Jeff Bute, who has served as Cavalcade chairman for the past 10 years. There are fifth-generation Cavalcaders in some families, according to Bute, whose four-year-old granddaughter recently participated in her first Cavalcade competition. “That’s the type of thing that can really warm your heart about the whole thing,” the event chairman said. Pawhuska’s all-amateur rodeo originated in 1947 as the brainchild of Alice Adams, a retired lady bronc rider who was serving as the arena secretary. Following each of the evening rodeo performances, there’s a “Dance Under the Stars” featuring well-known musical entertainers. The band lineup for Cavalcade 2017 was announced recently as follows: For the Tuesday night (July 18) street dance, Mark Chamberlain & The Whiskey Poet Society will be the featured entertainment. On Wednesday, July 19, Read Southall Band is to play for the first Dance Under the Stars at the Fairgrounds. Jon Wolfe is scheduled to perform at the OCF’s dance park Thursday evening. Friday night’s band for the “Dance Under the Stars” will be Whiskey Myers. And, following the Saturday night rodeo performance, Cavalcade-favorite Jason Boland & The Stragglers are to perform at the week’s dance finale. More information on the annual event can be obtained from the Cavalcade Rodeo homepage on Facebook. While merchants in other U.S. cities try to offset anticipated midsummer slumps in retail business by scheduling “Christmas in July” and similar promotions, the seventh month is traditionally the best of the year for Pawhuska businesses — thanks largely to the thousands of competitors and spectators in town for Cavalcade. “We put a city inside of a city,” Bute said. Mike Erwin is a reporter for the Pawhuska Journal-Capital.
Bartlesville Magazine VISITOR’S GUIDE 2017
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