Garth Brooks may have described it best when he said, "Well, it's bulls and blood. It's dust and mud. It's the roar of a Sunday crowd ... It's boots and chaps. It's cowboy hats ... It's the ropes and the reins, and the joy and the pain, and they call the thing rodeo."

Now that rodeo has come to Mercer County.

Dave and Margie Dersham wanted to build the Sundance Arena on Fredonia Road in Delaware Township as a place to ride horses, rope, barrel race and have a place in the neighborhood to have fun.

Once construction started, the building kept getting bigger, Dersham said.

"It kind of got out of hand," he said.

So they decided to make the arena big enough to do whatever they wanted, including a place to host a professional rodeo.

Ken VanPelt, who partners with the Dershams on cattle and is a roping mentor at the arena, is a professional rodeo rider. VanPelt contacted the Oklahoma-based International Professional Rodeo Association.

VanPelt said the rodeo is sanctioned through the IPRA, and the competitors ride for points.

Riding for points is something VanPelt, who has been a roper for more than 30 years, knows about. Dersham touts him as "one of the better ropers east of the Mississippi."

The rodeo at Sundance Arena is "not backyard stuff," Dersham said. "This is the real deal."

The first rodeo was held in January, another is set for Saturday and a third for March 22.

Dersham said they had riders that were "the best of the best" east of the Mississippi river. There were 118 competitors, VanPelt said.

The crowd exceeded the expectations of the Dershams and VanPelt. All 1,350 tickets for the bleachers were sold and the standing-room-only crowd packed in, Dersham said.

"People want to see a good, wholesome family show," Dersham said.

"It's wholesome entertainment," Mrs. Dersham added.

That show included bareback bronc riding, steer wrestling, saddle bronc riding, cowgirls barrel racing, calf roping, team roping and bull riding.

VanPelt said one reason the rodeo was so popular is because bull riding is shown on television more and people are more educated about the sport. In the past, rodeos weren't broadcast regularly on television, he said.

Money from the food vendors during the rodeos will go to a different benefit each month, Dersham said. He said January's proceeds went to help Jonathan Fisher, a Mercer resident who has inoperable brain cancer. February's proceeds will go to the Fredonia Volunteer Fire Department and in March the Fredonia Lion's Club will get the donation.

"We're trying to help the community out as much as we can," Dersham said.

Preparing for the rodeo is a lot of work. Planning for the first event began right after Thanksgiving, Dersham said. He said it took weeks to locate animals that were IPRA approved for competition and to get the bleachers and the arena ready for such a large event.

"There's a lot that goes on in the background that you just don't see," Dersham said. He added there are many logistics issues to deal with.

March will be the Sundance Arena's last rodeo for awhile because rodeos are held outside when the weather warms up, Mrs. Dersham said.

The arena is still busy even when the rodeo isn't in town. Nearly every day of the week people from the neighborhood use the arena to ride horses, rope and barrel race, Dersham said.

"We like to be busy," Mrs. Dersham said. Her husband said they just want to have a place where everyone can have fun.

For more information on the rodeo call (724) 475-3276 or (724) 263-8628.

You can e-mail Herald Staff Writer Kristen Garrett at kgarrett@sharonherald.com