos.

Remy is a longtime barrel racer and has competed in the Helldorado rodeo six times, including this past weekend.

“Helldorado Days is a family affair,” Remy said. “It started with my dad. He was a saddle bronc rider. My family has been involved with Helldorado for many years.”

Remy’s father competed in the saddle bronc and bull riding events at Helldorado in the 1960s. Lori Leas won the barrel racing event at 9 years old in the Helldorado locals’ competition.

Tandi Remy’s mother, Ruby, rode horses in the Helldorado parade and her brother, Clint, is a country singer who has sung the national anthem at the rodeo.

“I love seeing rodeos in Vegas,” Remy said. “Going with family and seeing the kids have a good time, that’s what it needs to be about. It’s tougher to get events like that in Vegas, but man I really love seeing that. I want Helldorado to keep going.”

The Remy-Gunter family continues to add more participants in Helldorado, which has been around since 1934.

Kelsie Leas, Remy’s 21-year-old niece, is a two-time champion in the Helldorado local barrel racing competition. Helldorado didn’t have the local rodeo this year.

Tandi Remy was one of a few Southern Nevada competitors in the 2016 Helldorado rodeo, which is part of the Professional Rodeo Association.

Remy’s career in barrel racing has taken her across the country and recently competed in China.

“Las Vegas has rodeos but it’s not like Texas where every little town has one,” Remy said. “Hopefully we get more competitors from Vegas in the future. It’s a great thing to be a part of.”

Remy’s parents moved to Las Vegas in the 1960s and worked at casinos on the Strip.

Lorald Gunter gave Tandi Remy her first saddle on her 12th birthday. Lorald passed away not long after that.

“I remember all the saddles and buckles my dad won,” Remy said. “The saddle he gave me kinda got things started for me.”

Remy’s 3-year-old son, Gunner, is named after his grandfather. Lorald’s co-workers in the casinos called him Gunner.

Little Gunner got to pet bulls from the Last Cowboy Standing event with Professional Bull Riders star Derek Kolbaba on Friday.

The PBR and Helldorado merged this year in an attempt to revive the annual rodeo. However, the PBR’s Last Cowboy Standing competition bumped the rodeo from the night slot to the daytime event at the outdoor venue in front of the Luxor.

In years past, the rodeo would be a night event. Remy and the rodeo competitors had to deal with the heat, which went as high as 100 degrees on the weekend.

“I’m in favor of anything that helps Helldorado Days,” Remy said. “I want to see it grow, I want more kids to go to the rodeo. But competing at 3 p.m. affected the rodeo. Not many people came out because of the heat and it was a problem for us.

“Hopefully it moves indoor so we can keep it going.”

Remy’s Helldorado photo collection increased this weekend. It still included horses, but it featured a lot of Gunner on top of a bronco.

Gunner is a saddle bronc rider in the making.

“You should see this kid on a horse,” Remy said. “He loves it. He’s already been on 20 to 30 horses.”

Contact Gilbert Manzano at gmanzano@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0492. Follow him on Twitter:@gmanzano24