Members of the St. Matthew school council, along with Father Joseph Orr, announced earlier this week that the Rawhide Rodeo will be coming to Central Pennsylvania this summer.
The rodeo will be held at the Huntingdon Fairgrounds on June 3, 4 and 5.
The Rawhide Rodeo company is based in Leichester, NY and performs throughout the USA and Canada bringing high quality, high intensity performances to regional audiences. With a significant money commitment from business sponsors and St. Matthew School, both International and American Professionals will be invited to participate.
During the three-day performances, a crowd of up to 7,500 adults and children is expected. This is the only rodeo offered to Central PA in recent years and the hope is to create an annual regional attraction which will be an exciting part of the area’s summer festivities.
St. Matthew School has partnered with Forever Broadcasting and Fox 8/ABC 23 TV to promote the event to a variety of audiences on multiple formats.
The hope of St. Matthew’s is that the rodeo will prove to be a successful fundraiser, helping to aid in the upcoming building renovations.
Plans for the building project include tearing down the house that sits between the school and the church and then connecting the school, the church and Harkins Hall.
The idea to hold the rodeo came when the school council was faced with the decision of what to do with the two million dollars it had previously received for the building project. The council was worried about where money to keep the school up and running would come from once the two million dollars was spent. Plus, another $500,000 was still needed for the building project.
Father Orr explained that right now, the school is looking at a $250,000 a year budget.
“Most Catholic churches and schools, they run on bingos and that’s not really that popular with us,” said Father Orr. “So we thought, let’s take a risk, let’s do something different, something very different.”
The school council decided to invest the $50,000 in the New York-based rodeo.
“As far as I know, we’re the only Catholic school having a rodeo,” said Todd Lewis, school council member.
For more information on the Rawhide Rodeo or to download a ticket purchase form, log onto www.centralparodeo.com.
Tickets are also available at Reliance Bank, Ace Fix-It Hardware and Keith\’s Country and Western and Music Emporium.
Advanced tickets may be purchased prior to May 27 at $10 for adults and $3 for children 12 and under. Tickets at the door are $15 for adults and $5 for children 12 and under. Children under three are admitted for free.
