For the 25th annual Allen County Fair Rodeo come prepared to see plenty of action during its two-night run. Also come prepared for hot weather.
Six Crowns Rodeo Company owner Skeet Davis and his crew are prepared for the excessive heat. Weather forecasts call for temperatures to soar to between the high 90s to over 100 degrees most of this week.
“Last year it was 108 and we had three calves that got sick. We didn’t use them in the rodeo. We got them the medication they needed and kept them cool as possible,” Davis said.
Performances are at 8 o’clock nightly, Tuesday and Wednesday, at the Lyle Dreher Roughriders Arena.
Tickets for each performance can be purchased at the gate for $10 for adults, $5 for children 6-10. Children under 5 will be admitted free when with a paid adult.
The 2010 rodeo is sanctioned by the United Rodeo Association (URA) and the Missouri Rodeo Cowboy Association (MRCA).
Rodeo fans will see some of the top rodeo contestants in nine events of URA competition at the Allen County rodeo.
Those nine events are bareback bronc riding, calf roping, Forty-and-Over calf roping, breakaway roping, saddle bronc riding, steer wrestling, women’s barrel racing, team toping and bull riding. The URA is headquartered in Yates Center.
Six Crowns Rodeo Company of Lincoln, Mo., is the stock contractor for the event providing the rodeo’s rough stock.
“We don’t move the livestock any more than we have to when it gets this hot. We make sure there’s adequate shade around the arena in the holding pens,” Davis said.
“The bulls and steers are kept at the sale barn in Gas City until we need to move them to the arena.”
Davis said rodeo stock animals are well taken care of by his company.
“I don’t want anything to happen to my livestock. This is our business and we take pride in having some of the best, if not the best, bulls, calves, steers, horses available for contestants to compete on,” he said.
Brandon McLagan of Lone Jack, Mo., is the rodeo announcer for both nights. Lucas Little and Paxton Vroman are bull fighters. Dusty Myers of Jumper Town, Miss., is the funny man in the barrel.
After being established in 1985 as a staple of the Allen County Fair, only a flood could deter the rodeo. In 2007 a flood of Iola’s Riverside Park, where the fairgrounds are, prompted a location change for the fair and no rodeo.
Rodeo opens Tuesday
