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Ruth Nicolaus
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For the Badlands Circuit Finals Rodeo
FROM BLIND DATE TO FOREVER
Parshall couple’s love story begins at the rodeo in Minot in 1980
Minot, N.D. (September 22, 2025) – Wade and Michelle Billadeau’s love story began at a rodeo 45 years ago.
It was a blind date, in 1980, at the Minot rodeo.
Wade’s sister, Cynthia, had been pestering Michelle to meet her brother. The girls, students at Minot State University, were friends.
At first, Michelle, who grew up in Mohall, wasn’t interested. She kept putting off Cynthia.
Finally, Cynthia used devious means to get the two together. “She called me and said, ‘my brother is coming to Minot. Do you want to go to the rodeo with him?’” Michelle remembered. Wade never had intentions on going to the rodeo, but his sister called him and said, ‘you’d better come to Minot, because Michelle has agreed to meet you.”
As soon as she met Wade, she was “enamored. He was so tall and handsome,” she said.
The two married the following July, in 1981, and moved to the farm where Wade’s family lived, southeast of Parshall.
A city girl, the adjustment to being a farm and ranch wife wasn’t easy, but her mother-in-law Lorraine Billadeau (who passed away in 2018) helped guide her through it. “I had a wonderful mother-in-law,” she said. Wade was also supportive. “He made it easy.”
Rodeo was part of Wade’s life in high school. He competed in the regional associations: the Rough Riders Association and the N.D. Rodeo Association. He retired from rodeo in the early 1990s, but after a shoulder replacement, would like to get back to team roping.
They have rarely missed attending the Badlands Circuit Finals Rodeo in Minot and also volunteer at it, as North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame members.
The couple has three children: sons Jarred and Layne, who farm near Parshall, and daughter ShayLee, who lives in Arizona. Layne is married to Codi; they split their time between North Dakota and Arizona. Layne and Codi have two daughters, Quinci and Josie.
Wade and Michelle partner with Layne and Codi in their business, Billadeau Quarter Horses, raising performance horses in North Dakota and Arizona.
Michelle is proud of being involved in agriculture.
“I’ve never once been embarrassed about how we make a living or what we do for hobbies,” she said. “Farmers feed the world. We all should be very proud of the place we have in this world.”
And come October, Michelle and Wade will be back to where their love story started, with a first date at the N.D. State Fair Center and the Badlands Circuit Finals Rodeo.
The Badlands Circuit Finals Rodeo takes place in Minot, N.D. at the N.D. State Fair Center October 10-12.
General admission tickets are $25 for adult general admission and $12.50 for kids ages 3-10. Reserved seating is in the five rows closest to the arena floor, is $35 for all ages. The Friday, Oct. 10 performance is Military Appreciation Night will all military, active, reserve and veteran, and their families, with free admission (at ticket office the days of the rodeo.)
For more information, visit the website at BadlandsCircuitFinalsRodeo.com
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1 – Wade and Michelle’s wedding day, in 1981, less than a year after their blind date at the rodeo in Minot. Photo courtesy the Billadeau family.
2- The Billadeau family: Michelle and Wade (in the center) with son Layne (left) and his wife Codi, and son Jarred and daughter ShayLee (on the right). Granddaughters Quinci and Josie are in the center. Photo courtesy the Billadeau family.
3- Wade and Michelle Billadeau first met on a blind date in 1980 at the rodeo in Minot. They were married in July of the following year. They attend the Badlands Circuit Finals Rodeo each year. Photo courtesy the Billadeau family.
