Every summer a boom town pops up in Springdale. Cowboys, rodeo contractors and a posse of local folks park their campers, their horse trailers and their pickup trucks just south of the rodeo grounds for the annual Rodeo of the Ozarks.
Rodeo in Springdale is more than four nights of Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association action in Parsons Stadium. Rodeo in Springdale is 24 hours a day.
David Dodd, Jimmy Bowen and Jerry Biazo worked round the clock at the rodeo grounds to keep the facilities running and the dust to a minimum. Saturday, they turned the arena dirt nearly every hour trying to dry it out after Friday night's downpour. "Bet you didn't think you'd see it this dry," said Dodd, when he stopped his work for a moment to watch the saddle bronc riding.
Jackie Walden spent her four days taking care of horses -- feeding, cleaning stalls, saddling and unsaddling for the rodeo directors and announcer. Local veterinarian Tim O'Neill proved to be a popular call for these folks who love, love, love their animals. Rick Culver and his staff in the office sold tickets, figured attendance and put out administrative fires.
Janet Reed and her outlaw gang spent their rodeo smoking meat and preparing meals. Reed is the ramrod of Cowboy Camp, feeding cowboys, cowgirls and that rodeo boom town. Meals can range from hot dogs to smoked brisket to quesadillas. But the star of the show seemed to be the fried okra. Two Wisconsin cowboys left camp Wednesday with their bellies full. Levi Lassa and his brother Noah had never tasted fried okra, but they found out they liked it. Reed said Utah cowboys generally have the same experience.
"Actually, anything they can get that is homemade, they really appreciate it," Reed said. Salads made from produce grown in local gardens also are a hit. Most rodeo cowboys spend their summer days on the road, traveling from rodeo to rodeo in search of a paycheck -- especially during the weeks surrounding the Fourth of July, with 50-plus rodeos across North America. Cowboys try to win as much as they can during this season known as "Cowboy Christmas."
Haley Ganzel and Lindy Nealy, the Cowgirl Sweethearts, carried their flash and flare into the arena each night of the rodeo as they performed daring acts on horseback. The members of the trick-riding team weren't quite so flashy Saturday afternoon as they made use of a hose and some soap to clean tack outside of their trailer -- but both wore the same bright smiles they had the night before.
It might seem funny for two girls who used to compete to be such friends. They met at an International Professional Rodeo Association talent showcase. "'We have to trick ride together,'" Nealy remembers saying. "And now we've been a lot of miles together."
Today, distance between their home towns -- Bloomington, Ill., for Nealy and Collinsville, Okla., for Ganzel -- can't keep these 20-somethings apart, thanks to 50 shows a year. Ganzel started trick riding at age 5, learning from her uncle, Shawn Brackett, who took his own trick riding to the National Finals Rodeo five times. "I started hanging upside down and standing on my horse," Ganzel said. Nealy also started young and even spent time at her dream job -- riding at the Dixie Stampede in Branson.
"It's dangerous if you or your horse are not properly trained," Ganzel said. "It's a controlled risk," Nealy added. Things can go wrong, the girls agreed. The arena can be muddy, a strap can break or the rider can do something wrong. "In bull riding, the bulls try to eat you," Ganzel said. "But our horses actually try to work for us. They really take care of you."
The residents of the rodeo grounds don't keep the fun to themselves. They take it to the streets during two rodeo parades on Emma Avenue, asking their neighbors to join in.
Riding in a wagon pulled by horses Frank and Fred, members of the Corner Post Cowboy Church offered their cowboy kind of outreach -- a simple smile, a wave and a hello to those along the parade route.
Those watching the parade were a varied bunch, clustered in the shadows of buildings or under trees to get relief from the summer sun. Children were too engrossed with their Popsicles to return the waves of those riding in the parade. The faces in the crowd ranged from the newest -- "It's his first rodeo," said church member Cindy Loewer as the wagon passed by babies asleep -- to those veteran Springdale residents who have watched many horses go down that road.
Even with a lane of traffic blocked for the horses and floats to make their way back to the rodeo grounds, the drivers on Huntsville Avenue seemed delighted at this leftover view of the parade. Some held their cell phones out of their windows to take pictures and video -- a welcome deviation from the regular routine. The smiles and waves came even more readily.
"It's amazing how you can impact people," Loewer said. "A smile and wave can make a difference in someone's day."
NAN Our Town on 07/09/2015