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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The PRCA Donita Barnes Lifetime Achievement Award honors contract personnel such as announcers, bullfighters, clowns, specialty acts, secretaries and timers who have been PRCA members for at least 15 years and have committed their lives to the rodeo industry, yet received little recognition for their commitment and contributions.

The posthumous recipient of the inaugural Contract Lifetime Achievement Award was long-time PRCA secretary Donita Barnes, wife of ProRodeo Hall of Fame inductee and PRCA stock contractor Bob Barnes and mentor to thousands of contestants and others involved with Barnes rodeos. The PRCA named the award in her honor in 2012.

The 2021 nominees are:

• Andrea Moon, a secretary and timer from Iron River, Mich., who has been with the PRCA since 1978. She served as the National Finals Rodeo’s secretary in 1990 and was a timer at the 1983 NFR.
• Irene Singer, a secretary and timer from Calhan, Colo., who has been with the PRCA since 1970. She served as the NFR secretary in 2004 and was a timer at the 1996 NFR. Singer also served as the secretary for the National Finals Steer Roping in 2009 and the National Circuit Finals Rodeo in 1999. She was the assistant secretary at the 1998 NCFR, too. Singer also was one of the timers at the NCFR in 1990 and 2012.
• The Harris Family. Grant Harris’ grandfather started producing rodeos in 1930, and in 1955 Grant’s father, Howard, started a weekly rodeo in New Jersey that continues to this day. Grant and Betsy Harris bought Cowtown Rodeo in 1978 and run the weekly rodeo that’s held in Woodstown-Pilesgrove, N.J. Grant has been with the PRCA since 1973, having competed in bull riding, team roping and saddle bronc riding. He was the First Frontier Circuit’s saddle bronc riding champion in 1975 and 1977-78. Betsy joined the PRCA in the late 1970s and served as assistant secretary for the 1994 NCFR and was the secretary for the 1995 NCFR. She was also a timer at the 1989 NCFR.
• Jennifer Nicholson, of the Riata Ranch Cowboy Girls, has been with the PRCA since 1990 and lives in Three Rivers, Calif. The Riata Ranch Cowboy Girls have been nominated for Specialty Act of the Year four times (2011, 2013, 2015-16). They performed at the NFR in 1985-89, 1996 and 2014.
• Kay Gay is a secretary and timer from Terrell, Texas, who has been with the PRCA since 1964.

Recipients of past Donita Barnes Awards are: Donita Barnes (2011); Art and Linda Alsbaugh (2012); Fred and Norma Dorenkamp (2013); Quail Dobbs (2014); Cotton Rosser (2015); Karen Vold (2016); Jim and Julie Sutton (2017); Hadley Barrett (2018); Roy and Virginia Honeycutt (2019) and Cindy Rosser (2020).

 

Contract personnel named for NFR, NFSR COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The contract personnel for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo and the National Finals Steer Roping were announced Wednesday by the PRCA. For the eighth time in nine years, two of the announcers for the Wrangler NFR remain the same. Randy Corley and Wayne Brooks will be on the microphone for the 10 nights in Las Vegas Dec. 2-11. They will be joined by announcer Roger Mooney. Corley, who was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2017, will be making his 20th NFR appearance, while it will be the 10th of Brooks’ career. Mooney will be making his third appearance at the NFR and second in a row. Livestock superintendent John Barnes makes his 15th consecutive Wrangler NFR appearance. The chute bosses are Tony Amaral (timed events) and Tom Neuens (roughstock). Sunni Deb Backstrom, who was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2021, is the NFR secretary, marking the 16th year in a row she has been selected. Jennie Murray is the assistant secretary. Timers are Shawna Ray, making her second NFR trip in a row, Michelle Corley, who is making her first appearance as a timer, and Molly Twitchell, also making her NFR debut as a timer. BenjeBendele is the music director. Specialty acts for the NFR are Tomas Garcilazo, Madison MacDonald and Jessica Blair. At the NFSR at the Kansas Star Arena in Mulvane, Kan., Nov. 12-13, Doug Mathis and Jody Carper will handle the announcing duties. This is Mathis’ second appearance at the NFSR and Carper’s seventh. Chute boss John Gwatney is back for his 12th consecutive trip, and the arena usher is Dalton Ward, who is making his first appearance. The NFSR secretary is Mikey Jo Duggan, who is making her third trip. The timers are Sandy Gwatney and Tammy Braden. Sandy Gwatney, John’s wife, is timing for the fourth time at the NFSR. Braden is timing for the third time.