ROBERT PIERCE
• Leader & Times
Chutes open, releasing animals and riders, and in a few seconds time, a bull is bucked, a steer is wrestled, a calf is roped, or barrels are circled.
This and more have drawn millions to the sport of rodeo for decades, and for the last decade in Liberal, the Seward County PRCA Rodeo has drawn more than its share of fans to town.
Aug. 15 and 16, the rodeo will start its second decade with the 11th edition of the event, and making this year’s PRCA even more exciting is the addition of a new set of bleachers to replace a set damaged in a storm a few years back.
The new bleachers allow for an additional 1,200 spectators, leaving fewer crowd members standing, and the setup likewise has handicap accessibility with seating and ramps.
Also, new sidewalks have been added near the gates of the rodeo arena going up to those bleachers, and handicap parking has been added outside the arena as well.
PRCA board member Renee Haralson said handicap accessibility became a priority after feedback heard from past spectators.
“We’ve had people say, ‘We’d come, but it’s not handicap accessible,’” she said. “I want to make sure everybody knows it is, and there’s plenty of seating for everybody. No one will have to stand, and because of that, we get to have VIP seating for our sponsors. We’re pretty excited about that because without them, where would be.”
Haralson said she loves the new bleachers.
“I walked to the top,” she said. “If I was going to go, yeah, you like to sit down and be close, but up there, you can see everything. You can see down into the chutes. You can see behind the chutes where the cowboys are working and the stock are. You can see the contestants out to the wall. It’s got a bird’s eye view. It’s pretty neat.”
Past editions of the Seward County PRCA Rodeo have featured a concert on Saturday night, and this year’s event will feature rising country music star Travis Marvin. Haralson said the concert will start as soon as Saturday’s portion of the rodeo is complete.
“We’re bringing the stage,” she said. “We’re pulling it in as soon as the last bull rides. Pull the stage in. You’ve got your seat. You’ve got a rodeo ticket. You’re there. It’s a ‘thank you’ to our rodeo fans. If you have a rodeo ticket from Friday night, keep your stub, and you can still get in Saturday night for the concert.”
Having toured for two years with fellow country music star Aaron Lewis, Marvin has shared the stage with big name artists like Luke Bryan, Clay Walker, Luke Combs, Little Big Town, Eric Church, Dan & Shay, John Rich, Lee Brice, Craig Morgan and Cody Johnson.
For those who do not know much about Marvin’s music, Haralson said they will have fun exploring the artist’s song catalog as well as enjoying the upcoming concert.
“YouTube some of his music,” she said. “It’s pretty good if you like country music. That’s what the rodeo’s all about. If people want to come and hear him, it’s $10 at the gate. We don’t want to leave anybody out.”
Barrelman Matt Tarr is back for this year’s PRCA rodeo, and the River City Renegades will bring out the flags to start each night’s performance.
“They’re a different group from last year,” Haralson said. “We’re pleased to have them. They’ll be fun.”
Friday and Saturday night’s performances will start with mutton bustin at 7 p.m. followed by the rodeo itself at 8 p.m. Back for this year as well is the parade, which will start at 11 a.m. Saturday and will run from 11th Street to First Street on Kansas Avenue.
Haralson said the longhorns are also back for this year’s parade, and signups for mutton bustin will take place at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 13, at Chrysler Corner for Friday night and at 1 p.m. Aug. 16 at the Crazy House for Saturday night.
Haralson said rodeo officials want people to not only come to the parade, but be in it.
“We want people to know they just need to contact us, and they can get us at our Web site, liberalrodeo.com, or go to Facebook and message us,” she said. “We’ll get them whatever they need so they can be there.”
As the local PRCA gets older, Haralson said the rodeo too continues to improve.
“We get more fans,” she said. “We get more sponsors. I say it every year. It was the best year we’ve had. We were pretty excited for it.”
With 10 years now in the books, Haralson said there are no plans to stop the rodeo.
“We’re not going anywhere,” she said. “We plan on being here. We’re already working on stuff for next year. We never let a year go by when before that year’s done, we’re already having ideas and new things for the coming year. We plan on being here for a while.”
Last year, the local Rodeo Group lost one of its longtime members, Doug Munsell, who was also a rodeo clown for many of the editions of the local PRCA. He was honored at the 2024 rodeo, and Haralson said Munsell is sorely missed.
“He was with us from day one,” she said. “The minute we talked rodeo, Doug was there, and he helped us every year, even the last couple years when he wasn’t feeling the best. He still showed up and was still trying to do things for us.”
As has been the case in the past, Saturday night will be Man Up Crusades Purple Night to help fight domestic violence. Haralson said proceeds from a buckle auction, passing the boot, T-shirt sales and other activities will go to Liberal Area Rape Crisis/Domestic Violence Services.
“Friday night, we auction off the buckle for the rodeo, and Saturday night, we will auction off the buckle for the Man Up,” she said. “We want everybody to wear their purple, bring their money. It’s a good cause.”
Though it has not always been a part of the rodeo, the parade has happened for several years, and Haralson said the parade normally draws a good crowd. She said having the longhorns in the parade has helped with those numbers.
