Kickin' Up Dirt

Chutes locked and loaded for Old Fort Days

FILE PHOTO Top Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association members will take a ride on National Finals Bucking Stock during the 81st annual Old Fort Days Rodeo at Kay Rodgers Park in Fort Smith. The rodeo starts Monday.
FILE PHOTO Top Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association members will take a ride on National Finals Bucking Stock during the 81st annual Old Fort Days Rodeo at Kay Rodgers Park in Fort Smith. The rodeo starts Monday.

"The Best Show on Dirt" brags the website of Old Fort Days Rodeo. And some cowboys are destined to end up in that dirt.

The Old Fort Days Rodeo -- Monday to May 30 at Kay Rodgers Park in Fort Smith -- draws top cowboys from the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association to ride National Finals Rodeo bucking stock for high performance scores or high-flying buck-offs -- both thrilling the crowds. Barrel racers, calf ropers and steer wrestlers -- also known as "bulldoggers" -- pit their skills against the clock.

FAQ

Old Fort Days Rodeo

WHEN — 7 p.m. May 25-30

WHERE — Kay Rodgers Park, 4400 Midland Blvd. in Fort Smith

COST — $6-$15

INFO — 800-364-1080 or oldfortdaysrodeo.com

FYI

Western Heritage Days

Events include:

• The Indian Territory Pistoliers robbing a trolley at the Fort Smith Trolley Museum, Saturday, Sunday, after the rodeo parade Monday & May 30, 100 S. Fourth St.

• A cowboy mounted-shooting demostration, 10 a.m. & 2 p.m. Sunday at the U.S. Marshals Museum grounds, downtown on the Arkansas River.

• The Optimist Club carnival in the Old Town Club parking lot, 503 Garrison Ave.

• Cowboy poets reading the romance of the west at the Fort Smith Museum of History, after the rodeo parade Monday, 320 Rogers Ave.

• A Queen’s Tea honoring current and former rodeo queens and Dandies from 1 to 3 p.m. Thursday at the Fort Smith Museum of History, 320 Rogers Ave.

• A pioneer covered-wagon living-history display from noon to 5 p.m. May 31 across the street from the Fort Smith National Historic Site gallows, 301 Parker Ave.

Cody Sosebee, professional rodeo clown from Charleston, will entertain the crowd with his antics. Announcer Mike Mathis brings his experience and insight as a rodeo athlete, rodeo committee chairman and arena showman to explain the sport and excite the crowd.

And Old Fort Days wouldn't be Old Fort Days without a horseback quadrille performance by the renowned Old Fort Days Dandies. "It's not unusual to see two horses gallop at full speed toward one another, deliberately passing within inches, then take position to wind and dance though a complicated geometric pattern," promises the Dandies' website.

But the fun is not limited to the PRCA action during Old Fort Days, as the city dons its duds and celebrates Western Heritage Month in May. The Old Fort Barrel Futurity continues with competition tonight and Saturday at Kay Rodgers Park.

The Old Fort Days Rodeo Parade promises to be colorful with a 5K Colordash leading the rodeo parade through downtown Fort Smith at 10 a.m. Monday. Plus, the Lawbreakers and Peacemakers will reenact an Old West shootout at the start of the parade. And Heath Wright and the Hangmen will give a free concert immediately after Monday's rodeo in the Expo Center at the park.

-- Laurinda Joenks

[email protected]

NAN What's Up on 05/22/2015

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