Friday night at 8 p.m., the Rockin' MC Arena will bring 'The Greatest Show on Dirt' to Gaffney. And more than 200 cowboys and cowgirls are coming to town to be in it.

"This is one of the largest number of contestants entered for a South Carolina rodeo event," said arena official Jimmy Champion. "Part of the draw is that this will be our first annual 'Past Champions Rodeo'. We'll be recognizing two past Southern Rodeo Association (SRA) champions. We'll have all eight of the championship events bareback riding, saddle bronc riding, bull riding, calf roping, steer wrestling, team roping, cowgirls barrel racing and breakaway roping."

Events begin Friday at 8 p.m. and continue Saturday night at 8. And while the arena is basking in the glow of hosting this year's SRA Finals, Champion expects this weekend to be an even bigger draw.

"For starters, we'll have twice as many competitors," he said. "Previously, we had 108 contestants over three days. This will see 220 contestants in only two days. Many of the top rodeo athletes in the country will be there. For this event, the arena is drawing cowboys and cowgirls from all over South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia and many other states. People are coming from all over the east coast."

"The competitors are all very impressed with this arena," Champion said. "They are raving about the quality of the ground and the state-ofthe art facilities. We've done something that no other rodeo promoter around here has done and given away kids tickets to all of the elementary and junior high schools in the county. There'll be $4,500 worth of prize money up for grabs. We'll have a full show with folks like Robert Lloyd, Allen Livengood, Amanda and Brad Stewart and Traci Morris. What they need now is the Gaffney cheering section."

Tickets are $10 for adults. Children ages 13 and under are admitted free with a paid adult. For tickets or more information, call 487-1723, or log on to:

www.rockinmcarena.com