PRORODEO Sports News - July 12, 2024

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Photo courtesy Tri-State Rodeo

Tri-State Rodeo Iowa rodeo gets Hall of Fame nod

“For a city of just over 10,000 peo ple we draw a crowd from across the Midwest and the country for that mat ter. We are awfully proud of that.” – CHUCK KEMPKER Rodeo board president

BY TANNER BARTH F ort Madison, Iowa, lies on the banks of the Mississippi River with a population of just over 10,000 residents. The Tri-State Rodeo has always been one of the area’s largest attractions. The event brings cowboys and cowgirls from all across the nation to the southeast corner of Iowa as one of PRORODEO’s standout events. The rodeo, which is held over Labor Day weekend, is entering its 76th year in existence this September. This year will be even more of a special celebration as the rodeo received a call of a lifetime on April 8. The Tri-State Rodeo will be inducted into the newly minted ProRodeo Hall of Fame Class of 2024 in the Rodeo Committee category. “For a city of just over 10,000 people we draw a crowd from across the Midwest and the country for that matter. We are awfully proud of that,” said Chuck Kempker, the President of the Board of Directors at the Tri-State Rodeo. “The volunteers, the sponsors and the community of Fort

Madison are a huge asset to our rodeo every single year. We wouldn’t have this honor without them.” The Tri-State Rodeo becomes the 35th rodeo committee to be inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame and the second from the state of Iowa, joining Iowa’s Championship Rodeo in Sidney, which was inducted in 2015. It’s a rodeo that started from humble beginnings, a train and a dream. “It really started with C.E. Richards, Robert Wilken, and cowboy singer Gene Autry,” Kempker said. “They decided to put on a rodeo with the cattle and horses coming from Texas to New York City on a train. From that point on, it’s been really important to our community to keep this event going and grow it even more every single year.” In 2023, the rodeo paid out nearly $115,000 to contestants, making it one of the highest-paying stops on the RAM Great Lakes Circuit. The exposure Tri-State Rodeo brings to the sport of rodeo in the Midwest is something the committee takes pride in.

ProRodeo Sports News 7/12/2024

ProRodeo.com

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