The 40th annual Kitsap County Stampede and Rodeo kicks off tonight at 7 p.m. at the Kitsap County Fairgrounds. This year's rodeo is under the direction of Gene Johnson. Stan Sarver retired last year as rodeo director after being involved with the Kitsap County Fair for 39 years. He was in charge of the rodeo for the previous 18 years. Johnson said he wants to get his feet wet for a year before making any major changes, but he has made a couple minor alterations.
People can log on any night of the rodeo and watch a Web cast of it.
Johnson also said he is going to tighten up the grand entry in an attempt to make it more professional. If we can get a little more money added, hopefully we can see some national TV coverage. Bareback riding, saddle-bronc riding, bull riding, steer wrestling, team roping, calf roping and barrel racing will be the featured events at the rodeo. Nearly all of the top 15 national competitors in all seven events will be present at the rodeo. As of Tuesday afternoon, Johnson didn't have the lineup of competitors finalized.