RESTLESS HEART, TRITT WILL HEADLINE SIKESTON RODEO

SIKESTON -- Country music entertainers Travis Tritt, Restless Heart, Doug Stone and the Charlie Daniels Band will headline this year's Sikeston Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo.

Dates for the rodeo are Aug. 7-10. The annual event regularly draws in excess of 35,000 spectators. Ticket orders will begin to be accepted April 1.

Tim Merideth, entertainment chairman for the rodeo, said the variety of entertainers will make for a "fabulous show.

"We've got two relative newcomers to the country music scene, Travis Tritt and Doug Stone, and then we've got the other two bands who have been here before and have done really well," Merideth said.

Country band Restless Heart, which will perform Aug. 8, has appeared at past rodeos twice and the Charlie Daniels Band, appearing Aug. 9, has been featured three times.

Tritt will perform Aug. 7 and Stone Aug. 10.

Merideth said the entertainment committee chose Tritt because of his energetic style.

"He puts on a fast-moving and really entertaining show," he said. "That young fellow really gets them excited and he will be a big plus for us."

"We've grown every year in attendance and dollar revenue, and it looks like the '91 rodeo will be more of the same," he added.

Livestock will again be provided by Dell Hall, owner of Rafter H Rodeo Livestock Company of Tahlequah, Okla. Hall received the top stock contractor's award from the Prairie Circuit in 1987 and 1979. He is best known for his top bucking stock, which has been chosen to participate in the last 14 National Finals Rodeos.

Rodeo clown Rick Young, a 30-year veteran of the Sikeston Rodeo, will again be a part of the event, along with Jimmy Anderson and Mike Johnson.

Mail orders for tickets will be accepted beginning April 1, and will be filled by postmark date. Ticket offices will open June 28. To receive a ticket order form, write to the ticket office at this address: Rodeo, P.O. Box 5, Sikeston, Mo. 63801.

Ticket prices for all shows are $7, $8 and $9 for bleacher seats and $8 and $12 for box seats.

Local sponsors for the rodeo include KFVS-12, The Sikeston Inn, New Madrid Tractor Company, Hardee's, and Ferrell's Western World. National sponsors are Coors, Coke USA, Dodge, and Copenhagen.