Commemorative Abilene
rodeo
buckle features stock contractor
The Wild Bill Hickok Rodeo in Abilene, Kansas has determined whose likeness will be on their commemorative buckle.
For 2018, the Sammy Andrews Rodeo Co. will be the feature on the buckle.
The buckle has an A in its center, the brand for the rodeo company, with the profiles of a bareback horse and a bucking bull. On the back of the buckle are the signatures of Sammy Andrews and his son James Andrews.
Sammy Andrews has been bringing livestock to Abilene for the past nineteen years.
Headquartered out of Bagwell, Texas, Sammy got his start alongside his granddad, Sam Andrews, and his dad, Burr Andrews, who were both stock contractors. Burr held a PRCA stock contracting card in the 1940s and 1950s before selling the company to Jiggs Beutler in the late 1950s.
Burr kept some mares and ran the local sale barn, holding jackpot bull ridings for local cowboys. It wasn't long before he was back in the rodeo business, and Sammy was helping out. In 1987, a friend decided to host a PRCA rodeo and wanted Sammy as the stock contractor. But he couldn't provide stock unless he was pro, so he got his PRCA card. "That was probably the best thing that ever happened to us," Sammy said.
Sammy and his son James, and James and his wife Pepper's daughters Summer (17) and Alee (11) and son Kelon (13) all help out. The kids help on the ranch and with the rodeo business, and James recognizes how fortunate the family is, as his elder daughter worked alongside him. "I told her not many people are this lucky to get to work outside every day and take care of their own animals. It's a pretty neat experience, really."
For James, one of his favorite parts of rodeo is his animals. Andrews Rodeo Co. breeds and raises nearly all of their livestock. "We raise our own bucking horses and bulls, and I get a bigger thrill out of that than anything else. Just seeing something you raised up from a baby, is probably the biggest joy for me."
Both Sammy and James love coming to Abilene for the rodeo. For Sammy, it's the people, "the whole dang bunch," he said. "You don't want to disappoint them, so you put forth a lot of extra effort, and try and make sure your i's are dotted and your T's are crossed. (The committee) works their butts off, and we come and do our part."
Andrews Rodeo Co. provides livestock for about twenty rodeos a year, not including the animals they lease to other contractors. They are on the rodeo road about 42 weeks a year.
Sammy was surprised and delighted that his rodeo company was on the Abilene rodeo buckle. "It's good to be recognized," he said.
The annual buckle auction for the rodeo will be held Monday, July 30 at the historic Shockey and Landes Building in Abilene at 324 North Broadway. Buckles numbered one through ten and number 500 will be auctioned off.
In addition to the buckles, other items will be auctioned off, including an autographed framed picture of K-State football coach Bill Snyder at his induction into the College Football Hall of Fame, a Heritage Rough Rider single-action .22 caliber revolver and a .22 caliber Henry Silver Boy rifle, both engraved with the rodeo's logo, and a handmade baby afghan donated by Roberta Corl of Abilene.
Other items are an oil painting of the Andrews Rodeo Co. bull Bodacious (20 inches tall by 22 inches wide) by Pat Little, two baby quilts made by Ami Feigley of Abilene, and three complete sets of buckles donated by the Richard Danner family. Each of the sets contains all 29 of the buckles, from 1989 through 2017. A Bison soft-side cooler is donated by Collyn Hoffman.
Four above-the-chute seats tickets for each night of the rodeo, August 1-4, will be auctioned off.
Social hour for the auction begins at 7 pm, with the auction to follow at 7:30 pm. The rodeo takes place August 1-4 at 7:30 pm each night.
1st series
1989 - Bruce Miller, saddle bronc riding
1990 - Cary Bryant, calf roping
1991 - Jon Greenough, bareback riding
1992 - Tracy Brunner, steer wrestling
1993 - Donna Samples, barrel racing
1994 - Paul Whitehair, bull riding
1995 - 50th anniversary of the Wild Bill Hickok
Rodeo
2nd series
1996 - Gerald Roberts, saddle bronc riding
1997 - Phil Bryant, calf roping
1998 - Mark Brunner, bareback riding
1999 - Jim Janke, steer wrestling
2000 - Guy Winters, Sr. and Guy Winters, Jr. team roping
2001 - Stacy Krueger, barrel racing
2002 - John McDonald, bull riding
3rd series
2003 - Steve Davis, bareback riding
2004 - Ty Brant, calf roping
2005 - Jared Roberts, saddle bronc riding
2006 - Bob Pound, steer wrestling
2007 - Scott Bankes and Billy Randle, team roping
2008 - Shaleigh Smith, barrel racing
2009 - Geff Dawson, bull riding
4th series
2010 - Jerry Short, bareback riding
2011 - Wayne Bailey, steer wrestling
2012 - Keegan Knox, saddle bronc riding
2013- Duane Carson, tie-down roping
2014 - Karl Langvardt and Steve Zumbrunn, team roping
2015 - Micah Samples, barrel racing
2016 - Jimmy Crowther, bull riding
5th series
2017 - Glen Dawson, bareback riding
2018 - Andrews
Rodeo Company, stock contractor
