Shrink Machine Too Good to be True at Sheridan Rodeo

Night two of the Sheridan Rodeo featured a shrinking machine presented by Jeremy the Clown that nearly had everyone convinced but was too good to be true. Already in the hole $500 due to the south side of the rodeo grounds being noisier than the north side (of course Seth has a different story), Seth the announcer made another $500 bet saying that the machine would not work.

But Jeremy was in fine form Saturday night. There has been a lot of hype about Artificial Intelligence (AI) this year, but this seemed to be beyond anything that was ever dreamed up. With loud whistles and bells, the machine first shrunk a whiskey jar to 1/10 its size, then shrunk a guitar to about a fifth of its original size. At that point, Seth was impressed and asked if Jeremy could shrink his cowboy hat from size 10 to size 7. But when the hat shrunk to little more than the size of a thimble, everything started to go horribly wrong.

Apparently, there was no tech support unlike the beauty machine of Friday night, even in Italian. It was being sold as a used novelty item and Jeremy offered to auction it off, with Seth being the only taker at 50 cents. As Jeremy got into the machine trying to figure out what was wrong with it, his two assistants pushed him in and started the machine.

The machine gave off sirens and lights again, but this time, it emitted showers of sparks for a long time, leaving everyone wondering if Jeremy was going to be all right, and who was going to be the backup if Cody Hatfield or Dustin Sargent went down during the bull riding. Hatfield took a tumble during Friday night's rodeo.

Finally, the machine stopped and out emerged a midget version of Jeremy the Clown and the assistants wheeled the machine off in triumph. But apparently, there was a catch to the whole thing. The shrinkage was only temporary and wore off in five minutes, as Jeremy was seen walking behind the bucking shoots in one piece, none the worse for wear. He was able to work the rest of the rodeo.

There were a couple of broncos ridden early, but there was a scare on the third one when Bryson Gebhard was tossed right next to the pickup man, whose horse bolted and threw him off, subsequently landing on Gebhard. He was shaken up but OK, as was the pickup man, who got his horse settled down and finished the rodeo.

The breakaway roping featured everyone trying to beat Zoey Tunks' time of 2.6 from last night. Kynder Florea tried a quick catch but missed. As the first two calves were being stubborn and refusing to leave the ring, Jeremy told about how he gave the wrong answer to the question when his wife asked him how she looked in her bathing suit and had to stay in his motor home for a while. One contestant apparently had a score, but she had a head catch and not a neck catch, as required by the rules. A head catch is legal in team roping, but not breakaway roping. "I don't know what these calves were fed, but they're much more active," said Seth the announcer. Skyler Florea apparently had a winning time, only to have a broken barrier. 

As Seth and Jeremy were arguing over who won the $500 bet over which side of the arena was louder, the calf roping got four qualified scores. Normally, one of the most difficult events for contestants, the team roping event saw several scores, with the fastest being seven seconds. The Two County Dusters did another tribute to America. Jeremy told about how he and his wife were at a big department store and were separated. While looking for her, he ran into a 28 year old man who was having trouble finding his 25 year old wife in the store. The younger man was bragging about how good looking his wife was. So Jeremy said, "Don't worry about me, let's find yours."

Liz Brown was fifth out of 10 in the barrel racing.

All the stops were pulled to get someone a qualified bull ride. Before the last ride, they played YMCA, Cha Cha Slide, Sweet Caroline, and other songs. Dustin Sargent took off his bullfighting cape and tried to ride the last bull. He nearly got it, but the rodeo clock seems to be two seconds slower than everyone else's, and he fell off before the horn sounded. 

Zoey Tunks Beats the Heat with 2.6 on Breakaway; Brylea Paxson Fourth in Barrels on First Night

Zoey Tunks of King City beat the heat Friday with a 2.6 on the breakaway roping. If the name sounds familiar, she was a standout basketball player for King City. It seems that basketball and rodeo skills are somehow related, as Skyler and Kynder Florea of Northeast Nodaway and Colbi and Chyles Webb of Gilman City are also good at both. In the barrel racing, Brylea Paxson was fourth with a time of 16.399. She was off a trip to a national event where she was in the top 20%; she was also in the top eight in Iowa barrel racing. 

