Last call for 'they'rrrre off' as voice of Stampede chuckwagon race retires

As the Calgary Stampede rodeo winds down on Sunday, one of the event's best-known personalities will mark the end of a long and colourful career.

Joe Carbury, 79, is retiring after 45 years of calling the chuckwagon races.

He's known for belting out his famous announcement at the start of each race: "There's the horn ... and they'rrrre off!" Occasionally, he also urges the crowd to join him in a celebratory "Yahoo!"

Over the years, his methods haven't changed. He calls the races using just a pair of binoculars and a microphone, with no assistants or instant replays, and fans hanging on his every word.

"It's just the tone of his voice, no one else has that," said one man in the stands who was asked to describe what makes Carbury so memorable.

"He's just a part of Calgary," a woman in the crowd said.

"All good things have to come to an end. This has been a good thing," Carbury said of his decision to switch off his microphone at the Stampede for the last time.

The man some call the Foster Hewitt of the "half mile of hell" was a local sports announcer when he was asked in 1963 if he wouldn't mind a little overtime to call a chuckwagon race.

"I was kind of reluctant to do it actually," he said. "They did a bit of wrist-twisting."

Carbury's voice has done more than entertain. He has also helped shape a sport where even the slightest mistake can be fatal.

"Joe has had a lot of opinions about the way the races are run, how we can do it better. He voices those opinions [and] it's led to a safer game today," said George Brookman, president and chairman of the Calgary Stampede's board of directors.

"I've seen death out there on that track. I've seen a lot of accidents," Carbury said.

A horse injured during a chuckwagon race last Wednesday at the Calgary Stampede had to be euthanized. It was the first animal fatality at the Stampede this year.

Last summer, a chuckwagon crash killed three horses and injured a driver. In its wake, a safety review committee recommended tougher penalties for aggressive drivers, as well as a code of conduct and a unified set of rules for chuckwagon racing.