Rodeo brings broncs, bulls, and big-time fun

Sisters Rodeo will introduce its new venture on Wednesday, June 6, with a night of bull riding as Xtreme Bulls comes to Sisters. Fast becoming rodeo's favorite spectator event, bull riding is only the beginning of an adventurous weekend for serious and casual rodeo fans.

The traditional PRCA professional rodeo, with bronc and bull bucking events, steer wrestling, tie down roping and team roping, begins on Friday night at 7 p.m. Women's Professional Barrel Racing is also a very popular sanctioned event at the rodeo.

The rodeo begins in a flurry of wild action as Team Bronc Riding gets the crowd roaring in this old-time event that challenges three-cowboy teams to race an unbroke horse across a finish line at the far end of the arena.

Sisters fans will be welcomed by a duo of professional announcers who highlight the action in the arena and hype the crowd with enthusiasm, information and great spirit.

Curt Robinson, making his 20th appearance at Sisters as the announcer in the booth, has become part of the Sisters Rodeo family. Robinson is a stickler for statistics and history, and shares this knowledge with fans who learn the background of competitors and animals with behind-the-scenes stories that make the rodeo experience more personal and fulfilling. In his thirty years of announcing, he has earned great respect for his skills.

His well-matched announcing partner on horseback in the arena is Wayne Brooks, a two-time PRCA Announcer of the Year. From his Texas home, Brooks travels to work at some of the most famous rodeos in the professional circuit. He draws the crowd into rodeo with chats and personal contact, and has an exceptional knowledge of the sport.

The very popular J.J. Harrison, barrelman and clown, promises to maintain action throughout the rodeo. His banter with the announcers and the crowd helps give Sisters a reputation for excelling in continuous action. As a barrelman, he keeps bulls occupied with his antics until the bulls can be herded out of the arena.

Harrison, a former teacher, is a whirling dervish of activity who is now among the most popular rodeo clowns in the West. He thrives on rodeo as a family event and displays boundless energy in the arena that astounds the fittest of fans and competitors. "I'm goofy," he says, which makes him the right man for this job.

A rodeo is only as good as the animals in competition that will bring big points to their cowboys. Bucking stock without a competitive spirit don't make winners. Much of the success of Sisters Rodeo is the result of the great competitive horses, steers and bulls in the Flying Diamond Stock Company. Owner Mike Corey's stock includes six bulls who qualified for Wrangler National Finals Rodeo and a slew of young horses that are making their names known, along with some tough and savvy veteran horses with reputations of their own.

Rodeo bullfighters are possibly the most important people in the arena in bull riding competition. Cowboys' lives can depend on the bullet-fast action and concentrated focus of these skilled athletes who protect the cowboy from a 1,200-pound bull after a ride.

Bullfighter Rowdy Barry is another professional who is returning to Sisters Rodeo for his twentieth year. Also a well-known Western painter and sculptor, Barry has spent his life leaping between bulls and downed cowboys. He stresses that his job is no joke, and knows that he can't take his eyes off the action.

His arena partner is bullfighter Dan Newman, a thrill junkie who found his calling in being a hero to men in the arena by turning the danger toward himself. When he is not in the rodeo arena, "Dangerous Dan" rides dirt bikes and thrives on other fast action sports.

"We have the best in the business working our rodeo," said John Leavitt, a lifetime rodeo competitor and arena director at Sisters. "Why would we change that?"

For tickets and information, call the ticket hotline at 541-549-0121 or 1-800-827-7522, or visit the ticket office, 220 W. Cascade Ave. The ticket office will close Friday, June 8, at noon. Ticket purchases will open at the rodeo grounds at 5 p.m. Friday and two hours before performances. For information visit www.sistersrodeo.com.