And while the annual rodeo parade has been a time-honored tradition in Big Spring and Howard County, ongoing roadwork in the parade's normal path — down Main and Scurry streets — has forced organizers to come up with a new route for the pagentry.

According to Rodeo Association Board Member Quail Dobbs, the parade will begin at the intersection of Third and Owens Streets and proceed west on Third Street to Scurry, turn south for one block and then proceed east on Fourth Street and end at the intersection of Fourth and Owens.

Dobbs said the new parade route comes on the heels of several rumors the annual event would be cancelled, and while the rodeo's organizers considered nixing the kick-off parade, that's simply not the case.

“We thought about not having a parade and there are lots of rumors going around that we won’t be having one,” explained Dobbs, the retired PRCA Hall of Fame clown and a rodeo association board member. “But we decided we didn’t want to do that, so we’re definitely going to have a parade, but the route will be a lot different.”

Set to begin at 5 p.m. on the opening day of the Rodeo — which is slated for Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the Howard County Rodeo Bowl — the parade will feature a number of award categories, including floats, tractors, riding clubs, motorcycles, custom and classic cars and bicycles.

In addition, the rodeo association will again be providing cash prizes to the first- through third-place entries regardless of division. First place will net the recipient $100, while the second-place finisher will get a $50 award and the third-place award will be $25.

Those wishing to compete in the parade must turn in their entry form at the Herald office — located at 710 Scurry Street — by noon Monday.

And while planning the parade has seen its fair share of roadblocks thanks to construction work, Dobbs said he and the rest of the rodeo board

“We‘d like to make this the biggest and best rodeo parade we’ve ever had, and we want to make sure people know the rumors are wrong ... that there will absolutely be a parade,” said Dobbs.

Contact Staff Writer Thomas Jenkins at 263-7331 ext. 232 or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it