Well, things have been booming here in the 1st quarter of 2012 in my voice-over business adding some great new clients, and just in the past few weeks I have also been busy traveling and working some rodeo events too.

The last weekend in March found me traveling to the Jersey shore to work the Atlantic City Boardwalk PRCA Rodeo as it’s music director. Steamboat Rock, Iowa’s Hippie Englekes worked the barrel, Tim Fuller of Tulsa, Oklahoma was behind the mic, & Jessica Blair along with Shane & Suzie Karson provided the awesome specialty acts. Janet Markowitz and the Atlantic City Boardwalk Rodeo committee did an excellent job putting on this second year event. The crowds were very responsive and fun to work. They have invited me back again for next year and am already looking forward to it!

Last week Nicky and I went to Brookings, SD for one of the best regular season College rodeos in the Nation, the 58th South Dakota State University Jackrabbit Stampede. This was my 10th straight year as the in-house announcer and the 7th year for Nicky to be running the music. The Swiftel Center crew (especially Tom Richter, & Scott Smith) along with the SDSU Rodeo Club, and Sutton Rodeo do an excellent job putting this event together! All but 1 year since I have been working this rodeo it has been a double header, meaning two separate rodeos in the same weekend. A total of 6 rodeo performances and the two short round performances (that features the top 10 of each event in each of the two rodeos) was televised courtesy of South Dakota Public broadcasting.  South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame Broadcaster and longtime rodeo announcer Jim Thompson of Spearfish, SD and K Country 102.3 morning show host Brad DeBeer hosted the telecasts. All 6 performances were right around 2 hours each, for College rodeo that is a real fast moving performance.

For those of us here in the mid-west a very unusually mild winter has been followed by an early spring. As I returned from the rodeo in Brookings, my friends at the farm were anxious to get me down to start field work for the corn planting season. Already with a couple of rain delays we are still a few weeks ahead of schedule and hope to have 3,000 acres in by May 5th.

Once again I will be in Litchfield at Cowgirl Tuff arena for the Western Wishes “Never Give Up” Charity Barrel Race, then things really get busy pretty much right through September with events nearly every weekend.

Until next time, stay safe out there and God bless!

Davie

P.S. Congratulations to Scott Smith Operations Manager at Swiftel Center, he and His wife are proud parents of a brand new baby girl born sometime after we left Brookings. Celia Lynette Smith 19″ 6 lbs 12 oz!!!