Submitted Photo Cowgirls breakaway roping will be a new event added to the 76th annual Gerry Rodeo, which will be held Aug. 4-7.

GERRY — The annual Gerry Rodeo is back for the 76th year for four performances, Aug. 4-7 with several innovations which rodeo chairman Tom Atwell promises will make this “one of the best ever.”

Highlighting those innovations is the addition of an 18-foot-wide, stadium-style video board, which will enable fans to watch the action on the screen as well as in the arena, in addition to seeing replays. This technology also enables the action in the Gerry arena to be streamed around the world on the Cowboy Channel app with the possibility of some of that action being shown on the Cowboy Channel. The $7,500 cost is being paid by the Professional Cowboys Rodeo Association and a grant from the Chautauqua County IDA.

Another big boost to this year’s event is the selection of Gerry as one of only 12 rodeos nationwide as a “qualifier rodeo” for The American, a $2 million rodeo in Arlington, Texas.

Atwell said that this means that the top-three contestants in each PRCA event in these 12 rodeos will move on to the semifinals in qualifying for The American, where only the top 12 in winnings in each event are selected. He noted that that designation should draw not only more contestants, but should also bring some of the nation’s top-ranked cowboys to Gerry.

For the first time ever in Gerry, fans will see the fastest-growing event in rodeo as the cowgirls’ breakaway roping is added to the program with $2,000 in prize money. This is a timed event in which the cowgirl, aboard her horse, chases a calf from the chute and attempts to lasso it. Her rope is tied with string to the saddle horn and, when the lassoed calf breaks the string, the time stops. Atwell said he is expecting 20 to 30 entrants.

Atwell reported that the Rodeo Committee is meeting weekly and making plans to conduct all of the traditional events — rodeo competition, barbecue beef dinners, the 20-vendor midway, and the Saturday afternoon kids’ rodeo, which will be operated under the health regulations in effect at that time.

Additional updated information, including ticket sales, is available on the rodeo website at www.gerryrodeo.org or by phone at 716-985-4847 or 1-888-985-4847.