rodeopersonal

boyd

Boyd Polhamus - Announcer

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Sunni Deb Brookstorm - Rodeo Secretary

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Benje Bendele - Rodeo Music Director

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Andy Burelle - Rodeo Bullfighter

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Cory Wall - Rodeo Bullfighter

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Gizmo McCracken – Rodeo Clown

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Our History
Started over 60 years ago by one man, Cervi Rodeo Company has grown into one of the largest stock contractors for both big and small rodeo productions across the United States. Mike Cervi, founder, began his rodeo career at age 14, traveling across North America from the great plains of Texas to the rolling hills of Grand Prairie Alberta, Canada serving as a rodeo clown.

Since then Mike and his family have expanded to become the sole owner of two of the largest rodeo companies: Beutler Brothers & Cervi Rodeo Company and Cervi Championship Rodeo Company. Due to its size the company can draw from a heard of more than 800 head of bucking stock.

As a stock contractor, the company’s aims are simply stated. Mike believes that “My main goal is to produce a fast and exciting rodeo with the best bucking stock available.”
No matter what size rodeo the Cervi’s produce, the essentials remain the same, “You have to have good bucking horses, bucking bulls and a lot of fighting bulls. You need color in the front and the employees in the back to make it run smoothly.”
With that in mind all of these ideas have combined to form an amazing company which is why in 1982 and 2001 Mike Cervi was awarded the PRCA Stock Contractor of the Year award. He has also served on the PRCA Board of Directors and was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs, CO.

The Future
Continuing it’s tradition of excellence Cervi Rodeo continues to produce some of the largest and entertaining rodeo events across the United States.
In 2005 sons Binion and Chase Cervi along with their cousin Scott took over the day to day operation of the rodeo company. Mike continues to oversee the entire operation and provide assistance, advice and experience when needed. The Cervi family has a large and extended team that are dedicated and excited to help produce some of the nation’s most exciting rodeos.
With the age of cell-phones, computers and technology the younger generation has brought the rodeo company into the 21st Century while still keeping the family tradition alive. They can be found working across the United States while traveling to rodeos and are never too far away from the day to day activities at home in Colorado on their ranches.

Mike Cervi and the entire production crew continue to produce rodeos across the United States and with their vast knowledge, expertise and genuine love for the sport it is apparent where ever the crew travels that this is one of the best professions in the sport of rodeo.

Boyd Polhamus

Boyd Polhamus has been the "National Finals Rodeo Announcer" twelve times and is the "2007 PRCA Announcer of the Year".

Polhamus was born in Brenham, Texas. He has been an announcer for the Texas Circuit Finals nine times. He is a regular announcer for the Southwestern, Turquoise and Montana Circuit Finals and a three-time "DNCFR Announcer," as well as worked or working the top 50 rodeos in the PRCA such as Houston, Denver, Dodge City, Albuquerque, and Kansas City.

Boyd is in the "Who's Who of Professional Rodeo" and he brings the professionalism of the National Finals to The Old Fort Days Rodeo this year for our 75th Anniversary Celebration.

Benje Bendele

In 2006 Benje Bendele will celebrate his 19th year as a professional announcer and sportscaster of rodeo and his 10th year in the PRCA. The 37 year old announcer looks forward to each and every stop throughout another record breaking year for the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association.

Benje is a San Antonio, Texas native that got his start in rodeo as a contestant in youth, high school and college rodeo. He competed in calf roping, team roping competition. His bull-riding career lasted a total of fifteen seconds, that's five bulls’ times three seconds a piece. "It was then and there that I decided that bull-riding was not for me"

Benje Bendele, whose career as an announcer got its start unexpectedly. In 1988 at the age of twenty, he was accompanying his younger brother John, now a country music singer www.johnbendeleband.com to a youth rodeo. There was no announcer available and Benje filled the void. "They got me talking and I have not shut up since." With his comic dialogue with the clowns, knowledge of the sport and music background that is choreographed with each performance, Benje keeps the crowd entertained whether he is announcing the rodeo horseback or in the stand.

Benje has the Best Rodeo Sound and Music in the Rodeo Business, the name of the sound company is Rough-Stock Rodeo Productions partnered with his dad Ben Bendele that was started in 1999. Since that time his Dad has branched on his own with the name and Benje works under the name Crazy Heart Sound and Lighting. Crazy Heart Sound and Lighting is a full production company specializing in rodeo events. The company also provides sound for many concert events as well, with computer generated sound and music with special effects at the touch of a button. Benje really enjoys working both in front of the microphone as well as behind it.

