Silver City Fans Expect the Best
SILVER CITY, N.M. – Rodeo fans in this southwestern New Mexico city of about 10,000 know they have something special that comes to town every June.
It’s just an expectation of the best from the Wild, Wild West Pro Rodeo, set for 8 p.m. Thursday, June 1-Saturday, June 3, at Southwest Horseman’s Park. But there’s good reason for it, thanks in large part to the hard-working crew from Pete Carr Pro Rodeo.
“Pete has a depth of knowledge that we, as a committee, can lean on,” said Tyler Brown, chairman of the volunteer committee that organizes the annual rodeo. “We know we’ll get quality service and that he’s going to take care of our needs.”
It comes down to a staff of talented professionals that work diligently to make each performance of the Wild, Wild West Pro Rodeo the best.
“Everybody on the Pete Carr crew has always been professional and very business-oriented,” he said. “For me, the best feeling is being accommodated. They come in and ask what we want to do as a committee. You feel like you’re in a partnership with them.”
This year’s festivities will not only feature the best animal athletes in ProRodeo but will also include rodeo entertainer Justin Rumford, the four-time Clown of the Year in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association.
“I’ve been involved in rodeo my whole life,” he said. “I’ve never done anything else, and I’ve never wanted to do anything else. I’ve always wanted to be successful. A (few) years ago when I started this venture, I knew if I really worked hard and tried really hard that I could get to the top in a hurry.”
He has. In fact, he was in just his second year as a rodeo clown when he won the top honor.
“This clowning deal is the best thing I’ve ever had,” said Rumford, who has done virtually every job in rodeo at one time or another; he was raised in a family of livestock producers.
“People want to laugh at each other more than they want to laugh at something. When I’m in the arena, I’m saying the same stuff I’d say if I wasn’t clowning. It’s just me being me.”
That’s part of the family-friendly entertainment that is mixed with the world-class action of the Wild, Wild West Pro Rodeo. None of it would be available without a strong community feel that comes with event of this magnitude.
“The local people come out and enjoy this event,” Brown said. “We have a lot of support, and our businesses are what support the rodeo.”
That financial support enables the committee to do all things possible to attract the biggest names in the game to Silver City in early June every year.
“For no bigger of a rodeo for what we have, we have a pretty dang good payout,” Brown said. “Without the sponsors we have, we wouldn’t be able to have that prize money.
“You’ve got to have quality stock and a quality rodeo to draw the contestants.”
Courtesy of twisTEDrodeo.com