Rodeo to bring bull riding, barrel racing to county

Get out your cowboy hats and shine your boots as the Barrels & Bulls Rodeo is coming to town Saturday.

Gates open at 5 p.m. at the Plymouth County Fairgrounds. The chuck wagon opens at 6 p.m. Dave Fintel, a country music artist, will perform from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.

After the presentation of the flag at 7 p.m., barrel racers, bull riders and junior bull riders throughout Iowa will test their skills.

Those cowpokes and cowgirls are professionals sanctioned through the United Rough Stock & Barrel Association and the Bull Riders of America.

Admission is $7.50 for adults, $4 for those ages 6-12 and free for children ages 0-5.

Throughout the night door prizes will be drawn from ticket stubs, which should be dropped in the box at the food stand, and you must be present to win.

The rodeo is being sponsored by the Ninth District, which includes Plymouth County and 12 other counties in northwest Iowa, of the American Legion Family, in association with Broken Trail Rodeo Co., of Mapleton, Iowa.

Jan Schaffer, chairwoman of the rodeo committee, said this is the third year the rodeo has been held, but this is its first year in Plymouth County.

"The facilities at the Plymouth County Fairgrounds are awesome," Schaffer said.

Proceeds from the rodeo, after expenses, will go into a college scholarship fund and a Veterans Family Emergency Fund and will be available to only those living in the Ninth District, Schaffer said.

"This is the first year for the scholarship," she said. "We're hoping to be able to hand out at least five nice scholarships within the 13 counties in the Ninth District."

The rodeo committee is estimating a crowd of 2,500 to 3,000 for Saturday's event.