Will Rogers Stampede Rodeo Earns ‘Small Rodeo of the Year’ Honors BY TOM FINK
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anuary, 2022: Since 1947, the Will Rogers Stampede PRCA has been a favorite for rodeo fans, roping in audiences every year with its cowboys, competitions and other crowdpleasing events. So favored is the Claremorebased rodeo that its recognition extends well beyond Oklahoma, and at the recent awards banquet held in Las Vegas, Nevada, the rodeo was selected as the 2021 Small Rodeo of the Year by both the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) and the Women’s Rodeo Association (WRPA). Although this was the first time for the rodeo to receive WRPA
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honors, this selection marks the sixth time that the Will Rogers Stampede has been named Small Rodeo of the Year by the PRCA, edging out other rodeo city finalists from across the country, including Coulee City, Washington, Aberdeen, South Dakota, Abbyville, Kansas and Yuma, Colorado “This is our sixth win – six out of seven nominations, and it’s quite an honor to be recognized as a top-five rodeo by two fine organizations – the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and the Women’s Rodeo Association – in the same year,” said David Petty, Rodeo Chairman and Vice-Chair of the Rodeo Arena Cooperative.
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“Getting recognized by both contestants and our (rodeo) peers should be and is a tremendous source of pride, not just for me as the rodeo chairman, but for the entire community, for Claremore and really, the state.” Describing the sixth win (out of seven nominations) as “unprecedented,” Petty nonetheless said, knowing all the people and the work that goes into making the event a success, he’s not surprised. “For one thing, we’re equal money in all of our events, straight across the board – that helps with the contestants,” he said. “They (the contestants) always appreciate that – that we’re not singling out certain events – adding more
