For more than a quarter century, the Pike County Cattlemen’s Association has been sponsoring professional cowboy association rodeos in Pike County.

On Saturday night, the Cattlemen’s 26th Annual NCPRA Rodeo set an attendance record that was, perhaps, greater than could have been anticipated.

“We are tickled to death,” Pike County Cattleman B.B. Palmer said, with a cowboy-kind of grin spreading across his face. “Saturday night’s crowd was the biggest we have ever had. It’s a record-setter. People started coming in and coming in and they just kept coming. We are all tickled over the way people turned out for the rodeo and how much they seemed to enjoy it.”

The stands on both sides of the arena were filled, the standing areas were filled, kids clung to the railings and the ticket booth ran out of tickets.

“What a night for rodeo in Pike County,” Palmer said. “We had a big crowd on Friday night, too. It might have been a record for our Friday night rodeos. It was the beginning of high school football season and Charles Henderson and Pike County were playing in Brundidge. Pike Liberal Arts was traveling over to Luverne to play Crenshaw Christian and we still had a great crowd. It was a good weekend of rodeo.”

Palmer said the Pike County Cattlemen have always had good rodeos, even in the early years when the rodeos were held in a pasture, when bleachers had to be trucked in and temporary lighting has to be installed.

“We’ve always had good crowds for our rodeos,” Palmer said. “We have a lot of rodeo fans in this area. Rodeo is good family fun and it’s a good way to introduce little kids to rodeo. Our hope is that, when these kids grow up, they will get involved in rodeo as participants or as fans.”

More than150 cowboys and cowgirls participated in the Friday and Saturday night rodeos and in slack.

“That’s a good number of cowboys and cowgirls,” Palmer said. “We were pleased with the number of participants and the vendors were pleased. It was a good rodeo all around.”

Palmer expressed appreciation to the rodeo sponsors, to the vendors, the volunteers and all of those who supported the rodeo and, of course, to the Pike County Cattlemen and Cattlewomen.

“The Pike County Cattlemen worked long and hard preparing for our 26th Annual NCPRA Rodeo,” he said. “And we always get great support from our Cattlewomen. The NCPRA Rodeo is a big event for us and it’s hard work but it’s worth it. We thank everyone for their support.”

The Pike County Cattlemen’s Association in a non-profit organization and its main goal is to help the youth of Pike County.

“We support our local 4-H Clubs and the FFA and other agricultural programs,” Palmer said. “We support the annual county steer and heifer shows and other activities that promote youth and the cattle and agriculture-related industries. We also provide an arena for junior and high school rodeos. We have a great arena and it’s available for use for events like that.”