Danville-Neel Elementary student Kenneth Tittle rides a mechanical bull at Morgan County Special Needs Rodeo Thursday. | Clif Knight

Clif Knight

Hartselle Enquirer

Morgan County’s Special Needs Rodeo continues to get bigger and better.

The Morgan County Celebration Arena was filled to near capacity by over 1,400 special needs children and adults, special education teachers and aides, peer tutors and volunteers on Thursday.

The sixth annual event is sponsored by The Morgan County Sheriff’s Mounted Posse under the leadership of Sheriff Ana Franklin, with the assistance of an estimated 300 volunteers.

A popular new attraction this year were Disney and American hero characters sponsored by Calvary Assembly Church. Teens and young adults, dressed as fictitious characters such as Sleeping Beauty and Superman, mixed and mingled with guests and posed for photographs.

Several other area churches sponsored booths and offered free gifts and refreshments.

Participants spent the morning hours taking part in a wide variety of games and activities including bull riding, face painting, disco dancing, horseback riding, hoop shooting and  calf roping. They also received free firefighter helmets, balloons and snow cones.

A sack lunch of a grilled hamburger, chips, Little Debbie cake and bottle of water was served at 11 a.m.

After lunch, guests were treated to an exhibition rodeo in the competition arena. Experienced cowboys and cowgirls competed in barrel racing, calf roping, team steer roping, bull riding and bareback bronco riding.

“We’re thankful for a warm spring day and a huge crowd,” said Harleen Reynolds, a member of Sheriff Franklin’s office staff. “We planned lunch for 1,469 people and it looks like we’ll need that many to feed everyone.”