Rope, Tie, Win!

Rodeo of Ozarks rides into Parsons Stadium

Steve Smith remembers his first rodeo. The halfpint cowboy wore his tiny hat and boots when he attended a 1960s rodeo with his grandparents in Salem.

“I was a little kid,” Smith says. “And I really didn’t know what I was in for. But I was excited. With all those people there, I knew it was going to be big, and I’d better get ready.”

Smith serves as president of the board of the Rodeo of the Ozarks. The rodeo runs July 3-6 at Parsons Stadium in Springdale, and Western Days kicks off the rodeo season Saturday, with a barbecue cookoff and dance at the rodeo grounds.

“As a little kid, I remember the gate opening with the bareback broncs and a cowboy on the horse bucking up and down,” Smith continues. “I was spellbound from then on. I forgot about everything else but the chute gates.”

Smith got the opportunity last year to take his granddaughter - who was 1 ½ at the time - to her first rodeo in Springdale. “She was really good,” he says. “They had her attention - the bulls, the bronc horses. She just watched it. I wish she could have articulated what she thought. She enjoyed it a lot more than I thought she would.”

“I believe they will be fascinated watching cowboys and cowgirls compete with supreme animal athletes,” says Sach Oliver, a new rodeo director. “I mean, the sheerforce it takes for a man to ride one of these animals! Or watching these girls go 35 to 45 miles per hour around those barrels - and their strides. It’s just breathtaking.”

Oliver says he’s had the privilege of taking many firsttimers to the rodeo.

“It’s fun to watch a 5-year-old and a 50-year-old with the same look on their face,” he relates.

“They’re both gripped to the fence, fascinated.”

Smith would tell other firsttimers: “You’re going to have alot of fun. You’re going to leave and know you had a lot of fun.

You’ll say, ‘I had a good time.’”

He heard pretty much that from a “city” woman he encouraged to attend. “She never imagined herself going to a rodeo. She said it was more exciting than anything she’d ever seen. She said, ‘I’ll be back!’”

Board member Rick Culver tells newcomers they’ll hear the excitement.

“They’ll hear the chute open.

They’ll hear the bull snort andthe cowboys whooping and hollering - and they’ll see some of the best athletes in the world perform. Even if they come just one time, they won’t see as much excitement and action anywhere else.”

The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association sanctions the Rodeo of the Ozarks, and cowboys and others associated voted the Springdale rodeo as one of the top five in the country for about 10 years running. The PRCA’s top stock contractor brings his top-rated “rank” broncs and bulls to this rodeo. And telling the tales of ropin’ and ridin’ from the arena floor is Boyd Polhamus, the PRCA’s top announcer.

“And nobody else has them (during the dates of the Springdale rodeo),” Culver says.

Fans get only four opportunities a year to see a Rodeo of the Ozarks performance, Smith points out.

Other activities - like movies or ball games - can be enjoyed any time.

“If you want to see rodeo, you are limited in what you can do,” Smith says. “It brings us a variety. It brings the American tradition, frontier spirit back.”

During each performance of the rodeo, organizers, athletes and fans recognize current and former members of the military - moments that bring pride and goosebumps, Smith says.

“(New fans will) be in awe to see these horses and bulls bucking, the music and the (grand entry) parade when you stand up and swear allegiance and say a prayer,” says board member Fadil Bayyari. “It’s a feeling Americans can take with them forever.”

This year’s rodeo fans also will see traditional Latino dances by members of the community on July 2.

Bayyari wants those new to the area to feel the communityminded spirit of Springdale.

“It’s all volunteer,” he says.

“It’s an awesome gathering of people they’ve put together to make this event.”

Tickets for the rodeo performances range in price from $15 to $35 for adults and $7 to $15 for children, depending on section and day.

Tickets are available online at rodeooftheozarks.org.

Whats Up, Pages 16 on 06/21/2013

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