There were some changes in the ring this year as Seth the Clown graduated to the announcer's stand and Jeremy Muntz became the rodeo clown and Seth's sidekick. Jeremy had to do double duty as the regular bullfighter was tossed in the air and had to come out; Jeremy had to come out of his huge plastic barrel and fight the bulls. 

Seth retained the same sense of humor in trying to get everyone enthusiastic about the rodeo. "This ain't no opera, it's a rodeo,' he said at one point. At one point, he told Jeremy to simmer down. "You seem surly today," he said.

Jeremy had his own act planned out. He picked out a lady in the stands playing with her cell phone during the breakaway roping and tried to borrow it, only for it to not work because it runs on facial recognition technology. 

The ranch bronc riding had a couple of thrills; one horse, Peppercorn, couldn't get its rider off even though it banged its head in the mud floor. Another horse bucked so hard, it not only capsized the cowboy off, the saddle came off and the horse landed on the cowboy's shoulder. 

One event that the contestants had trouble with was the tiedown calf roping; one old cowboy apparently had his calf roped, only for it to thrash around and struggle out.

Two County Dusters entertained everyone with a tribute to America by showing various equestrian patterns by a team of 16 riders from around Missouri, Iowa, and Nebraska. 

During the team roping, there was a noise contest between the south side and the north side with the south side winning. Only one team could complete the team roping despite someone in the crowd calling for a rerun.

The Beauty Machine from last year made its reappearance while everyone was getting ready for the barrels, guaranteed to make the user a billionaire by making everyone who entered it beautiful. But Jeremy didn't have any better luck than Seth did last year; he didn't realize that the catch was that the tech support was Italian and the machine turned the "girl" into a dog if not operated correctly. 

Darren Martin saved the best for last, when he successfully rode a bull. The judges couldn't agree on the score, with one scoring it a 22 and the other scoring it a 34 for a total of 56. The bull stopped before the whistle, meaning it was a union bull, according to the clown who worked the 1984 version of the Sheridan Rodeo back when Gary Hawk lived in the two story house east of Sheridan and the Rodeo Arena was where MFA Oil is today. 

The Back 40, in its second night of operation, had double or triple the crowds of Thursday night; there were even people in the restaurant section after 9 pm. The place was air conditioned, making it a perfect place to beat the heat.

Sheridan Rodeo Sponsors for 2025

The following people and businesses sponsored the Sheridan Rodeo for 2025:

Year Around Sponsors — Sur Gro Sheridan, Hart Insurance, Worth County MFA.

Arena Sponsors — Meek Farms, Maryville Livestock, Porter Trash Service, Agri-Vision, Monticue Construction, Rowen Fencing, Farm & Home Insurance, Whipps Sales (Clarinda), Clarinda Livestock, State Savings Bank, Bearcat Lumber, BTC Bank (Albany), Sutherlands (Maryville), H&L Grinding (Grant City), Brushy Creek Excavation (Blockton).

Standard Sponsors — Parman Farms (Grant City), MFA Oil, Sheridan Auto Electric, Raymond Smith Body Shop, Abplanalp Insurance, Andrews-Hann Funeral Home, Worth County Lumber, Grant City Auto Parts, Nodaway News-Leader, Maryville Forum, Delbert’s Garage, Barnyard Boutique, A2Z Industries, Back 40 Bar & Grill, The Dusty Cowgirl, The Drive Inn (Grant City), First Interstate Bank, The New Shopper, Pettijohn Auto Center, Ewart Insurance, Crazy Good BBQ & Junction Café (Bedford), Clear Creek (Maryville), In Loving Memory of Chad Cassavaugh, The Palms, Prugh-Dunfee, Pioneer Seed Pleasant Valley Farms (Grant City), Summa Implement (Maryville), Meyer Auto Center, Championship Motors, Dr. Gerald Myers, Nodaway Valley Bank, Reidlinger Trucking, Jake Rush Construction

Donations — Advance Auto (Maryville), Northwest Implement (Maryville), Baldwin Electric Service (Hopkins).

