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Siloam Springs Mutton Busting - Nightly Jr Barrels - Nightly Siloam Springs Rodeo Dance June 19, 2019 - 7:30 pm Community Building Parking Lot Live Band - Boston Mountain Playboys Special Kids Rodeo June 21, 2019 - 10:00 am (is is for all special needs children and adults in the area.) 61st Annual Rodeo Parade June 21, 2019 - 10:00 AM Assemble on Tulsa Street at Middle School behind Atwoods. All parade entrants receive a free ticket to rodeo. 61st Annual June 20-22, 2019 7:30 pm Nightly 1B n Wednesday, June 19, 2019 Siloam SpringS Herald-leader Siloam Springs 61 st Annual By Graham Thomas Staff Writer • gthomas@nwadg.com The third full weekend in June is on the horizon, which means one thing — it's rodeo time in Siloam Springs. The 61st annual Siloam Springs Rodeo will be held each night on Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the Siloam Springs Rodeo Grounds, and a number of activities are planned along with it. Though the actual rodeo itself does not begin until Thursday, the fun begins on Wednesday night with the annual Rodeo Street Dance held at the American Legion Community Building Parking Lot featuring the Boston Mountain Playboys band in downtown Siloam Springs. In the event of rain, the street dance will be held inside. Tickets for the rodeo are $10 for adults (13 and up), $5 for children (ages 7-12) and 6 and under get in free. The rodeo itself begins each night at 7:30 p.m. with the mutton busting. There is a $20 entry fee and participants must be 6 years old and under and there is a 60-pound weight limit. Participants also must have parents' written permission. First place overall wins a trophy and there is $25 added money nightly. The Kiddie Grand Entry will be at 7:45 p.m., followed by the main Grand Entry at 8 p.m. Rodeo events — which include bareback, saddle bronc, bull riding, calf roping, bull dogging, team roping, senior barrel race, ladies breakaway, ranch saddle bronc and junior barrels — begin after the Grand Entry. "We have more than 400 contestants entered, so it should be good," said Riding Club member Karen Davis. Wing Rodeo Company out of Bogata, Texas, will once again provide the stock for the rodeo. There is also a nightly calf scramble for kids 12 and under. There is no rodeo pageant this year, but Riding Club officials are hopeful it will return next year. Thursday night is Kids Night at the rodeo as all kids 12 and under receive free admission with a paying adult. A Special Kids Rodeo for children with special needs will be held at 10 a.m. Friday. A new change this year is the annual Rodeo Parade will be at 10 a.m. Saturday instead of in the evening. Graham Thomas/Herald-Leader A cowboy competes in bareback riding during the 2018 Siloam Springs Rodeo. The rodeo returns this week and will be held Thursday, Friday and Saturday beginning at 7:30 each night. Family gets top billing at Rodeo The news was stunning and heartbreaking and a sock to the chest — all in one. It was Thursday, June 14, 2018. I was up in the press box of the Siloam Springs Rodeo Grounds and Pastor Tim Estes of New Life Church had just finished saying the invocation for the opening night of the 2018 Siloam Springs Rodeo. Tim said prayers for many things that night, but one person he prayed for in particular was India Lewis. Unbeknownst to me, and I'm sure a lot of others that night, was that Lewis had just recently been diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer. I began asking around to those in the press box about what was going on and the reality of the news hit me like a tank. I stayed at the rodeo that night, but nothing really has stuck in my memory except for the horrific news on India. One year later, with the Siloam Springs Rodeo returning to town this week, it's still hard to believe at times. Less than two months after first hearing the news about India Lewis, she passed away on Aug. 7, 2018. India wasn't a member of the Siloam Springs Riding Club, but she was definitely connected with several members of the club, including my "go to" person for anything Riding Club related, Karen Davis. Karen grew up next door to India's mother Carmen Lewis and aunt Lynetta Alexander and they played softball together, so it was only logical that their kids grew close too. Kari Hutchins, Karen Davis' daughter, grew up playing ball with India, and the Lewis' ball teams would earn extra money by picking up trash in the rodeo arena. It's been said over and over that India Lewis was beloved by the entire Siloam Springs community and the Riding Club is no exception. "I've never prayed so hard in my life as I did for India," Karen said. "It's still a shock to me that she's gone." Each year, Karen keeps track of all the current and former Riding Club members who have passed away from June of the previous year to the current June. From time to time the Riding Club adds extra people to the list. "I added her (India) to the prayer list last year and every night we all cried during that prayer," Karen said. I've always felt that the Siloam Springs Rodeo has a certain family- type appeal to it. Families attend together, enjoy it and folks look out for one another and care about each other. That's really what it's all about. We're going to enjoy the rodeo this week — the 61st annual! — but also there will be the realization to sit back and just soak it in a little bit extra this time around. Never been to the rodeo? Come check it out and see for yourself! I attended my first rodeo anywhere here in Siloam Springs in 2010, and I've been returning to this one ever since. — Graham Thomas is the managing editor for the Herald- Leader. He can be reached at gthomas@nwadg.com. The opinions expressed are those of the author. Graham Thomas Timeout Thursday, Friday & Saturday, June 20, 21 & 22 • 7:30 p.m. nightly Siloam Springs Rodeo Grounds • 2590 Cheri Whitlock Drive • Siloam Springs Rodeo 61st annual Rodeo returns this week By Janelle Jessen Staff Writer • jjessen@nwadg.com The Siloam Springs Rodeo Grounds is getting a face lift this year just in time for the 61st annual Rodeo, which begins on Thursday and lasts through Saturday. The $70,000 worth of upgrades will make the rodeo facilities safer for competitors, personnel and animals, according to Karen Davis, a Siloam Springs Riding Club board member. The improvements include a new announcer's booth and new bucking chutes, stock pens, loading ramps and billboards for sponsor signs. There are also several changes to the layout of the arena — the roping chutes were moved to the east end of the arena and the return gate and alleyway, where stock exits the arena, was moved to the center of the west end of the arena. In addition, the riding club has partnered with the city to create a new entrance gate for horse and stock trailers off of Sue Anglin Drive, which will move the trailer traffic off of Cheri Whitlock Drive and make the area safer and less congested, according to Harvey Trogdon, president of the riding club. The riding club decided to make the much-needed upgrades because it appears the rodeo grounds will be staying in place for the foreseeable future, according to Davis. The club has been in a holding pattern for more than 15 years as discussions about building new rodeo grounds on city-owned property on South Arkansas Highway 59 took place, according to a June 2018 article in the Herald-Leader. The club has a 99-year contract with the city to provide facilities for the rodeo club. In late 2017, the school district made an offer on the land and it began to look like plans to sell the current rodeo grounds and build a new facility were taking shape, but then negotiations fell through after the cost of rebuilding the facility came in $600,000 over budget. "We are ready to stay," Davis said. "We didn't really want to go anyway. We weren't opposed to going, but this is home. The city has been good to cooperate with us about the street being closed off so we'll have access out there for parking. I think we'll be fine here." The former facilities have been in place as long as Trogden and Davis can remember. Riding club Rodeo grounds get a face lift Janelle Jessen/Herald-Leader Noah Raymos (right), owner of Divine Will Design & Remodel LLC, worked on the new announcer's booth for the Siloam Springs Rodeo Grounds last week. When the former bucking chutes were replaced, it was found they were bracing the announcer's stand, which also had to be replaced. See GROUNDS on Page 10B See RODEO on Page 10B