In 1993, soon after announcing an amateur rodeo event in DeRidder, Louisiana, Andy Stewart got a letter from the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association.
“I was told that I didn’t have what it takes and that I would probably not succeed as a professional (rodeo announcer),” he said. “I took that to heart and really worked hard, and a short two years later, I was selected to work in the pros.”
Stewart doesn’t know the exact date or location at which PRCA found him worthy of approval, since amateur announcers have to be at the top of their game at all times, he said. He now travels coast to coast announcing almost 50 events per year, including this weekend’s Starkville Rotary Classic Rodeo at the Mississippi Horse Park — an event he’ll work for the 15th straight year.
The rodeo is the Starkville Rotary Club’s biggest fundraiser and “pumps about $24,000 back into the community through Rotary support of area civic groups and agencies,” according to the club website. The Columbus and Eupora Rotary clubs have co-produced the rodeo in recent years.
The Rotary Club took over production of the rodeo in 2005, and Stewart has been the announcer ever since.
“Andy brings a high level of excitement to the rodeo, not only entertaining the crowd with jokes and interacting with the riders and the rodeo clowns, but also informing the audience about what’s going on,” said Trey Breckenridge, a longtime member of the committee that organizes the rodeo. “Those who are not familiar with rodeo may not understand what’s happening or how the scores are provided, so he shares that with the audience to better engage them.”
Stewart was one of three announcers chosen for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo — “our Super Bowl,” he said — in Las Vegas in December. PRCA declares the rodeo announcer of the year at the national finals, and Stewart has been one of the top five finalists for the past 13 years and runner-up for the past four.
His experience and reputation in the rodeo announcing business suggests the Rotary Classic Rodeo is a prestigious catch for contestants, Breckenridge said.
“When they see a professional rodeo announcer, that could give them more insight that the rodeo will be run in a more professional manner,” he said.
The rodeo will run from 7-9 p.m. tonight and Saturday. Events include saddle bronc riding, bull riding, barrel racing, steer wrestling, bareback riding, tie-down roping and a specialty act in which capuchin monkeys ride sheepdogs that herd goats.
Saturday includes pony rides and a petting zoo for families with children from 5 to 6:30 p.m.
Tickets are available for purchase for $12 at the Greater Starkville Development Partnership, the Oktibbeha County Co-Op, the Parker-McGill car dealerships in Starkville and West Point, Tractor Supply Co. in Starkville and Columbus and from any member of the Starkville Rotary Club. Tickets cost $15 at the door.
Children ages 12 and under will get free admission Friday, and kids 3 and under will get free admission Saturday.
The rodeo draws about 350 contestants from across the country and about 3,000 attendees per night, Mississippi Horse Park director Bricklee Miller said.
Short supply and high demand
Rodeo is “America’s original sport before baseball” and one of the country’s most-watched sports, Stewart said.
He compares himself to a baseball or football analyst, and much like a mainstream sports TV or radio personality, he is always on the move. He arrived in Starkville Thursday from Rapid City, South Dakota, and his next stop is Los Fresnos in the southernmost tip of Texas.
He takes the occasional day off these days, but 10 years ago he took every opportunity he could find to work, he said.
“I didn’t care if it was a tennis-shoe race, a rodeo, a boxing match, a sheep-shearing,” Stewart said. “Anywhere they needed someone to talk, I took the work, just to improve my craft and get better and step outside my comfort zone.”
Professional rodeo announcers are in short supply and therefore high demand. Stewart is one of about 100 PRCA-approved announcers, and only about 10 do it full-time like him. There are a few members of the tight-knit community that he said he looks up to or would call for advice, and some he spent years listening to and admiring.
Phil Gardenhire, who died in 1999, announced the National Finals Rodeo five times and had an “unbelievable smooth cold baritone voice,” Stewart said. Gardenhire is a member of the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Another Hall of Famer, Bob Tallman, is one of Stewart’s role models who has become a fan of his in return.
“He is good for our image of the couple hundred of us that do this, and he has grown into being an equal to anyone who picks up the microphone,” Tallman said. “His knowledge, his ability to be courageous, his ability to broadcast at a level at the top of our game is an asset, and he’s just a good guy.”
‘You get to stay a while’
Rodeo runs in Stewart’s family: his father, Burl Stewart, owned the North American Team Roping Association and used to produce events at the Mississippi Horse Park.
Stewart usually only comes to Starkville once a year, but he feels a part of the community, he said. The Rotary Club involves him in the production of the rodeo, and people in town recognize him and go out of their way to say hello, he said.
It’s one of several events he reliably announces every year.
“One of the great things about our job is that if you’re there and you do the job well and you’re comfortable, you get to stay a while,” Stewart said.
The most efficient means of traveling for Stewart is by airplane during much of the year, but every summer he and his wife, Shelley, pack up a truck and trailer and take a tour of the western U.S. One of Stewart’s summer gigs is Cheyenne Frontier Days in Wyoming every July, the world’s largest outdoor rodeo and Western celebration, and one of his favorite events is the National Championship Chuckwagon Races in Clinton, Arkansas at the end of every summer.
The chuckwagon championship is the largest equine gathering in the world with about 35,000 attendees, and Stewart has been the announcer for 15 years.
“I’ve met people (there) from all over the world, different countries, every state you could imagine, every walk of life,” Stewart said.
His recent elevation to the national stage of his industry has sparked discussion that this year could be his last year announcing Starkville’s rodeo. That will only happen if a bigger rodeo held at this time next year reaches out to him, he said.
“That’s not set in stone and I have not been contacted by anybody (yet),” Stewart said. “There is a chance, and it’s a natural progression in your career.”
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