The Fourth Annual Central Pennsylvania Rawhide Rodeo will take place Friday through Sunday, June 20-22, at the Huntingdon Country Fairgrounds. Presented by the United States Army, the rodeo is quickly becoming a major event in central PA.
The Rawhide Rodeo, which benefits the St. Matthew School, Tyrone, is based in Leicester, N.Y., and performs throughout the United States and Canada, bringing high quality, high intensity performances to regional audiences.
With a significant dollar commitment from business sponsors and St. Matthew School, both International and American Professional (IPRA and APRA) Associations will be invited and awarded to participate.
The rodeo event is a family, fun-filled event that annually attracts attendees from Bedford, Blair, Centre, Huntingdon and Mifflin counties. During the three-day performances, plans are in progress to entertain 7,500 adults and children, organizers explained.
The event is the only rodeo offered to Central Pennsylvania in recent years. It is the hope of the planners to create an annual regional attraction which will be an exciting part of the area’s summer festivities.
The three-day rodeo will feature seven traditional rodeo events: Bareback riding, steer wrestling, team roping, saddle bronc riding, tie-down roping, women’s barrel racing and bull riding. The two sanctioning bodies of the event are the American Professional Rodeo Association (APRA) and the International Professional Rodeo Association (IPRA).
This year, rodeo planners are expecting to draw 200 contestants who will be competing for $7,000 in prize money and to improve their individual standings in each rodeo associations’ standings.
The Rawhide Co., which is producing the event, also supplies livestock for the majority of professional sanctioning rodeo associations. These pro rodeo associations include the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA), the Professional Bull Riders (PBR), the American Professional Rodeo Association (APRA), the International Professional Rodeo Association (IPRA) and the National High School Rodeo Association (NHSRA), among many others. The Rawhide Rodeo Co. produces both national and international rodeos in Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, Virginia, Maryland, Connecticut, Ontario and Quebec.
The event boasts of 150 head of bucking horses, 50 head of bucking bulls and many herds of calves and steers.
The rodeo committee is composed of the Rawhide Rodeo Co. and local volunteers. The rodeo company produces the event, which offers three rough stock events, four timed events, comedy, entertainment and audience participation in a two and one-half hour format. The volunteers are responsible for a considerable amount of work in preparation for the exciting event.
Friday and Saturday’s activities will get under way at 7:30 p.m. On Sunday the rodeo will begin at 2 p.m. Gates are open three hours prior to show time, rain or shine.
Advance ticket purchases (before June 18) are, adults, $10; children (12 and under), $3. Children under age three are admitted free of charge.
The cost at the door will be, adults, $15, children 12 and under, $5; and children under age of three are admitted free of charge. Checks can be made payable to: Saint Matthew School, 1105 Cameron Avenue, Tyrone, PA 16686.
Ticket outlets include Reliance Bank (all branches), Ace Fix-It Hardware at Tyrone, Huntingdon and Duncansville, or by going online at www.centralPArodeo.com.