 

Sheridan CBC Getting Schoolhouse, Rodeo Grounds Ready

Volunteers did a lot of work at the Sheridan Schoolhouse and the Rodeo Grounds getting the area ready for Old Defiance Days.

Among the helpers were Justin Rush, Jake Holmes, Victoria Holmes, Newt Holmes, Gary Rush, Gary Hawk, Nick Joslin, Clayton Troutwine, Patty Rowe, and Sherry Evans.

There will be a lot of new, unique vendors in the park this year along with a new, bigger waterslide. Thanks to a successful fundraiser, the waterslide will be free this year.

The Sheridan Rodeo will be held Friday, June 20th and Saturday, June 21st with Old Defiance Days on the 21st, starting with a breakfast at 8 am, flag raising at 9:45, and the parade at 10:30 am.

 

Kynder Florea First in Friday Night Division of Sheridan Rodeo; Skyler Third; Brylea Paxson Third in Barrels

Northeast Nodaway student Kynder Florea won the breakaway roping contest in the Friday night division and her older sister Skyler finished third. It was a good night for local cowgirls as Brylea Paxson of Sheridan finished third Friday night, finishing with a time of 15.310 seconds. That was a second better than she did last year.

In the Friday night events, Lane Leeper backed up his flashy shirt, which was compared to John Travolta, and won the Saddle Bronc riding with a score of 71. Chase Kiefer barely made the necessary eight seconds in the bareback, but got credit for a full ride and scored 67. 

In the breakaway roping contest, Skyler was the first to successfully catch a calf, doing it in 3.5 seconds. Kimberly Spurgeon of Eminence (MO) got one in 3.0, only for Kynder Florea to get a time of 2.7 seconds to win. 

The new clown, Jeremy Muntz, kept everyone entertained with his jokes between events. Max Garrett brought his ice cream machine, the Henrys brought their colored popcorn, and there were some other vendors present.

The carpet rides were next. Tyson Troutwine pulled Brayden Stevens, while Dustin Rowen pulled his dad Henry. Brayden was so sure of himself that he didn’t need to know where the ambulance was. Sure enough, in a photo finish, the team of Tyson Troutwine and Brayden Stevens beat out Dustin and Henry Rowen in a photofinish, and they both took their partners around an extra lap for good measure.

Two cowboys, Dale Showers and Brayson Gebhard, successfully rode the saddle bronc event. 

This was followed by Jeremy bringing in the hottest show on the planet. It was the Dinosaur 500, and there were no rules, meaning that contestants could punch and kick away at their competitors. The kid on the blue dinosaur was named “Ander Dingus 2.0.” The red one was named “Kwandale Dingle.” The orange one was named “Ander Dingus 1.0” Ander Dingus 1.0 won the race, which was close all the way, despite being tackled at the end; they managed to fall across the finish line for the win. 

There were a lot of fast calves in the calf roping event, but Levi Nichols got his calf tied up in 13.1 seconds. Jeremy told a tale about the time when his wife texted him asking if he thought she was fat. He answered, “No,” which the technology autocorrected to “MOOO!!” The reader can imagine what went down after that. Winn Shipley won the Over 40 division of the calf roping, also with a time of 13.1 seconds. 

