SPRINGDALE -- There's something special about Springdale, something special about the Rodeo of the Ozarks. The cowboys know it. The fans know it. The animals probably know it, too, considering they offer peak performances here.
Springdale consistently ranks among the top five large outdoor rodeos for the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, attracting the best cowboys to ride the best stock for one of the best payouts of this "Cowboy Christmas" season.
Top rankings
Rodeo of the Ozarks has been ranked six times among top five large outdoor rodeos. Top performers this year include:
• Stace Smith, stock contractor: 10-time PRCA stock contractor of the year.
• Lecile Harris, clown: PRCA clown of the year, ProRodeo Hall of Fame.
• Cody Sosebee, clown: Nominee, PRCA specialty act of the year, PRCA clown of the year.
• Kenny Bergeron Jr., bullfighter: Nominee, PRCA bullfighter of the year.
Cowboy Christmas
The weeks surrounding the Fourth of July are referred to as Cowboy Christmas because of the number of rodeos planned across the United States and Canada. Cowboys try to ride in as many as they can — one in the afternoon, another in the evening, with a similar schedule throughout the season. The more rodeos the cowboys enter, the more chances for wins. And the more wins, the more money they take home.
Rodeo of the Ozarks
When: 7:30 p.m. today, Thursday, Friday and Saturday
Where: Parsons Stadium, 1423 E. Emma Ave., Springdale
Tickets: Adult, start at $15; children, start at $7
Information: (877) 927-6336, rodeooftheozarks.org
The Rodeo of the Ozarks -- with a total purse worth more than $60,000 -- begins tonight and continues through Saturday at Parsons Stadium in Springdale.
Rodeo fans will hear a new voice throughout the arena speakers tonight, but the face might look familiar. Jeff Lee, this year's rodeo announcer, hails from Siloam Springs. He also produces and announces rodeo events in the region, including Bucking in the Ozarks, the Professional Bull Riders event in Springdale scheduled Aug. 22.
Like many talented rodeo contract personnel (the folks other than cowboys), Lee tried to ride first.
"Like most rodeo announcers, I was really bad at rodeo," he said. "I wanted to be a bull rider, but I was not the size to ride the bulls. My dad told me to get a job in rodeo where I'd always get paid."
At 30, Lee's resume now includes annual announcer duties at the Old Fort Days Barrel Racing Futurity and Derby in Fort Smith; a Professional Bull Riders event in Guthrie, Okla.; and the International Youth Finals Rodeo in Shawnee, Okla., known as "the world's largest and richest youth rodeo," Lee said.
And he might be the only rodeo announcer to ever work with the Harlem Globetrotters.
By announcing at Rodeo of the Ozarks, Lee accomplishes what he considers his "American Dream."
"I grew up coming to this rodeo," he said. "It's not just the biggest rodeo in the state, it's one of the biggest in the country. I'm the only professional rodeo announcer in Arkansas, and I'm proud to be here."
The National Finals Rodeo is the pinnacle of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, with the year's top-earning cowboys riding for even bigger paydays each December in Las Vegas.
"A lot of cowboys and rodeo announcers dream about being in the [National Finals Rodeo]," Lee continued. "But that takes time and a lot of politics. This will be my NFR."
While the Rodeo of the Ozarks contracts the top acts and stock in the rodeo world, the board also has a record of giving inexperienced professionals their chances.
"We have such a rating in the [association], that when others see the Rodeo of the Ozarks on their resumes, they shoot to the top," said John Gladden, a member of the Rodeo of the Ozarks board.
Among those given a chance at Rodeo of the Ozarks is rodeo clown Clay Collins. He fought his last bulls before he retired at the 2014 rodeo, having earned three National Finals appearances in his career.
Collins said he was hired in his early 20s as a last-minute replacement for bullfighter Frank Newsome -- a three-time Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association clown of the year -- who had gotten hurt at another rodeo. Collins came recommended by Lecile Harris, a four-time clown of the year who was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2007. A longtime Springdale favorite, Harris brings his acts to Springdale again this year.
"Nineteen years later, and I was still here," Collins said of his stay in Springdale.
Collins remembers the phone call that got him the job.
"It was surreal," he said. "I was in awe. The Rodeo of the Ozarks had the greatest bulls. I thought, 'What are these guys doing, coming to me?'
"A rodeo the type, size and caliber of the Rodeo of the Ozarks is great to put on your resume," Collins continued. "And you get other rodeos when they see you've done a rodeo of this size. Springdale is a feather in your hat."
Wayne Brooks, the announcer for the 2016 Rodeo of the Ozarks and a four-time Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association announcer of the year, also came to Springdale as a young man. He was called after the rodeo's longtime announcer, Phil Gardenhire, was killed in a car accident in April 1999. Brooks also gave credit to Harris.
"Great rodeos, big or small, are -- thank goodness -- sometimes hard to mess up," Brooks said. "But those great rodeos make you look good."
Harris, in turn, gives credit to the 15 members of the Rodeo of the Ozarks board for building a springboard for young talent. Harris's rodeo resume goes back 60 years.
"Normally, the Springdale committee is the kind that recognizes talent before the rest of the rodeo world does," Harris said.
He also noted Springdale board members travel to many other rodeos, where they get a peek at young talent.
"But Springdale's not going to take a chance on somebody they don't think will make it," he said.
Meanwhile, Lee hopes to reach the level of expectation set by announcers Boyd Polhamus, who preceded Lee, and Brooks, who will follow.
"I've got big shoes to fill. I'm filling in between two National Finals announcers," he said.
Laurinda Joenks can be reached by email at ljoenks@nwadg.com or on Twitter @NWALaurinda.
NW News on 07/01/2015