SPRINGDALE — A new tradition sits in the chutes for the Rodeo of the Ozarks.
The last full weekend in June will be the new time for the rodeo each year, said Rick Culver, the rodeo’s executive director. This year’s rodeo will be June 22-25 at Parsons Stadium in Springdale, a change from the July 1-4 schedule of the past.
Rodeo planners hope the new dates will attract more top cowboys to the competition, which is sanctioned by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, and thus provide more excitement for fans.
The days surrounding July 4 are known as “Cowboy Christmas” in the rodeo world, said John Gladden, a member of the Rodeo of the Ozarks board. Hundreds of towns and groups across the country hold rodeos to celebrate the Fourth of July. Cowboys can compete in two or three rodeos a day for four to six days, increasing their chances to win prize money.
Most of these rodeos happen in the western United States, with the next rodeo perhaps only an hour’s drive away. Traveling to Springdale would mean a plane ticket or a 1,000-mile drive, so most cowboys choose to stay out west, Gladden said.
Many of those top cowboys also compete in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association’s Southeastern Circuit in late June. Springdale easily could be added as a stop on the way west, he said.
“It’s their business,” Culver said of the cowboys. “They’ve got to look at it from an economic standpoint.”
The Northwest Arkansas rodeo also changed dates to provide additional family entertainment, officials said.
“There was nothing else going on in Springdale” when the rodeo started in 1944, said Pat Hutter, a rodeo board member and daughter of the rodeo’s founder, Thurman “Shorty” Parsons.
Now Northwest Arkansas Naturals baseball, golf tournaments, water sports on Beaver Lake, travel and fireworks displays compete with the rodeo for the same crowds, Culver said. He said he hopes a different weekend will allow more people to attend the rodeo.
The rodeo had been held every July 1-4 since its inception. The board changed the dates about eight years ago to the “closest full weekend to July 4” to take advantage of weekend crowds. Performances might have fallen on weekdays when the rodeo was planned simply by date, limiting fan availability, Culver said.
The recent announcement on Facebook of the new dates met with some resistance, mostly from people tied to the July 1-4 tradition, Culver said.
“Change can be hard,” Hutter said.
Many people asked about the annual parades and fireworks. Sticking with tradition, rodeo parades will march west on Emma Avenue on June 22 and June 24. A fireworks display will follow the June 25 performance, Culver said.
“Great move,” posted Randy Treat of Hindsville to the rodeo’s Facebook page. A longtime rodeo fan and volunteer, Treat said he hopes to see more top cowboys ride in Springdale. He also noted the change of demographics in Northwest Arkansas and said he understands that rodeo performances must be the best to attract newcomers to the area.
“The people that have moved in, they don’t know about tradition,” he said. “It doesn’t hold the same mystique to them.”
The Rodeo of the Ozarks carries a good reputation in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, providing stock from Stace Smith, the organization’s 11-time stock contractor of the year, and $10,000 per event divided among the top riders. A survey of the athletes and other personnel after last year’s rodeo showed they wanted to attend the Springdale rodeo but that the dates were prohibitive, Gladden said.
“The Rodeo of the Ozarks has been so successful and highly thought of on the national level by the cowboys, the cowgirls and the stock contractors,” said Bill Rogers, vice president of communications and special projects at the Springdale Chamber of Commerce. “They are trying to meet the needs of the cowboys and help their fan base at the same time. It sounds like a win-win.
“The rodeo board has a history of making decisions with the heart of the community in mind. They would not have [changed the dates] if it didn’t allow for the possibility of more family entertainment,” Rogers said.
“We should try to embrace the change, and we’ll probably have a better rodeo overall.”