STARKVILLE – Mississippi Horse Park will soon fill once again with the sounds of clattering hoofs and cheering crowds Friday as the Rotary Classic Rodeo returns for its 19th year.
The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association-sanctioned event serves as Starkville Rotary Club’s largest fundraiser of the year.
“It’s the primary (fundraiser) we do here in town, and it supports our two ongoing missions, which are Oktibbeha Young Leaders and Boy Scouts, and then other random grants,” Rotarian and rodeo co-chair Matt Bowen told The Dispatch on Tuesday.
The rodeo kicks off at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, though ahead of the main event Saturday there will be pony rides and a petting zoo for kids starting at 5 p.m. on the arena floor.
Bowen expects roughly 3,000 spectators each night for two evenings of family-oriented entertainment and professional competition.
Planned rodeo events include bareback, saddle bronc and bull riding, steer wrestling, barrel racing, tie-down, team and women’s breakaway roping. Contestants compete for prize money that counts toward qualification for the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas each December.
The rodeo, which has earned national recognition both on the rodeo circuit and in Rotary International, draws exclusively professional riders. Bowen said more than 100 cowboys and cowgirls are expected to participate this year.
The event’s connection to the Dixie National Rodeo in Jackson helps attract strong competition, he said.
“There are probably three satellite rodeos for the Dixie National Rodeo, and we are one of them,” Bowen said. “So the reason we get the quality of competition we get from riders is because they’re coming up from Jackson … because of that.”
This year, organizers hope to raise between $45,000 and $50,000 to go toward Rotary grants and service projects, Mike Kunkle, event co-chair and Rotary vice president, told The Dispatch.
Six of those grants, Bowen said, will be highlighted at the event, where local organizations serving the community – like Starkville-Oktibbeha County Public Library, the J.L. King Center and the Starkville-MSU Symphony, for example – will be awarded with the funds each night during intermissions.
“We do two grant processes through the year, and then the fall grant process that’s applied for in the fall, those are given out at the rodeo this year,” Bowen said.
Adult tickets can be purchased at the door for $25 each night of the rodeo, or community members can prepurchase tickets for $20 that are available at the Oktibbeha County Co-op, Greater Starkville Development Partnership and Tractor Supply Co. locations in Starkville and Columbus.
Tickets for children ages 4 to 12 are $5, and children younger than 3 are admitted for free.
Kunkle encouraged anyone interested in “a great, local community event geared towards family” to attend.
“We work at keeping admission costs down,” Kunkle said. “If you compare to other rodeos in the area, admission is much less expensive for this one. It is a lot of fun. … It is completely geared toward families here in the area.”
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
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