Benje Bendele attended Southwest Texas Jr. College in Uvalde, Texas and the Gregg School of Auctioneers in Plainview, Texas. He and his wife Dawn live on their Crazy Heart Ranch in Natalia, TX and raise Brangus cattle. Benje has two wonderful children, son Baylor and daughter Brenam Rein. He is also the voice of several radio and TV commercials nation wide. He has been and continues to head up the production as manager at the First Frontier Circuit Finals in Binghamton, NY 1998-2005 and announcer 2003. Benje served as the Music and Sound Coordinator at the 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2005 Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeo in Pocatello, ID., and music production at the 1999, 2004 & 2005 Texas Circuit Finals Rodeo held in Waco,TX. Benje serves as the Contract Acts Director for the Texas PRCA Rodeo Circuit and was elected in March of 2000 to the Executive Council on the PRCA Board of Directors by his peers as Announcer Representative and is still currently serving that position. Music Director of the Wrangler NFR 2001-2005. All Tour Finals 2001-2005.

After the last bull rider has hit the dirt, the first person he hopes to see when the dust settles is Sunni Deb Backstrom. A visit to Backstrom means a trip to the bank. As the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association’s (PRCA) premier rodeo secretary, she works all the biggest rodeos and cuts checks for about $3 million in winnings each year. Holed up in a windowless room under the south side of the Astrodome, Backstrom brings her traveling office straight from San Antonio to Houston every year to do more than just hand out more than half a million dollars in prize money. Her activities also include processing entry fees, checking in contestants as they arrive for each performance, calculating winners and payoffs, creating the score sheets used every night by the officials, gathering these score sheets up after each event and posting the standings. It’s also Backstrom who calls the PRCA every day to get the cowboy and livestock match-ups, and then answers almost 75 phone calls from cowboys wanting to know the animals they’re scheduled to ride, as well as what scores or times they’ll need in order to place. “I’m the one person who works with every single facet of the business—the rodeo committee, contestants, media, officials and stock contractors,” said Backstrom, who’s been handling the duties of rodeo secretary since she received her PRCA card in 1971 at age 13. “‘Secretary’ really isn’t a good word to describe everything I do. I’m more like a rodeo office administrator. My work is more a lifestyle than a job.” Although she’s been selected PRCA Secretary of the Year for the last five years, an honor chosen by the top 100 cowboys in each event, Backstrom says her mom Ellen was the best rodeo secretary ever. A four-time National Finals Rodeo arena secretary, Ellen was a rodeo secretary for 26 years. She worked Houston many times before her death in 1988 and was recently inducted into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame. “I’ve been in rodeo since I was 3 years old, and I will always be in the rodeo business. I can’t see any other life,” said Backstrom, whose favorite part of her lifestyle is the people she meets. “We’re like a small community. You don’t see everybody every week, but you see them throughout the year. I know thousands of people, and I’ve been able to travel everywhere and see a lot of things.” Backstrom worked more than 200 rodeo performances last year and spent a total of only 37 days at her home in Arizona. But her favorite performances are those that take place right here in Houston. Although she enjoys working the Houston Rodeo because it’s so organized, it’s also one of the most challenging. “Houston probably has more production than any other rodeo you’ll go to. It’s so big, and only the very elite cowboys are here. There’s nobody here who can’t rope or ride well,” she explained. “The three ground system here is unique. It means a lot of additional work and extra drawing of stock. You’ve got to be very careful because a contestant can’t ride the same stock twice. Also, there’s no room for error here. The stock is kept 50 miles away, so I’ve got to provide the stock contractor an accurate list every day to get the right animals here.” With all these responsibilities and challenges, one thing should soon be making Backstrom’s job easier. While in Houston this year, she tested a new computer system the PRCA hopes to implement soon at rodeos throughout the country. “Up until very recently, we were pretty antiquated. There are almost 800 rodeos each year and about 60 secretaries, and we’re figuring all this work by hand,” said Backstrom, who admits she isn’t very ‘computer smart’ but was up to the challenge anyway. “I’ve not been intimidated by 10,000 cowboys, so that little machine isn’t going to intimidate me.” Backstrom travels about 30,000 miles on the ground and another 5,000 in the air each year, and she’s never missed a performance she was scheduled to work. “I once had an accident just before a performance that required 35 stitches, but I wouldn’t take a pain pill because I didn’t want it to interfere with my job. Another time, I broke my arm at a performance one night and was back from the hospital in time to write checks. I will drag my broken body to the rodeo no matter what.”

Andy Burelle

Now, Burelle is a champion, having clinched the 2008 Professional Bullfighters Daisy Protection Bullfight title during the World Championships the first week of 2009. He and his partner, Dusty Tuckness of Meeteetse, Wyo., outlasted the best bullfighters in the business for the team championship.

It was a road filled with landmines, from tough competition to difficult-to-handle bulls. The culmination was winning the average title at the PBF Daisy Protection Bullfight World Championships, which took place in conjunction with the SandHills Stock Show and Rodeo in Odessa, Texas. When the points were tallied, Tuckness and Burelle had upended regular-season leaders Jay Brewer of Graham, Texas, and Steve Wangler of Plainview, Neb.

