On behalf of the Horse Heaven Round-Up Rodeo Committee and the Benton Franklin Fair Board, I welcome you back for five nights of rodeo performances featuring top contestants from across the U.S. and Canada.
This year, we are proud to offer a total purse of $207,000, with $23,000 added per event. For the short round on Championship Saturday, the Top 12 contestants in each event will compete to be crowned the overall winner. We are proud to welcome back some of the finest rough stock in North America brought to us by the Calgary Stampede and Bridwell Pro Rodeo Company. Our partnership with Calgary earned us the PRCA’s Remuda Award for the best stock of any rodeo in the nation. The Horse Heaven Round-Up has grown to be one of the top 25 ranked rodeos out of more than 900 PRCA events and is now broadcast live on the Cowboy Channel!
The big voice from Georgia, Roger Mooney, will be back to announce the event for his 27th year. We are welcoming back bullfighters Dusty Tuckness, Nate Jestes, and Miles Barry. Barrelman JJ Harrison of Walla Walla, will entertain the crowd.
Thursday night we will raise funds for breast cancer research at our 17th annual Tough Enough to Wear Pink event. We are happy to say that we’ve donated more than $212,000 for health care for uninsured members of our community to date. Please join us in wearing pink as we will contribute $1 per person in pink. Saturday we celebrate veterans and first responders, so wear your red, white & blue.
We are a proud member of the Big 4 Rodeos along with our partners at the Pendleton Round-Up, Lewiston Round-Up, and Walla Walla Frontier Days Rodeo. Thanks to our Rodeo Committee’s experience, the Benton Franklin Fair Board and the great support of the Tri-Cities community, we bring you another great week of family entertainment. -Mike Casey, Chairman