The event that contestants had the most trouble with, as usual, was the team roping. Out of nine contestants during the Friday evening portion of the contest, none of them were able to rope a calf, with one (out of 14) finally doing it in 9.3 seconds in the portion they do after everything is over and the crowds go home. Meanwhile, Jeremy told the story about the time he wanted to take his wife anywhere she wanted to go in the world. But she couldn’t make up her mind where to go, so they finally threw a dart at a globe. “Now, I’m spending two weeks behind the freezer,” said Jeremy.

Jeremy then brought in a new contraption that he bought off a guy at a pawn shop. It was guaranteed to make the lucky entrepreneur billions, because it was guaranteed to take a woman and make her look beautiful. So Jeremy asked for anyone in the audience to volunteer, but there were no takers. Finally, “Julie” agreed to do it and got inside the machine.

But the buttons and dials on the machine were confusing, leading Jeremy to call Customer Service, which, naturally, wasn’t much help since the clerk on the other end didn’t speak English. Finally, Jeremy got it going and the lights, bells, and whistles were working. But unfortunately, when the door opened, it turned “Julie” into a little dog. 

On the very first run in the barrels, Ashley Lattner completed the barrels in a time of 14.748, which stood up for the entire event and got her first place. In between the barrel races and the bulls, Jeremy talked about the time at work when he was playing on his computer and the boss came in to ask him what was going on. “I’m figuring out how to lead our employees,” said Jeremy. “But that’s kickboxing,” said the boss.

There was question whether they would even have the Saturday portion of the Sheridan Rodeo. A Severe Thunderstorm Watch was issued and a cloud came that was supposed to hit right as the Rodeo was supposed to start. But the clouds missed Sheridan to the south, and they were able to have a second night of the Rodeo. 

The team roping got along better, with three able to catch the calves, but one got a broken barrier and two only caught one leg. Tuker Riley took a tumble after being on the bull for just 1½ seconds, but there were three qualified rides, headed by Dustin Sargent, who got a score of 75 on the next to last ride. 

Dustin Rowen Gets Revenge in Second Night of Hangman Races

Dustin Rowen took revenge on his dad in the second night of the Hangman races at the Sheridan Rodeo as he beat his dad hands down Saturday.

Previously, Henry and Dustin had teamed up and nearly had it won, only for Henry to fall off his horse on the final turn and hand the victory to Cory DeMott’s team.

On Saturday, Dustin was looking for revenge against his dad. So he teamed up with Nick Joslin, while Henry, thinking maybe a girl was needed to show how to do a man’s job, tabbed Katie Burchett.

The race was off, but while Joslin was able to hang on the tire with no problems, Henry struggled with a slow horse and Katie nearly fell off the tire as she could barely hang on. It was no contest as Dustin easily took home the win and did a victory lap with Joslin in celebration.

Perhaps moving the funeral home sign off one of the main bucking chutes was better luck for the bull riders, as there were two qualified rides. Trey Hill (73 points) and Blake Moore (75 points) were able to successfully ride the always tough bulls at the Grand River Rodeo. A third rider, Daytona Lutz of Hopkins, nearly rode one, but planted the turf right before the buzzer sounded. 

Seth the Clown was anxious to get the show on; during a delay in the action, he suggested that if they took much longer to get the bull lined up, the Duggars, a reality show family with numerous children popular in some Christian circles, might have another baby. 

But much more serious matters were at hand when one of the bull contestants was tossed into the air, hit the bull with the back of his head and neck, and was knocked motionless. The Worth County Ambulance responded promptly, with them and numerous cowboys giving first aid. For the time being, all differences were set aside, and the cowboy contestants were all one team.

The irony of it was that the bull in question, “Juicy Fruit,” a regular at the Grand River Rodeo, nearly leveled one of the pickup men into the fence in the same arena several years ago, as told by Seth before the tumble happened.

Other than that, the second night of the rodeo went well except for Seth dropping the ball and failing to pick up Rodrigo, the world champion bull whip artist from Mexico City that the Sheridan CBC supposedly paid $3,000 for. Seth was supposed to pick of Rodrigo from the airport, but thought he was supposed to pick up the briefcase instead and there was no Rodrigo to perform his tricks. 