“You’d think they’d get tired of it, but we have people complain when the longhorns don’t show up,” she said. “They will be there.”
Though the Seward County PRCA is still somewhat in its youth, Haralson said the event already draws both contestants and spectators from a wide range of places.
“We get 190 contestants, and they are clear across the states,” she said. “We’ve had several from Canada and several who have come from Australia. We get a good showing.”
Likewise, Haralson said those who come to see the rodeo hail from many locations.
“We do the ZIP codes, and I used to look them up to see where they were all from,” she said. “We do that because we get the tourism grant, so they have to write their ZIP codes on the back of the stubs, and we divide them out so we can tell. They’re all over Kansas, Texas. We’ve had them from way out, and I’m sure they don’t come just for rodeo. They’re here for something else. We’ve even had out-of-country visitors who come to the rodeo.”
Whether it is those who help put the rodeo on, contestants or spectators, Haralson said the PRCA too is a great benefit to the local economy with motels, restaurants and stores benefitting from the additional visitors to Liberal.
“We ourselves who work the rodeo usually have to have 12 to 15 rooms alone, and people coming in to work the rodeo, stock contractors and all, and for all the people who show up, even if they’re just coming through,” she said. “Our contestants don’t stay because they have to move on to their next rodeo, but they’re still going to stay, and they’re going to grab something to eat. They’re going to get gas. They’re maybe going to go shopping. We have contestants who’ll come in early that morning. They have to do something. They’re exploring Liberal. I would say we do a pretty good job. Crazy House is pretty busy those couple of days.”
Though it struggled financially in its beginnings, Haralson said recent years have looked good money wise.
“We have been able to up our purse for the contestants a couple times,” she said. “We just did it last year. We don’t do big jumps because we never have to worry about not making that purse. Once you raise it, you sure don’t want to ever lower it, so we’ve been doing small jumps just to make sure we get the contestants.”
Two area rodeos, the Guymon Pioneer Days Rodeo and Dodge City Days Rodeo, have become big events in their own right. Haralson said the Seward County PRCA has a ways to go before achieving those heights, but she said the event’s draw will be the key to that growth.
“We have to be able to draw the contestants to add days, and we have to have the money there to be able to do it too,” she said. “It depends. If we added a day, would we add a Sunday afternoon? Do we add a Thursday? We’re still a few years down the road before we can do that.”
Haralson said many vendors are coming back for this year’s rodeo as well.
“We’ve got our food vendors,” she said. “We had a new vendor call who’s doing hats and clothing. There’s a little bit of everything for everybody out there. We’ve got to thank our presenting sponsor, Chrysler Corner, who’s been with us since day one, and Liberal Tourism, who’s helped us out every year, and Coors. This year, we have a presenting sponsor as Action Realty.”
Each night’s performance will start with the singing of the national anthem. Marvin will be singing Saturday night’s anthem, and Haralson said this adds to the excitement of the night.
“We’re stoked,” she said. “We always try to bring something new for our fans to keep them excited and coming, and hopefully, we’re doing a good enough job.”
Adult tickets at the gate will be $20, with children tickets sold for $10. Spectators can save $5 on adult tickets by buying them in advance at the Crazy House in Liberal and Garden City, Bank of Beaver City in Liberal and Beaver, Okla., Chrysler Corner and the Community Bank.
Presenting sponsors for the Seward County PRCA Rodeo are Chrysler Corner, Action Realty & Auction, Liberal Tourism and Events and Coors.
Event sponsors are Bar One Cattle/Delay Cattle, Big R, Community Bank, Coors, KSCB, Southwest Kansas Board of Realtors, Conestoga Energy, Adams Farms, American Title & Abstract Specialists, Jones Monument, United Wireless and Faulkner Real Estate.
Chute sponsors are Bank of Beaver City, Chrysler Corner, the Crazy House, winchell Bros., MPG Cattle and TNT Hydraulic. The roping chute is sponsored by Rachow Physical Therapy.
Arena signs are sponsored by KKBS, Podunk Ranch, Golden Plains Credit Union, United Rental, Kenworth, French Construction and Southwest Medical Center. Mutton bustin is sponsored by Beaver County Stockyard, Mead Lumber, Abbot Construction and EPIC Touch, and the hospitality tent is sponsored by Billy’s Blue Duck BBQ.
Outgates are sponsored by Groendyke Transport and Sandcreek Pipeline. The boot scramble is sponsored by Southern Pioneer Electric and Circle D Appliance. The autograph booth is sponsored by Hat Creek Butchery, and tickets are sponsored by IdeaTek.
Program sponsors are CallCory.com, Cozy Corner, Perryton Equity, Heritage Real Estate, KJIL, Miracle Ear, Service Janitorial, Shelter Insurance, Southern Office Supply, Southwest Glass, State Farm Insurance, Tabor Realty, Winchester Enterprises, Bank of the Plains, Lewis Motors, Iron Insurance, J & J Services, Action Realty & Auction, PBS, Armendariz Diesel Repair, Keating Tractor & Equipment and J & R Construction.
