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Rodeo Roundup

Rodeo comes from the Spanish word rodear, which means “to go around” or “roundup.” Born on the ranches of the West, rodeos were informal skills contests between cowboys as they rounded up and sorted free-range cattle in the hardscrabble days before barbed wire. Calf roping, breaking broncos into saddle horses and riding hard were a part of daily life. And while it’s true that the soft, bucolic hills of the Southern Tier haven’t seen too many cattle recently, they still play host to the oldest running rodeo east of the Mississippi.

The Town of Gerry, located just north of Jamestown on Route 60, has been holding its annual rodeo since 1945, when former cowboy Jack Cox proposed it as a fundraiser for the volunteer fire department. Besides the events listed above, the Gerry Rodeo features other, nontraditional events that evolved out of the commercialization of rodeos in the early 1900s—steer wrestling and, of course, bull riding. Perhaps the most entertaining event of all, though, is mutton bustin’, when the kiddies strap on bike helmets and try to ride sheep for eight seconds. The Gerry Rodeo also serves up barbeque all day long using its famous, locally made barbeque sauce.

So put on your biggest belt buckle, bust out that mothballed cowboy hat and head down to Gerry this August. Or head just down the road to Ellicottville at the end of June for its annual rodeo (and you thought they were all yuppies there). And remember, as crazy as it is to mount an angry 2,000-pound bull, the worst job award still goes to the rodeo clowns.

Gerry Rodeo

August 9–13, 2006

Route 60, Gerry, 985-5754

Ellicottville Championship Rodeo

June 30–July 2, 2006

6319 Sommerville Valley Rd., Ellicottville, 699-4839