Bull Blast benefits local FFAs
Times photo/Bruce Roberts A rider hangs on as long as he can during the second annual Ozark County FFA Bull Blast Friday at the Gainesville Saddle Club.
Times photo/Bruce Roberts A bull rider runs from an ornery bovine during the Ozark County FFA Bull Blast Friday in Gainesville.
Times photo/Bruce Roberts A large crowd turned out to watch the second annual Ozark County FFA Bull Blast Friday night in Gainesville. Organizers say the crowd was larger than last year’s event, which drew nearly 700 people.
While it may have been Hootin an Hollarin weekend, a few hundred visitors to Gainesville slipped down to the Gainesville Saddle Club Arena Friday night to watch the Ozark County FFA Bull Blast.
A big hit with the crowd, which was one of the largest ever at the saddle club arena, the Bull Blast was wall-to-wall excitement from start to finish.
The Bull Blast, in its second year at Gainesville, provides a great fundraising avenue for the four Ozark County Future Farmers of America (FFA) chapters.
Gainesville High School FFA Adviser Jon Wilson told the Times that the event helps pay for the FFA students’ trip to the FFA convention.
“It really helps pay for the trip [to the convention] so the kids don’t have to pay their way out of their own pockets,” Wilson said.
Wilson said the event had four sections with eight bucking bulls in each section. “In all, I think we bucked out 32 bulls,” Wilson said. “It was a great night.”
Rough Stock Unlimited, an Arkansas rodeo company that provides stock for rodeos all over southern Missouri and north Arkansas, provided the bulls for the event.
And the bulls didn’t disappoint.
Spectators young and old oohed and aahed over the rowdy bovine bullies.
And the bullfighters, riders, cowboys and cowgirls and of course an animated crew of announcers added flavor to the show, which was enjoyed by the large crowd.
“It was just a real good time,” Wilson said. “As an ag teacher I want to say I really appreciate everyone who turned out to support our kids. I also want to thank the Hootin an Hollarin committee for working with us during their great festival and also the Gainesville Saddle Club for letting us use their grounds,” Wilson said.
Wilson said all four FFA chapters in Ozark County – Gainesville, Dora, Bakersfield and Lutie – all worked hard in organizing and following through with the event.
“We don’t have attendance totals yet, but our crowd was definitely up from the previous one,” Wilson said. There were 670 spectators at the 2021 event.