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Cotton Rosser named Donita Barnes Award recipient

Cotton Rosser has been announced as the 2015 PRCA Donita Barnes Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. Rosser was chosen among a group of nominees, which included Ted Groene, Karen Vold, John and Mary Walter, and Rick Young.

Rosser, a 1995 ProRodeo Hall of Fame inductee, was named PRCA Stock Contractor of the Year in 1985, and was a longtime member of the PRCA Board of Directors.

The Long Beach, Calif., native is known for his spectacular opening ceremonies at rodeos on the West Coast, and for his many years of providing stock at the National Finals Rodeo.



Rosser, 87, was also a successful rodeo cowboy who started competing in all of rodeo’s standard events as a teenager, and later as a member of his college rodeo team at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo.

Among his many titles, Rosser’s highlight was winning the all-around title at the 1951 Grand National Rodeo at San Francisco’s Cow Palace.



Rosser purchased the Flying U Rodeo Ranch in 1956, which is now the oldest continuing rodeo livestock company in the United States. Flying U produces more than 50 rodeos a year, including the Reno (Nev.) Rodeo and the Grand National Rodeo, and operates a successful bucking horse breeding program. Flying U bucking stock perennially show up in the NFR chutes.

The inaugural PRCA Donita Barnes Lifetime Achievement Award was given to Barnes in 2011. Art and Linda Alsbaugh were the recipients in 2012, while Fred and Norma Dorenkamp won it in 2013 and Quail Dobbs received it last year.

All other year-end PRCA awards will be announced at the 2015 PRCA Awards Banquet Dec. 2 at the South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa in Las Vegas.

–PRCA