The Benton Rodeo
19th Annual Frontier Days Celebration
APRA Championship Rodeo & Bull-A-Rama

The most bone-jarring two hours of entertainment you'll see this summer—8 seconds at a time!

The 2003 rodeo will be held July 15 - July 20, 2003

#1 APRA Rodeo of the Year - 2002 and 2003!

Click the logo for the official web site of the Benton Rodeo

"Benton is one of those little towns, deep in rural Pennsylvania, where people seem to come alive during one particular week in the summer. Each July, the residents of the northern Columbia County borough put on neatly pressed Western shirts, saddle up ponies and dust off the cowboy hats they've kept in winter hibernation. It's Benton's Frontier Days Celebration and Rodeo, when the locals go bonkers for broncos.

To get to Benton most times of the year, you have to pay close attention not to miss the sign on Interstate 80 near Bloomsburg. But for that magical mid-summer week you can just follow the throng of spick-and-span 4x4 pickups right into a 20-acre field adjacent to the Little League and soccer grounds, where bucking horses shoot out of the gate and onto the field, and cowboys "get dirt in their pockets" —a rodeo-announcer euphemism for toppling off their horses.

On the streets of the temporary wannabe Wild West town, cowboys tip their hats in sync with a "Hey, sonny" greeting. As spectators stroll and kick up the dusty ground of the midway, they can munch on some chili or a cheeseburger while browsing through stands that sell belts, vests, buckles, chaps, bits and ceramic figurines. Some try their luck at roping a cardboard Bessie the Cow or hanging onto a motorized bucking bronco. The idea started in 1984 during a push to revitalize the community and promote tourism and business. Together town residents and businesses organized cleanups, made home repairs, helped out the town's library and raised funds for community projects. The rodeo began as a two-day event in 1985 and has now grown into a six-day festival of riding, roping and enough repast to satisfy any hungry cowboy or cowgirl. "They said it wouldn't last," admits resident Carol Wolfe, a security volunteer at last year's rodeo. Now, she adds, "they're going to be adding more bleachers."

The competitors come from all over the country and as far away as Australia. The sometimes travel-weary bronco aficionados take their chances and risk injury in the hope of winning trophies, cash and points that count toward national rodeo competition. It's also a way to keep in shape, explains Jim Charles of Columbia, Lancaster County, who is a member of a two-person roping team. "I've been doing this for 20 years."

For second-grade teacher Nickie Stoltzfus of State College, it's a family affair. She competes in an all-female roping event, and her husband does steer wrestling. Her father is a team roper. "I do about 40 rodeos a year," she says. "We're on the road almost every weekend. It's a challenge to focus and practice. My daughter is three years old and has started to ride."

A 30-year veteran rodeo clown named Toad, dressed in orange, carries a rabbit he calls an "in-grown hare." "I love the people," he says as he gets ready for his entrance. "I've been injured lots and lots and lots. I've been gored in the stomach, had brain concussions and a broken vertebra. But this is my occupation."

As 125 Wrangler-jeaned riders spruce up horses with names such as Rusty, Moose and Whoogie, some go through rituals or adhere to superstitions they believe will promote success in the ring. Wearing yellow, eating peanuts before the rodeo and putting your hat on a bed are considered bad luck. "I have an electric-yellow shirt," says Joe Williams of Green Lane, near Philadelphia, who team-ropes with Charles. "When I wore it, everybody steered clear of me."

But now it's rodeo time. Time for those cowboys and cowgirls to saddle up, put the last shine on their boots and go galloping out for the grand entry. There are no yellow clothes to be seen, no peanut shells on the ground, and all hats are placed neatly on heads. There is only a sea of striped, flowered or checkered shirts coupled with jeans of many colors, including black leather. Visitors walking around the parade of horses know to watch their step and not to speak to the competitors and break their concentration as they mentally prepare for their contests.

And suddenly announcer Doug Simcox's voice booms: Are we ready to rodeo? The Benton locals in the grandstands cheer wildly as country music pounds over the loudspeaker. They've waited all year for this. This is their rodeo——of course, they're ready.
—Reprinted by permission from the July 2001 issue of Central PA magazine, © 2001 WITF, Inc.

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