Roywnn Ricks
Woodward News
Woodward, Okla. —
The Woodward Tourism and Convention Bureau is spending $30,000 to bring in a Championship Bull Riding (CBR) event on Sept. 18.
However, Assistant Tourism Director Debbie Hickman said that does not mean the bureau has blown a fourth of its $120,000 tourism grant budget on one event.
“That money is coming back in,” she said in an interview with The News Thursday afternoon.
As “a project” sponsored directly by the Woodward tourism department and the city itself, Hickman said several local sponsorships have already been sold to recuperate some of the cost and ticket sales are expected to make up the remainder.
In addition, she explained the expenditure by noting “anytime there’s a project like this, we have to invest money to get the people here. But once we get them here, the money will come back in.”
In the case of the CBR, the return on investment is both direct and indirect, because as a tourism event, it is also bringing people to Woodward to spend money in the community, which in turn helps with sales tax and hotel/motel tax collections, she said.
Furthermore, Hickman said the CBR event is also providing the city with an opportunity to help some area non-profit groups.
“Since we don’t need to make a profit on this, all we need to do is make our $30,000, we decided we’d have some non-profits help sell tickets for us,” she said.
The participating non-profits include Northwest Oklahoma CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates), the Buffalo Theatre, and Northwest Oklahoma Junior Rodeo Association (NWOJR).
These groups get to keep $4 for every CBR ticket they sell, Hickman said.
“With CASA taking 500 tickets that means a $2,000 donation for them,” she said.
To purchase tickets from CASA, contact Alma Santiago at 256-2182 or visit the CASA office at 1211 Main St. in Woodward.
To help support the Buffalo Theatre, by purchasing CBR tickets from them, contact James Leonard at (580) 727-5499 or K. W. Lauer at (580) 727-5590.
To see that your CBR ticket purchase benefits the NWOJR, stop by The Cowboy’s Tack Shop at 1114 9th St. in Woodward.
In addition to these organizations that are pre-selling tickets, the Oklahoma High School Rodeo Association will be selling tickets at the gate on Sept. 18, receiving $1 for every ticket sold, Hickman said.
“Instead of asking for a handout, these organizations are our there working to raise money,” she said. “This is everyone working together in the community.”
