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Natchez Little League Cowboys and Girls is hosting their inaugural Children’s Memorial Day rodeo and trail ride on May 31. The rodeo starts at 1 p.m. and is at the Bill Mazique Arena on Churchill Road in Natchez.

Event Organizer Clint Dixon said the rodeo is for ages 12 and under with no registration fee. The rodeo has an attendance fee of $5 for the driver and $1 for passengers who are not children, he said.

Kenneth Wayne Beamer is helping Dixon put on the event. He said the rodeo would give kids something to do and keep them off the streets. Interacting with animals steered him in the right direction as a young man, he said.

“When I first bought my horse, I was out in the streets. I was doing a lot of things with a lot of people,” Beamer said. “Being around the wrong company had me doing the wrong things. When I owned my horse and started rodeoing, I left the streets completely. There is something better than being out in the streets cursing and shooting.”

His experience is what led him to want to give back to the community. This year will be the first year of the rodeo, and he hopes he can help put the rodeo on for as long as he can.

Beamer said he hopes kids will learn something from the rodeo. There will be prizes given to winning contests for best-dressed cowboys and girls, cowboy and girl song of choice, cowboy and girl best dance.

There will be dummy roping, a panty race, barrel racing, buddy pick-up race, pole bending race, flag pick-up race, calf scramble, on-foot goat team roping, lap-n-tap calf breakaway roping, lap-n-tap calf tie-down racing, goat tide down race, horseback riding goat roping.

“It seemed like everyone was starting to leave the kids out,” Beamer said. “Kids are starting to go different ways, so we have decided to give back. There is a lot of them who can’t ride horses and do stuff like that.”

Registration forms can be picked up at The Natchez Democrat office located at 503 N Canal Street, filled out, and mailed to the Little League Cowboys and Girls headquarters at #4 Pruett Road, Natchez. You can also fax the registration forms to 769-355-2169.

Call Clint Dixon at 601-431-7736 or email him at clintondixon534@gmail.com for more information or to sponsor the event.