One of my favorite John Wayne quotes is: “Life is hard; it’s even harder if you’re stupid”. Thank goodness the living is easy at Berry Farms! (Even if you aren’t the sharpest spade in the shed.) Location is one of the 10 Things We LOVE About Berry Farms (click the link if you missed that post). This week is a great example of family fun right in our own back yard.
Once a year we get the chance to see some real, I said REAL, cowboys and cowgirls. (Not the ones you see on Broadway on any given Saturday night.) Get ready; it’s Rodeo time in Franklin! The 67th Annual Franklin Rodeo produced by the Franklin Noon Rotary Club is this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, 7:00 p.m. at the Williamson County Ag Expo Park just across the interstate from Town Center. And this is the REAL Deal … it is part of the PRCA ProRodeo Circuit so you won’t be disappointed.
In addition to being one of the longest running family events in Middle TN and one of the largest rodeos east of the Mississippi (o.k., we can’t compete with Texas on this one), the Franklin Rodeo, Founded in 1949 by the Franklin Noon Rotary Club has raised over a million dollars for local charities including the Franklin Boys and Girls Club, J.L. Clay Senior Citizens Center, Williamson County 4H Club, Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts, Special Olympics, Habitat for Humanity, CASA, Breast Health Center at Williamson Medical Center, and many, many more local organizations and schools. This is one event we can all enjoy and feel good about our money being poured right back into our community.
Berry Farms kicked off the Rodeo fun with our April 26th Realtor Luncheon at the Town Center Park. Over 200 residential and commercial real estate agents attended and enjoyed tours of the Town Center homes and retail spaces in the commercial district. We were treated to some amazing smoked BBQ by The Franklin BBQ Society, a spin-off of The Franklin Noon Rotary Club that provides the BBQ and fixins nightly during the Rodeo at The Rodeo Café inside the Ag Center arena. Guests also enjoyed Whit’s Frozen Custard for dessert. (If you haven’t been by yet to meet Erin and Brian and sample their made-daily flavor-of-the-week, you should jump on your horse and hurry on over!) The Franklin Rodeo provided door prizes consisting of The Rodeo Experience (tickets, dinner at the Rodeo Café, Cantina entrance, and t-shirts and caps) and the real estate office with the most realtor attendees won 20 tickets to be given to the charity of their choice. (The Crye-Leike Cool Springs office won and will be donating those tickets to the children of Youth Villages.)
It was a fun event and great way to get fired up about this week’s festivities. Never been to the Franklin Rodeo? Not sure if it’s for you? Check out the FREE Down-in-the-dirt Kick-Off Party Wednesday night, May 18th, from 6 p.m. till 9 p.m. All the details at www.franlinrodeo.com
As John Wayne might say, “Come on Pilgrim, we’re burnin’ daylight, get to the Rodeo.”
By Lisa Gregory, May 15, 2016