Uriel Packard gets his picture taken with 2021 Miss Rodeo USA Kylee Campbell during Thursday’s Special Needs Rodeo.

The Jimmy Arrington Memorial Rodeo returns to Cullman County this weekend, and several hundred special needs students got a close-up look at some of the weekend’s events during Thursday’s annual Special Needs Rodeo. 

The students were treated to a live show from some of the competitors from this weekend’s rodeo performing in events like cattle roping, barrel racing and bull riding, and then they got to try out racing and roping on their own with stick horses and calf dummies while also enjoying a hay ride around the exterior of the arena. Helping them out in those efforts were plenty of deputies, teachers, aides and volunteers who donated their time to help the children get a real rodeo experience. 

The annual rodeo and Special Needs Rodeo are hosted each year by the Cullman County Sheriff’s Office, and both rodeos returned to in-person events this year after being all virtual last year. 

Thursday’s rodeo for special needs students usually brings in around 1,400 students, but this year had around half that with the rest watching a live stream from their classrooms, said Cullman County Sheriff Matt Gentry.

“It’s always a blessing to be able to put on the Special Needs Rodeo,” he said. 

Even though they weren’t all able to attend in-person, he said he had already heard from teachers who said the students watching in their classrooms were still having a great time. 

“The great thing about it is you get to see the smiles of all the kids here, and I’m getting texts from teachers in the schools saying that they’re loving the virtual rodeo,” he said. “It’s just amazing.”

Gentry said the rodeo first started in 1998, but was on a hiatus for a few years before it returned by legislative act in 2015, and the Special Needs Rodeo has been a part of the event since its return six years ago. 

He said the sheriff’s office brings in special needs students from the county and city school systems, as well as local private schools and the Margaret Jean Jones Center, and the idea behind the event has always been to spend time with the kids and give them a unique opportunity.

“This is something a lot of these children may never experience,” he said. 

Gentry said $15,500 in proceeds from the annual rodeo are donated to the Cullman County and Cullman City School Systems to help fund their special needs programs. 

“That money goes directly into the classroom,” he said. 

He also made sure to thank the 4L & Diamond S Rodeo Company for their annual support of the event, as well as all of the event’s sponsors who help make it possible. 

Gentry said all of the deputies who helped out Thursday or at the rodeo on Friday and Saturday are donating their time, and they are all happy to do so. 

“It’s just a blessing to be here with them,” he said. 

The event continues tonight at the Cullman County Agricultural Trade Center at 7 p.m. Gates open at 5 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for students.