Fourth of July Rodeo postponed due to unusually heavy rains

Fireworks are not the only thing that the unusually heavy rains are putting a damper on this year. The Whitesboro Riding Club has decided to postpone this year’s 4th of July weekend rodeo. The rodeo has been rescheduled for the August 24 and 25.

Organizer did not make the decision hastily. “It’s the first time in 49 years, that I know of, that its been postponed,” said Trent West, Whitesboro Riding Club spokesperson.

“It’s all due to the weather,” West said. Organizers are concerned that the area that is normally used for parking would be too wet and participant would be unable to bring in livestock because of the mud. Organizers also expressed concern for the safety of the livestock.

“The main reason is the safety and the inconvenience of pulling people in and pulling people out, damaging cars and hurting livestock,” West said. Organizers have also had difficulty organizing with the volunteers due to the flooding.

Even though the rodeo has been postponed organizers do not expect the later date to negatively effect the turn out. They are very optimistic. West said that he thought the turn out for the rodeo in August might be even better than if it were held at its regular time in July. “We think with our queen contest we’ll have a real good [turn out],” West said.

The later date might positively affect the number of rodeo participants as well. “It’s a possibility that we will have a lot of contestants to compete to go to the finals [in November] that are going to be trying to get their points,” West said.

Those who have bought tickets for the original date should hold onto them. Organizers will still honor them in August. They will also make new tickets for the later date.