Pro rodeo rolls onto St. Helena Island

By Tony Kukulich
The Island News

In 2013, country music icon Rodney Crowell recorded “Bull Rider,” an homage to the perennial favorites of rodeo fans. In it, Crowell mused about what it takes to sit atop 1,000 pounds of angry beef.

First you’ve gotta wanna get off

Bad enough to wanna get on him in the first place

And you’d better trust in your Lady Luck

Pray to God she don’t give up on you right now

Crowell, with an enviable knack for taking a listener inside whatever scene he’s describing, could hardly have painted a more accurate picture.

Preparing to ride for the first time since suffering a broken leg, Ridgeland-based bull rider Lonnie Hayward had his own view of the rodeo.

“This whole scene is a lot different than anything else,” he said.

On Saturday, Nov. 7, a capacity crowd filled the bleachers for the second night of the St. Helena Low Country Pro Rodeo to see everything a pro rodeo had to offer – the bull riders, bronc riders, calf ropers, barrel racers, all of it.

Just outside the bucking chute

You lose a spur, you lose your seat

And you lose yourself

Hosted by Dempsey Farms and produced by the Southern Rodeo Company, it was the first time the rodeo visited the area. According to the rodeo company’s co-owner, Robin Brooks, the Dempsey family discovered his company on social media. This past winter, they reached out with the idea of hosting a rodeo on their farm.

“They wanted us to come put a rodeo on. My son came over here and looked at the site and here we are,” Brooks said.

To support a rodeo of the planned scale, the site needed to be a flat piece of ground between 14 and 20 acres in size. More importantly, it needed to be in a supportive community. Dempsey Farms checked all the boxes. According to Brooks, both nights of the two-day event sold out a week before opening night.

“I’ve rodeoed for 50 years and owned the company for 20. I’ve never seen a first-time event sell out,” Brooks told The Island News.

Seated in the stands with her 6-month-old grandson, Marti Calder said she would have purchased more tickets had they been available. Keeping a limit on the number of attendees was a way to ensure that everyone had a good seat, Brooks said. He didn’t want to risk anyone having a bad seat or a bad time.

“We get to do what we love every day. We want people to enjoy what we do as much as we do,” Brooks said.

Rodeo secretary Jennifer Reyolds said that some 85 contestants signed up and paid their fee to compete in the weekend’s events. Some traveled hundreds of miles, committing time and money to pit their skills against other contestants in events that only lasted a few seconds at best. A loose grip or a poorly timed rope throw could end their chances for prize money in the blink of an eye.

One handhold is all you got

It’s you and the bull against the clock

Reynolds was unsurprised by the sellout crowd. The reason, she said, was simple.

“People love to see bucking horses. People love to see bucking bulls,” Reynolds said.

You can reach Tony Kukulich at tony.theislandnews@gmail.com or at 854-257-8125.