Rodeo in town for Pahrump Fall Festival

The rodeo is in town for two days of the Pahrump Fall Festival, Friday and Saturday. The Colorado-based Rocky Mountain Professional Rodeo Association is the same rodeo as last year.

The gates open at 6:30 p.m. and the fun starts at 7:30 p.m., both evenings at McCullough Arena.

The rodeo committee has worked hard to keep prices down, so gate fees will be the same as last year at $10. Kids under 5 will be free with a paying adult.

This is Marilyn Dolan’s second year in charge of the rodeo at the Pahrump Fall Festival. She is no stranger to equestrian events and has been involved in organizing them for the past 30 years. Dolan learned all about rodeos from her deceased husband Bill Maddox, who passed away in April of 2008. Maddox was the chairman of the Pahrump Fall Festival PRCA Rodeo. The last PRCA Rodeo was staged here in 2009.

Dolan said Maddox helped keep the festival from “dying” when it was known as the Harvest Festival back in 2002.

Dolan said the usual events from bull riding to team roping will be part of this year’s rodeo. She said she is not good with naming all the events because usually she is not watching the rodeo, she is behind the scenes trying to maintain order.

When Dolan was asked what the hardest part of organizing the rodeo was, she replied, “Your writing, what is the hardest part of that? When you have been doing something for a long time experience makes it easier with time.”

Of course, being a strong supporter of equestrian events in the town of Pahrump she wants to see the return of the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association to the town.

“This can happen and will. We were recently approached by the PRCA and they wanted to bring the Wilderness Circuit finals back here, which are now in Utah. We looked into it, but at the moment, we need over 400 rooms to bring the circuit finals back to Pahrump,” Dolan said.

Dolan said she is not giving up on the PRCA and sounded pretty positive that they will come back. She said the town is exploring ways to make it happen.