The bulls will be rampaging, the broncos bucking and the cowboys roping for the first of three shows beginning Thursday evening at the 13th Annual Statesboro Kiwanis Rodeo.

The gates at the Bulloch County Agricultural Complex, off Langston Chapel Road Thursday, will open at 5 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, with the rodeo getting underway at 7:30 p.m. each evening.

The annual event draws larger crowds each year and 2024 Kiwanis Club Rodeo Chairman Jonathen Bunch felt that adding a third night for the first time was important to the club and the community.

“By adding another night of rodeo, we can offer more opportunity for people to attend as well as raise more money for the Kiwanis Club to give back to the community through donations,” Bunch said.

Tickets are available online at www.statesborokiwanisrodeo.com and at local stores Taylor’s Tanning and McKeithen’s Hardware.

Since moving the event to the Ag Complex in 2021, the club has seen exponential growth in the funds raised and in the number of attendees.

An IPRA-sanctioned rodeo, the Statesboro Kiwanis Rodeo will again bring Hedrick Rodeo Stock Contractor to town. Owner Danny Hedrick is a fan of the Kiwanis Club and its fundraising efforts through the rodeo.

Funds raised at the Statesboro Kiwanis Rodeo and the Kiwanis Ogeechee Fair are dispersed back into the community in Bulloch and surrounding counties including Bryan, Tattnall, Jenkins, Screven, Evans and Candler Counties. The funds support a variety of causes, but the Kiwanis mission is kid-centered.

Many well-known organizations in these counties benefit from the events such as 4H, FFA, law enforcement as well as Ogeechee Area Hospice which covers many of the same counties. Bulloch Parks & Rec, Georgia Southern University, Ogeechee Technical College and East Georgia State College all benefit in various ways from the fundraising efforts.