During the Miller Lite Bull Blowout in Denton, Texas, from Aug. 21-23, 2008, Burelle and Tuckness swept the competition in an unheard of fashion. They won all three rounds and dominated the overall score.

“That was simply impressive,” said Jim McLain, president of the PBF tour, which produces and sanctions the protection-bullfighting competition. “I have never seen that happen in a three-day event like this. When you’ve got the caliber of bullfighters that we have here, any of them can come in here and win on any day and in any pen of bulls.

And on Sept. 5-6, 2008, Burelle teamed with Jason Magditch to win in Fort Worth, Texas. Burelle was named the event's MVP.

Burelle’s list of accomplishments backs that up. He’s worked some of the most prestigious rodeos in ProRodeo, including the Fort Worth Stock Show and Exposition and the Calgary Stampede. Twice he’s been crowned the champion at the largest freestyle bullfight in the country at California Rodeo in Salinas, Calif.; and a year ago, he was crowned the world champion in freestyle fights. Oh, and he was the MVP during the Daisy Protection Bullfight Tour semifinals in 2007, too.

“I rode bulls for about three years and kind of fell into it,” he said. “I went to a jackpot bull riding, and the guy that was there got wiped out, so I went out there. The guy that had the stock there liked what he saw and sent me to Rex Dunn’s Bullfighting School. Nine months later, I had my pro card.”

That was a decade ago. He understands the importance of the showmanship of freestyle and the value of cowboy protection.

“Handling bulls is handling bulls,” he said. “A lot of guys say they do cowboy protection, but if you’re afraid to get ahold of one, there’s not much of a difference. If you can do freestyle, you can control the animal.”

He also recognizes the impact the Professional Bullfighters Tour has placed on the sport.

“I think it’s a great way for guys to get seen, and it takes a lot of the politics out of how we get jobs,” Burelle said. “These competitions are based on competition. There are a lot of guys that can really fight bulls that haven’t had the opportunity. It’s a pretty good formula. You don’t get a chance to be lazy.

“When you fight bulls at a rodeo or a bull-riding, you might back off for a night. Whereas in these competitions, you’d better put your best foot forward or you’re going to go home without a paycheck.”

Cory Wall

Education: BHS, Burlington Colorado - NJC, Sterling Colorado-Chadron State College, Chadron, Nebraska-Rhema Bible Training Center

2007 Wrangler National Finals Bullfighter Alternate - 2007, 2008 P.R.C.A. Bullfighter of the Year nominee - 2007 Dodge National Circuit Finals Bullfighter - 2005-2008 P.R.C.A. Pro Rodeo Tour Finales Bullfighter - 2000, 2005-2007 Texas Circuit Finals Bullfighter

Record holder for most performances worked at Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo (234 performances)

Appeared on ESPN's Top 10 Plays of the Day, Good Morning America, The Early Show, Fox and Friends, Inside Edition and George Michaels Sports Machine

Cory enjoys snow skiing/boarding, wakeboarding, golf and is a big fan of the UFC.

A lot of people don't realize but Cory is an ordained minister and loves working with young people.

Gizmo McCracken bio

Hometown: Wheaton, Missouri
Birthday: December 29, 1961
Height: 6' Weight: 185
Family: Wife, Janice; Daughters, Cassie & Mandy; son-in-law, Jimmy
Turned Pro: 1992
Special Interests: Gospel Music, Youth & Comedy
Future Goals: Enjoy the life God has blessed me with

Press Box...

The Gizmo Comedy Show
"Sometimes it just doesn’t seem right to have this much fun and get paid for it." said Dale McCracken.

Known on the rodeo Circuits as Gizmo, he has been doing rodeos for 27 years. He travels the country putting on his shows from Canada to Texas, from the east coast to the west coast.

The last few years he spent more than half the year on the road, logging some 45,000 miles through dozens of states.

Gizmo started his act as bullfighting clown and moved into stand-up comedy on a show in Branson, Mo. Gadgets and gizmos that went sour were often part of his routine, hence his name, "Gizmo, World's Greatest Inventor."

Rodeo crowds might meet anyone of his alter egos. Maybe Ozzy Osborne, a wild Jerry Lewis, Dr Giz., Sir-Rink-In Machine, or even Elvis, perhaps an ostrich rider.

"There's all different kinds of things that could happen," Gizmo hinted." I like to keep people looking for me and wondering what I'm going to do."

The acts share a high-energy, clean, family-oriented feel. He tries not to do anything that children would be disciplined for if they copied. "I don't want to get them set up for a whoopin,"said Gizmo. Which character he becomes depends on the crowd. He "reads" the group, gauging what they would like. Is it a rowdy bunch or more laid back? Would they appreciate the subtler routines r the big bang?

"I love people. I love working the crowd," said Gizmo. He hopes he can help them forget their problems for a while and have a good time, some family fun. "If I can pull that off, I've had a good night," he said.