As an event in support of the annual Rodeo of the Ozarks, Western Days tries on a new hat this year.
“It’s a change of pace,” says Joe Rollins, a rodeo board member. “We want to provide new opportunities for people to come support the rodeo and have a good time. We are trying to become more than just a four-day rodeo.”
The gate is pulled open on events at 9 a.m. Saturday with “Everything’s Western,” a Western trade show, at the Rodeo Community Center in Springdale. Vendors from Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas will offer their wares for sale or trade, including Western collectibles, decor items, boots, hats, saddles and more.
“It’s a true Western trade show in every sense,” Rollins says. “But it is not a garage sale.”
Free children’s activities also begin Saturday at the rodeo grounds. Kids ride into the past on ponies and via trips in the rodeo’s Butterfield Overland Mail stagecoach. The Daisy air gun range also stakes out its territory at the rodeo grounds - and all activities are free.
Judging for the Bulls, Broncs and Barbecue Championship begins at 5:30 p.m. Plates of chicken, pork ribs, pork and beef brisket for tasting cost $5, and diners will have the chance to choose their own favorites from the chow.
While the barbecue is smoking, adult rodeo fans can try their hands in a quick-draw contest - 10 shots for $5.
“The bullets are wax, but the guns are real,” Rollins says.
Live music starts at 5:30 p.m., too, with a concert by Jason Strode offering a bon voyage for the rodeo fans’ trips into the Western frontier.
Strode’s Facebook page describes his music: “Road ready rockin’ honky tonk country music … a stage show guaranteed to boil water or remove warts … also gives youwhiter teeth and rock hard abs in only 20 minutes.”
The fun continues at 6 a.m.
the next Saturday, June 29, with the annual pancake breakfast at the Rodeo Community Center, sponsored by the Norman Bryant Foundation.
The foundation works each year to serve Christmas dinner to hundreds of people and provide every child with a gift. Plates are $5 for adults and $3 for children 12 and younger.
Half-pints ride west from 6 to 8 p.m. in the rodeo’s Butterfield Overland Mail coach and pony rides leaving from Shiloh Square on Emma Avenue in downtown Springdale. At 8 p.m., the Boston Mountain Playboys “tune up the fiddle and rosin up the bow” for the annual street dance. All activities are free.
Whats Up, Pages 16 on 06/21/2013