Cowboy Luke is a co-founder of the Lake Douglas Ranchers Association, and has been involved in amateur rodeo since 1994, when he entered the arena for the first time in Austin, Texas. He is a member of various rodeo organizations and charitable groups.
Cowboy Luke enjoys taking care of the Ranch and the many tasks that confront him on a daily basis. “Out here, you are only confined by your imagination” Luke said during a recent interview, noting that he is never short on ideas, however unconventional they may be. Luke also enjoys meeting the new and old friends along the rodeo circuit, and looks forward to the five trips that the team makes each year across the United States.
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Cowboy Luke has worked in public safety his entire life. Two weeks out of high school in 1977 he was hired by the Alachua County Department of Public Safety to be a firefighter/EMT staffing a rural fire station in Micanopy, Florida. He subsequently went to paramedic school and worked on an ALS transport ambulance while continuing to work as a firefighter/paramedic in the communities of Alachua and High Springs. In 1982, while working for High Springs he enrolled in the police academy and became a certified police officer.
He also flew on ShandsCair, the aeromedical rescue helicopter operated by Shands Hospital at the University of Florida. He ended his public safety career in Gainesville as the Director of Public Safety Communications for the Gainesville Police Department. Following a nine year assignment there, he applied for and was hired as a Deputy Chief/Manager for the Orange County (Florida) Fire Rescue Department. In 2008, he suffered a near fatal reaction to the drug Crestor and was hospitalized for eighteen days. His doctor would not let him return to full duty at the Fire Department and he is currently working part time.
Along the way, he has remained active with the region’s Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) team and enjoys teaching and doing occasional consulting assignments.
Cowboy Luke’s rodeo career was cut short after being seriously injured in a rodeo accident in Oklahoma City in 1998. A wild steer slammed him into a wall requiring the replacement of both of his hips. This incident ended his professional roping career. In spite of his injuries Cowboy Luke finished the 2000 rodeo year ranked 66th nationally in calf roping. He still teaches calf roping on a regular basis and is known to be good with a knot.
Cowboy Luke now does rodeo announcing and has been heard at professional and amateur contests across the United States, including rodeos and bull riding events in Orlando and Davie, Florida, and Atlanta, Little Rock, Phoenix, Omaha, Okahoma City and Washington, DC.
You can visit and contact Cowboy Luke on his web page at: www.LakeDouglasRanch.com/cowboyluke.htm
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