BOOTHEEL RODEOS GEARS UP FOR WEDNESDAY

SIKESTON -- For Rick Young, the 47th annual Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo is a little more special than the previous 39 he has attended. He now has his face and name on an official rodeo T-shirt.

"Now I'll have something to give the grandkids," said Young with a laugh and a smile that spread as wide as the brim on his cowboy hat.

Young, one of the top rodeo clowns of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, will be among 345 performers featured in the four-day event, which starts Wednesday.

Although tickets still remain for each night, a few sellouts are expected, Greg Turbow, general chairman for this year's rodeo, said at a press conference Monday.

"We have 47 years of doing this, and it gets better and better every year," he said.

The rodeo was nominated one of the top five rodeo events in the United States during last year's PRCA conference in Las Vegas, Turbow said.

This year's opening night act is a double feature. Country music star Lorrie Morgan will perform,followed by Sammy Kershaw, and finally the two will sing a few duets, Turbow said.

For Young, Sikeston is a kind of homecoming.

"This is not work," said Young of Tickfall, La. "I just enjoy coming back to see all my friends."

He doesn't forget Sikeston when he leaves, either.

"Everywhere I go I talk about Sikeston," he said.

At last year's PRCA conference, Young made a point of telling participants about how Sikeston organizes its event. It's a model of how a rodeo should be run, he said.

Leslie Hanschen and Misty Merz did their part in modeling for the rodeo. Modeling in casual wear and evening wear was part of the competition for rodeo queens, and western-wear modeling was an event for junior queen candidates.

Hanschen of Jackson was winner of the queen competition for women between 18 and 24. Menz of Benton won the junior queen title for girls between 14 and 17.

Both groups participated in four areas of competition: a personal interview; test of horsemanship; modeling; and an on-stage question from the judges.

Hanschen said she was asked what she would do if, as a rodeo judge, she saw a participant beating an animal.

"I'd disqualify him," she said. "A lot of people think rodeo is a cruel sport for the animals, but it really isn't."

Menz's question was "What is so unique about the Show-Me State?"

"I just told them we have a lot of unique people who like to show off their abilities," Menz said. "It makes our state stand out well."

The members of the Jaycees, many who take vacation time to complete rodeo preparations, are among those standouts, Young said.

They really had no choice, he said.

"I look around, and about half of these boys were in my clown acts years ago," Young said. "You get them when they're young and they'll stick with you the rest of their lives."