Bobby Rowe – Kevin Debusk
story by Lindsay Whelchel
Years ago, when Bobby Rowe started in rodeo at the age of 16 or 17, he and his brother would ride stock at backyard rodeos. Early on they learned if there weren’t people in the stands, they didn’t get paid.
“Right then we knew where the money came from. If you want to do anything in rodeo, you better look up in the seats and see the people up there or else you weren’t going to get anything done,” Bobby said. That’s a lesson he’s kept with him since then in his long-time role as a rodeo producer. He leaves no stone unturned to make the show all it can be for the audience, and those efforts are paying off at the Salem Stampede Rodeo in Salem, VA.
The event was not only voted an IPRA Top-Indoor Rodeo of the Year in 2014, the last two years it’s also won the distinction of No. 1 event for the Salem Civic Center, an honor that was earned against stiff competition from concerts to other sporting events.
The Salem Stampede began in 1968 and has been a part of families’ lives over the years, Bobby said.
“We’ve got people that were there in 1968, and they were there in 2015 too. We’d announce birthdays. We’d announce engagements, and then a couple years later ‘so and so up there they’ve got them a baby,’ and it seemed like no time we’d be announcing an engagement which would be the baby from 20 years ago.”
The event is held in January just before the finals and is a prime jumpstart on new-season earnings for contestants. Bobby and his crew are already at work planning not just next year’s rodeo for 2016, but the 50th anniversary in 2017.
“Mark it on your calendar, if you want to see an extravaganza you need to be there, because it’s going to be so dadgum wild I’m gonna be scared,” Bobby enthused.
As producer, Bobby is responsible for the main details of the event, but he is quick to credit the help of his media-relations leader, Kevin DeBusk, his promotions team, stock contractors and entertainment, as well as the Civic Center team themselves who co-promote the event. John Saunders and Carey Harveycutter lead the civic center team.
“The people there are awful good people to work with, they’re some of the best.” Bobby said and added that the crew has almost all been there for years.
Before the rodeo, Kevin will arrange interviews with media, and Bobby will drive with his nephews from his home in Oklahoma to drop off four covered wagons that advertise the coming rodeo, and place them in prime locations around Salem.
For the entertainment, Bobby likes to keep it fresh, not using an act more than a few years in a row. He loves Roman teams and trick riding and naturally has big plans for the entertainment on the anniversary rodeo. After all, the focus of the Salem Stampede is bringing a good show, and that’s what Bobby and his team does best.
“From the first thing that goes through that gate you’ve got to get [the audience] up, and you’ve got to keep them up the whole way through it, and that’s when they’ll be back the next year.”
