Days of ’76 Rodeo wins PRCA honors

DEADWOOD, SD – For the sixth consecutive year, Deadwood’s Days of ’76 Rodeo has taken home the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association’s award for the Medium Outdoor Rodeo of the Year. Days of ’76 committee members were on hand for the awards ceremony, held Wednesday night at the PRCA National Convention in Las Vegas.

Awards are nothing new for this event, now in its 88th year. The Days of ’76 rodeo won Small Outdoor Rodeo of the Year four consecutive years before being moved into the medium category. The Days has won top honors in the medium category each year since 2004. In 2009, the Deadwood rodeo competed against rodeos from Abilene and Amarillo, Texas, Phillipsburg, KS and Ogden, UT.

“We were thrilled to be nominated alongside rodeos of this caliber, and we are even more thrilled to once again be able to call our rodeo the nation’s best,” said 2009 Days of ’76 Chairman Mac Meyer. “Its truly an honor to win, and it’s a tribute to how hard this committee and all the volunteers work. I am proud to be part of such a great organization.”

The Days of ’76 is a favorite venue among the bull riders, calf ropers, saddle bronc riders, barrel racers and others who compete in this Black Hills community for tens of thousands of dollars in prize money. Meyer attributes the success of the rodeo to a combination of community support, hard work of committee members and volunteers, commitments from the City of Deadwood and its Historic Preservation Commission, and the experience that can only be acquired from 87 years of putting on one of the best rodeos in the world.

Equipped with a renovated rodeo arena, complete with rough-hewn timbers and a Ponderosa pine forest backdrop, the Days of ’76 Rodeo offers contestants a chance to enjoy an atmosphere that only Deadwood can offer.

Meyer noted that coordinating an event of this scale is a year-round project. A 20-person board of directors, supplemented by various subcommittees and countless volunteers, makes this one of Deadwood’s largest annual events, he said.

The 2010 Days of ’76 Rodeo and Parade will be July 27-31, 2010. For ticket information, call 888-838-BULL or visit http://www.daysof76.com.