GERRY — Painted Pony Championship Rodeo, the stock contractor for the Gerry Fire Department’s annual professional rodeo, has received the honor of having one of their bulls chosen to compete in the National Finals Rodeo during the 10-day televised event, which runs Thursday though Dec. 11 in Las Vegas.

The bull named, Cocktail Diarrhea, was chosen from more than 700 bulls nominated by cowboys and other rodeo personnel for this event, based on his bucking performances over the past year. He was purchased for $10,000 three years ago by Shawn Graham, and this nearly 2,000-pound bull has made a name for himself across the nation, including taking cowboys to championship rides in the Ram National Circuit Finals in Florida and the Extreme Bulls event in South Dakota. The performance of the bull is very important to the cowboys as 50% of the score on the eight-second ride is based on the animal and 50% on the cowboy.

Having an animal chosen to the National Finals Rodeo, called the “Super Bowl” of rodeo, is one of the highest honors a stock contractor can receive, and Shawn, his wife, and their three children will be taking the long trip from their home in Lake Lucerne, New York, to watch their bull in action during the 10-day event, which will pay out more than $10 million in prize money. The top 15 cowboys and cowgirls in earnings won in their event over the past rodeo season have qualified to compete.

The NFR is held in the 17,000 seat Thomas and Mack Center on the campus of UNLV, and will be televised each night, beginning Thursday and continuing through Dec. 11, on the RFD Channel, the Cowboy Channel, and the Cowboy Channel app from 8:45 to midnight EST.

This event is one of the nation’s toughest “ticket buys” in professional sports as it has been sold out for 330 straight performances, covering 33 years. The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) is the governing body for this event, as well as sanctioning more than 600 rodeos across the country each year, including the Gerry rodeo.

This summer will mark the 77th year that the Gerry Volunteer Fire Department has brought professional rodeo to Western New York. The event will feature more than 200 professional cowboys and cowgirls from across the nation, competing for more than $50,000 in prize money in the eight traditional rodeo events for four performances, Aug. 3-6, in their rodeo arena just north of Jamestown. Painted Pony Championship Rodeo will be returning for the ninth year as the stock contractor. Additional information is available at the rodeo website www.gerryrodeo.org