So Seth tried his best to imitate Rodrigo and demanded that he be paid the $3,000 instead. But when he brought out Coy, the bull fighter, out into the ring with a balloon, he haggled an agreement that if he cracked the whip and broke the balloon, he would get the $3,000. But when Seth cracked the whip and then ran up and broke the balloon with his hand, the announcer suddenly sharpened his pencil and declared that Seth had to finish the act before being paid, which entailed lighting the whip on fire and cracking it.

Seth freaked out at the the prospect of having to deal with real fire, but he obliged and everyone went home happy. 

Henry Rowen Takes a Tumble in First Night of Sheridan Rodeo

In a plot seemingly hatched up at Henry’s shindig the weekend before, the boys upped the ante for the crazy event in between the barrel racing and the bull riding. The team of Henry Rowen, Dustin Rowen, and Mark Jordan pitted themselves against the team of Corey DeMott, Will New, and Dale Brown in a game of Hangman. 

With Jordan and Brown operating a skid loader holding a tire swinging over the dirt, one person had to grab the tire from a moving horse. The horse had to go down and back, pick up the hangman from the tire, and then make another pass down and back. It looked like Henry and Dustin would emerge as the winners, only for Henry to take a tumble on the final stretch after Dustin had collected him from the swinging tire, allowing Corey DeMott, Will New, and Dale Brown to come away in the inaugural Sheridan Hangman Championship. 

Everybody breathed a sigh of relief after the suspense preceding the event. Seth the Clown, who had seen it all and who was keeping up a good chatter all night, was speechless for once, having no idea how to explain what was about to take place. 

Another new event was the baseball contest, rodeo style. A young man and a young lady were recruited by Seth to put on a pair of goggles, swing three times at a plastic baseball, weave through a set of orange flags, and then see how far they could kick a kickball. Seth declared the young lady, but the supporters of the young man will likely say the contest was rigged because the man kicked the ball clear to the press box while the young lady barely dribbled it with her kick. 

There were a lot of local favorites riding the barrels, such as EmiLee and Liz Brown, Heather Fenton of McFall, Lisa McCrary of Clyde, and Dayna Rowen of Sheridan. Liz Brown was third in the Friday night run with a time of 15.516.

The event that contestants had the most trouble with was the bulls, with all the contestants taking a tumble in three seconds or less. One possibility to break the jinx, North Nodaway grad Daytona Lutz, said he was going to give it a try Saturday. He’s traveled around the country riding bulls, riding a few here and there. The team roping was a close second, with several missing, a few catching only one heel, and one doing it cleanly but breaking the barrier.

Two County Dusters Perform in Sheridan, Mark 25th Anniversary

Two County Dusters performed in Sheridan Friday night during the first night of the Sheridan Rodeo. They mark their 25th anniversary this year. For the last 25 years, they have been performing at area rodeos all over Northwest Missouri and Southwest Iowa. With a patriotic theme, they perform various feats of horsemanship. They were scheduled to perform last year, but the Sheridan Rodeo was rained out for both nights, and they agreed to come back this year.

They are a group of boys and girls between the ages of 10 and 17 who have tried out and who have made the squad. They hold tryouts every year. They recently marked their 25th anniversary as alumni reunited. They are open to youth from Northwest Missouri, Southwest Iowa, and Southeast Nebraska who have completed fourth through 12th grades in school.

The outhouse races this year were replaced by the Magic Carpet Rides as Dustin Rowen pulled his dad, Henry Rowen, and Ed Jacobs pulled his son, Chance, around the ring on their horses. Dustin must have felt he was living in the early part of the 20th century, when kids raced horses instead of cars. He pulled his dad at breakneck speed around the ring. But slow and steady won the race as Henry finally fell off, while Chance was able to hold on as his dad was slow and steady.

