It’s rodeo time in Springdale, Arkansas.  The Rodeo of the Ozarks started on Wednesday night with tonight being the final night.  (PBR is next Saturday evening!)

Thursday night was Tough Enough to Wear Pink night at the Rodeo of the Ozarks.

Participants & spectators were encouraged to wear pink to support the Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

This year, I went with my grandparents.  We had pretty good seats to see the bucking and the racing.  The roping and wrestling was at the other end of the arena but it wasn’t too far away to see.

An 8 year old sang the national anthem.  It was a great rendition for such a young girl.

Yes, those are a breed of monkey riding on dogs.  They helped herd the rams you see on top of the truck.

The Rodeo of the Ozarks Rounders performed a nice routine.

Buckin’ in the Ozarks is in Springdale next Saturday night.  It’s a stop for the PBR Challenger Tour.  With the Built Ford Tough Series “off” for another 13 days (according to PBRNow.com’s countdown), I’m hoping we might see a BFTS regular or two in town to participate.

On the PBR note…PBR regular LJ Jenkins participated in the Rodeo of the Ozarks.  He rode on Thursday night.

Here is a slideshow of the photos I took Thursday evening.

Today is NASCAR Day 2009.  NASCAR Day is a “one-day celebration of the NASCAR spirit and its fans.”  For a $5 donation, participants receive a special commemorative lapel pin and are encouraged to wear their favorite NASCAR duds to work and play today.  The proceeds from the donations go to the NASCAR Foundation, which helps fund several organizations including Victory Junction Gang Camp.

It’s not too late to help this wonderful cause!  Click here to see a list of the charities the NASCAR Foundation supports and to donate.

Dancing with the Stars started this week.  It did not disappoint!  There are some, of course, that aren’t dancers but there are several that are pretty good week 1 and should just get better and better and better.  Who are my favorites?  Well, Lance Bass was my favorite going into this season.  His partner is perfect for him.  Here was their first dance of the competition.

I also think Brooke Burke is going to be a favorite all season long.  Warren Sapp is a very pleasant surprise.  He’s a good sized guy but can definitely move!

Bikes, Blues, & BBQ started last night in Fayetteville.  I knew this bike rally was large but I didn’t realize how large -- 3rd largest bike rally in the country and largest charitable bike rally in the country.  The rally raises money for some great local charities.  In the past, I’ve attended a concert or two during the rally -- Big & Rich 2 years ago, actually.  The concert this year is the Allman Brothers on Saturday night.  I have a friend’s engagement party to go to so I won’t be attending.  It should be a good concert, though, I’m sure.

The Razorbacks finally play the Longhorns on Saturday afternoon.  The game is a couple of weeks later than it should have been because of Hurricane Ike but I don’t think the outcome is really going to be that different.  It isn’t that I’m a pessimist.  I’m thinking of myself more of a realist right this moment when thinking about the game.  I would absolutely love to be proved wrong, though.  The game is on tv and I’m going to my parents’ house to watch the game & hang out.

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It looks like NetworkForGood.org, which is the website I am using for donations is currently having some technical difficulties.  I apologize for this inconvenience if you are wanting to donate.  Hopefully, it won’t take them very long to get their issues resolved.  I will let you know when it starts working again, and you will be able to donate on behalf of my cause for at least 48 hours after today is over.

9:30 am Update:

It looks like it is back up and running again.  Let me know if you get any error messages when attempting to donate.

As I previously mentioned, my charity of choice to support during the Day of Blogs is the Victory Junction Gang Camp.  I am a huge NASCAR fan (if my blog title didn’t give that away).  VJGC was founded by Kyle Petty (NASCAR driver) and his wife Pattie in memory of their son Adam.  (Adam died in a racing accident in 2000.  He was my age.)  The mission of the Victory Junction Gang Camp is…

The Victory Junction Gang Camp enriches the lives of children with chronic medical conditions or serious illnesses by providing life-changing camping experiences that are exciting, fun, and empowering, in a safe and medically sound environment.

VJGC is located in Randleman, NC with a 2nd location being planned for the Kansas City, MO area.  If you haven’t ever heard of the Victory Junction Gang Camp, I encourage you to visit their website to see photos & videos and read about what they can do & what is going on.

This entry was written for the Day of Blogs 2008.  My charity I’m supporting is the Victory Junction Gang Camp.  You can donate to my cause my clicking here or using the widget on the right-hand side of my blog.  To see all of the entries I have written so far for the Day of Blogs 2008, click here or select the DayOfBlogs08 tag.