Family tradition comes full circle for Bizzell at Sikeston Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo

SIKESTON, Mo. — A 70-year family tradition in the Sikeston Jaycees has come full circle for Sikeston native Dwight "De" Bizzell.

"My dad (David Bizzell) was a Jaycee and my grandfather (Dwight) Crader was a Jaycee," Bizzell recalled.

So, it's only fitting Bizzell served as the general chairman of the 70th annual Sikeston Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo, which ran Wednesday through Saturday.

"It's just been a whirlwind of a year in a good way," Bizzell said, reflecting on his time as chairman. "I would say it's been the two most fun years of my Jaycee career."

Bizzell served as the general co-chairman of the rodeo in 2021 in preparation for him to serve as this year's general chairman.

"Responsibilities as general co-chair usually start that May or June before that year's rodeo," Bizzell said. "So, it's been a little over 700 days of prepping for being in the general co-chair role and then moving to the chairman role on the Saturday night of barrel racing last year."

Bizzell credited fellow Jaycees for making the past two years great ones.

"When you have a great group of guys who are willing to do whatever it takes to make this organization go, it makes your job that much easier — and I've been so honored to work beside them these past two years," he said.

Bizzell said the Sikeston Jaycees are a good not-for-profit organization and one he's glad he joined.

"I grew up sitting in box 143 (at the Sikeston Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo) my whole life, and you see what the Jaycees did as a kid and then you learn what they do as an adult and think: 'I've got to be a part of it,'" said Bizzell, who is now 32.

Jaycees must be 21 before they can join, and when Bizzell turned 21, he didn't waste time joining. He was attending Drury University in Springfield, Missouri, at the time and traveled back and forth to Sikeston during rodeo time and then to participate as a Jaycee.

As this year's general chairman, Bizzell said he was proud to bring the mutton-busting event back to the rodeo.

"This past Saturday (Aug. 6), we introduced mutton-busting, so that was a project I've been wanting to do for the past few years," Bizzell said. "We had to build an arena downtown for the parade to end at, and there were a lot of logistics happening."

The Jaycees also watched rodeos on TV and traveled to some to study crowd pleasers and what other rodeos were doing that Sikeston could add to the show, he said.

"We could see how much the crowd got into the mutton-busting," Bizzell said.

He said he felt the inaugural event went over well.

"We had 51 contestants sign up," Bizzell said. "Every kid got on a sheep and a had blast."

A mutton-busting event was previously conducted in the Sikeston rodeo arena up until the late 1980s, Bizzell said; however, this year's event was the first-time having mutton-busting off the rodeo property. Of the participants in the Aug. 6 preliminary event, six children advanced to perform in the mutton-busting competition during Thursday night's rodeo, Bizzell said.

In addition to the mutton-busting event, Bizzell said he's proud the Jaycees, as a board, added more professionalism to the rodeo this year.

"We are a board with a business background and added a lot of professionalism and had strategical backing going on," Bizzell said. "We did a lot of tidying up on the property. There were no big buildings or projects going on like that."

Much of it was organizing the ticket and front office with the intent to help the rodeo run smoother, Bizzell said.

Ticket sales were very consistent to the past few years, Bizzell said, noting the Saturday has been sold out for quite some time.

The Jaycees volunteer their time in addition to holding down full-time jobs and tending to their families, said Bizzell, whose work includes his family's business, Bizzell Nursery Co., and also the family's property management company and rental company.

"I'm very thankful for my wife, Sheila, for stepping up. We have a 16-month-old daughter," Bizzell said. "I'm thankful for my mom and dad for stepping up and taking on the roles I take on in the business, especially these past few months."

Chuck Swisher of Kingfisher, Oklahoma, who has been a bull fighter for 17 years, spent the past nine years participating in the Sikeston Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo. During that time, he's also become friends with Bizzell and said he was happy to see him in the role of general chairman this year.

"It's like a big family reunion, like a homecoming for me," Swisher said about the Sikeston rodeo. "We're not home that often so whenever we go to a place that feels like home, you have to take advantage of it. The Bizzell family has taken us in and treated us like their own. The whole rodeo committee has."

Swisher said he's proud of Bizzell's work with the Jaycees and as chairman. Even more, the bull fighter said, he appreciates Bizzell's friendship.

"I'm not just a bull fighter," Swisher said. "He runs a business; I run a business; and we sit down and talk about that a lot. To have business-minded conversations with somebody and go away from rodeo for a second and dig in deep outside of the arena is nice," Swisher said.

Swisher said he and Bizzell talk often, not just when he rides into Sikeston for the week.

"If I have life problems, he's a guy I'd call and he'll be there to answer and help me out in tough times," Swisher said of Bizzell.

As Bizzell's tenure ended Saturday night, this year's rodeo general co-chairman, Ethan Vasquez, assumed the role as general chairman of the 2023 rodeo.

And Bizzell had nothing but good things to say about the next general chairman.

"Ethan comes from Tennessee," Bizzell said. "He's a transplant to Sikeston and works for Southeast Co-op. He's a great guy and very rehearsed around the rodeo world. I cannot wait to see what he does with the organization. He's a strong leader and has been president of the club as well. Ethan knows the guys inside and out. I can't wait to see what he brings to us in 2023."