Lefty the Clown kept everyone on their toes and had a stunt in which he and his “wife” responded to an “emergency” in which the showoff fan, who was obviously drunk, passed out in the rodeo arena and held up the event. Lefty and his “wife” went to attend to the “victim,” only for the “victim” to revive and drive off with Lefty’s “wife” with the heartbroken clown in hot pursuit.

Local favorites tried their hand in some of the events. Cash Jacobs only needed two seconds to take a tumble from the bull. Corey Farrell didn’t stay on his bronco much longer before taking a tumble. Brylea Paxson successfully completed the Barrel Race in just under 17 seconds. Morgan Wallace of Gentry would have won the event and broken the 16 second barrier, but she knocked down one of the barrels.

Karla Hawk Forced to Kiss the Pig at Sheridan Rodeo

Four contestants, Karla Hawk, Jana Findley, Justin Rush, and Jeff Blaine vied for a lottery that they did not want to win – the lottery to kiss the pig at the Sheridan Rodeo. People donated money into money jars at Snakebite, and Hawk was the unlucky winner after all the money was counted. Speculation that maybe the local preacher might need to be set back on the straight and narrow, or that Findley might need a reminder of who controls the taxpayer dollars did not materialize. It took some coaxing for her to do so, but Hawk finally knelt down and kissed the big. She had to be reminded that she ate bacon on a regular basis, so what was the problem?

Preparations Continue for Sheridan Rodeo

Preparations are underway for the 2nd Annual Sheridan Rodeo and more changes were made to the arena. A work day was held Sunday morning. A new fence has been put in on the east end. Justin Rush did some mowing on the west end and Doug Brown brought a forklift to move stuff. The bucking chutes will be on the east end instead of the west end; the rodeo company suggested the change, as contestants would not have to deal as much with the sun. The rail in front of the new grandstand was painted, and plastic was put under the grandstand to kill off the weeds.

The Rodeo will be held Friday and Saturday night, June 24th and 25th at the Rodeo Grounds in front of the Sheridan Schoolhouse. Time both nights is 7:30.

Bull Riding, Eight Other Events to Highlight Sheridan Rodeo

Bull Riding and eight other events will highlight the first rodeo in 31 years in Sheridan. There will be nine events -- bull riding, bareback riding, calf roping, barrel racing, steer wrestling, team roping, breakaway roping, and over 40 calf roping. The rodeo will be held both Friday and Saturday nights; start time will be at 7:30 at the Rodeo Arena north of the old schoolhouse. Admission will be $8 for 21 and older, $5 for kids aged 6-12, and free for ages 5 and under. To register, call (641) 773-5232.

After the Rodeo, there will be a wild cow milking contest and dancing at the Snakebite Tavern. There will be music from 9 to 1 each night; Jeremy Long will be there Friday night and the Reved Up Band will perform in concert Saturday night.

Rodeo to Highlight Old Defiance Days

The first rodeo in 31 years will highlight the annual Old Defiance Day celebration from June 26th to 28th. The rodeo will kick off Friday night, June 26th at 7:30. It will be held at the new rodeo arena north of the schoolhouse. During the intermission, the Little Mr. & Miss Defiance contest will be held.

The main events for Old Defiance Days will take place Saturday, starting with the parade at 10:30. The Mic-O-Say Tribe will perform following the parade. From 11 to 1, the CBC will host a lunch while the Laplanders will perform. The Water Slide will be open from 12 to 5 that day. At 1, the Baby Show, a volleyball tournament, and a basketball tournament will start. At 1:30, Texas Hold 'em will start at the Firehouse, while at 1:45, some dancers will perform. At 2, the kids games will start. At 2:15, Cory Cronk will perform in concert. A money scramble will be held at 3, followed by a football throw at 4 along with scavenger hunts for adults and kids. The rodeo will resume that evening starting at 7:30.

The celebrations will conclude Sunday with a poker run at 1, followed with a CBC dinner at the Community Hall at 5.