Thursday, March 8, 2012
Those involved with the three-day event expect it to bring more than 1,500 people to the city.
Rodeo athletes at FSCC compete in 10 rodeos during the eight-month season. Only one of those contests is at home.
Fifty-five athletes — 40 men and 15 women — have competed for FSCC this year. Currently, the men’s team is ranked first in the Central Plains Region and the women’s team is ranked ninth.
“It’s good to have one at home,” head rodeo coach Chad Cross said. “Basically, it’s good our team getting to compete in front of our home crowd. It’s fun to be able to show them off at home.”
Those in the restaurant and lodging industries are preparing to handle the influx of out-of-town visitors who will be here to watch the more than 600 athletes compete.
The athletes hail from 25 community colleges and universities in Kansas, Oklahoma and northwestern Missouri.
Stephanie Wescoat, a manager and bartender at Sharky’s Pub and Grub, said they expect this weekend to be the busiest of the year and have scheduled additional staff to handle the extra business.
In addition to the regularly offered music and food specials, Sharky’s, one of the rodeo’s sponsors, will also host a band on Friday night and a DJ on Saturday night.
“It’s stuff we normally do, we just amp it up a bit,” Wescoat said. “It’s definitely our busiest weekend of the year. It’s fabulous.”
There is no current data available about the economic impact of the annual event, said Macy Cullison, the city’s economic development business recruitment and retention manager.
According to 2010 figures from the Kansas Department of Commerce Travel and Tourism Division, each Kansas visitor generates about $238 in expenditures, with $57 of that going toward businesses that did not directly “touch” that visitor.
Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Lindsay Madison said the rodeo draws a wide variety of people who are not only athletes but local residents interested in the sport.
“I know that it is always packed,” Madison said. “I’m sure restaurants and local places will see a difference this weekend. A lot of people come in addition to family and friends.”
The rodeo will feature bareback riding, calf roping, breakaway roping, saddle bronc riding, steer wrestling, goat tying, team roping, barrel racing and bull riding for every regularly scheduled performance.
“It just should be a really good rodeo and we hope everybody comes to watch,” Cross said.
The Spring Rodeo will span three days and will include four scheduled competitions: Friday at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday at 1:30 and 7:30 p.m.; and Sunday at 1:00 p.m. Admission prices are $8 for adults; $5 for FSCC students with an ID; $3 for children ages 6-12; and free for children 5 and under.
Angelique McNaughton 