After holding its first nine rodeos at the Kiwanis Ogeechee Fairgrounds on Fair Road, the Kiwanis Club decided last year to move the Statesboro Kiwanis Rodeo to the Bulloch County Agricultural Arena and it proved immediately to be a smart, and lucky, decision.
“All the people who were there Saturday when it was raining and storming know what a wonderful venue it is, said Danny Hedrick, with the Hedrick Rodeo Company. “We had a great show and great rodeo for the spectators and the contestants.”
The Kiwanis Club’s 2022 Rodeo also will be staged in the Ag Arena and is set for April 22-23, said Ashlee Corbin, the Club’s Rodeo chairman.
“I loved being under the roof at the Ag Arena last year because it seemed like the energy from the crowd was reflected from around the arena and it gave spectators, Kiwanians and contestants an excitement more than I have experienced at any of our past rodeos,” she said. Also, “if the rodeo had been at the Fairgrounds, we would have had to close down because of the lightning and our spectators would have been miserable.”
The annual event has been a major hit with area residents since it was first staged in 2011, and Hedrick said he feels at home when he comes back to Statesboro. For more than a decade, the club and Hedrick's outfit have teamed up for the event with professional riders, award-winning livestock, fun contests and crowd-pleasing clowns.
“The clown for this year’s rodeo is T.J. Williams out of Oklahoma City,” Hedrick said. “He was named ‘Clown of the Year’ in 2021 and he will add a lot to our show.”
The family-owned Hedrick Rodeo Company is based in Madisonville, Tennessee, close to the Georgia line. Hedrick travels all over the region and he expects to stage about 50 rodeos in 2022.
The Statesboro Rodeo is sanctioned by the International Professional Rodeo Association, and will include steer wrestling, barrel racing, team roping, bareback and saddle bronc riding and bull riding.
Hedrick will bring some of his own horses, which earned national recognition for their work in 2021 rodeos.
“We were really blessed this year,” Hedrick said. “We had six horses win awards. We won two ‘Horse of the Year’ awards among bucking horses and we won four ‘Horse of the Finals’ awards. These horses are going up against the best horses around the country when it comes to voting, so it is a real special honor to win that many awards.”
Hedrick said his staff and all the competing cowboys are looking forward to “putting on a great show” inside the Ag Arena in April.
“That’s a wonderful facility,” he said. “The contestants all were bragging on it. That’s a first-class place and the county folks that run the arena are really good to work with.”
The Statesboro Kiwanis Rodeo is set for Friday, April 22 and Saturday, April 23 at the Bulloch County Agricultural Complex, 44 Arena Boulevard. Gates will open at 5 p.m., with the show starting at 7 p.m. both nights.
Tickets are $16 for adults and $12 for children 4 and up. Children ages 3 and under are free with an adult admission. Tickets soon will be available for presale online. Go to statesborokiwanisrodeo.com for more information.