The numbers are in and the 64th annual Taylor Night Rodeo held on June 30 was a success. This was the first rodeo held under the newly formed rodeo committee. Previously the Town of Taylor had a special events committee but recently the rodeo committee was created as a separate entity. That committee has applied for non-profit status.
According to committee member Tammy Gibson, the rodeo raised $45,000 at the gate, which is slightly more than last year. “We had a lot of help and a lot of volunteer help from many different organizations, churches as well as just community members.”
Gibson also indicated that all of the rodeo events had ample contestants and there were no issues. “We think it was a success,” said Gibson. The committee received lots of positive feedback from both contestants and attendees.
Some of the changes that happened this year were the offering of credit card processing for ticket payments, additional security at the ticket booths and the addition of a new office behind the announcer’s booth to alleviate disruption at the announcer’s booth.
The events were in celebration of the Independence Day holiday, so it was fitting to have the addition of a patriotic tribute and having the audience sing the National Anthem. Those additions to the program were wildly popular. The committee hopes to have the audience sing the National Anthem a tradition for their events because of the overwhelming positive feedback.
It was not only a successful event for the committee but the vendors who participated did well. According to Gibbons, “As far as we can tell every vendor sold out of everything that they had. So, we felt like the people that we were able to bring in and serve our spectators and contestants were well rewarded for their efforts.”
