RODEO ANNOUNCER HITS ROAD, BUT CALLS HIMSELF HOMEBODY

Duane Peters is a born talker.

The veteran rodeo announcer from Howe, Texas, spends about 200 days a year on the road, doing about 35 rodeos.

He also finds time to serve on the Howe city council, be active in the Chamber of Commerce and present motivational seminars. He is an auctioneer and active in the "cowboy chapter" of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

A former radio disc jockey and rodeo cowboy, Peters writes poetry and songs.

"I write a lot of songs," he said Saturday prior to the second night of the Cape Shrine Club Rodeo in Cape Girardeau.

This is the second year for the rodeo, sanctioned by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA).

About 800 people braved rainy weather to watch the rodeo at Arena Park Friday night, organizers said. Another good crowd was expected Saturday night, Shrine Club members said.

The rodeo action concludes tonight, with the action to get under way at 7:30.

Peters' wife, Rose, spends much of the year on the road with him. Home for much of that time is a travel trailer.

Peters said his wife, Rose, writes a column for the weekly newspaper in Howe, reporting on their rodeo travels. In the last couple of years, she has learned to oil paint.

"We just have fun," said the gregarious Peters. "We like to be involved in everything."

Peters said that with his busy schedule, it's hard to get back to his home near Dallas. "I've been on the road since Christmas."

While most rodeos last a couple of days, Peters often spends a week at one place, arriving in advance of the rodeo to help publicize it.

But he has found time to get home on occasion. Peters said he can't afford to miss too many council meetings.

The 43-year-old Peters has been announcing rodeos for years. "I've been announcing rodeos since I was 12."

As a youngster growing up in the Fort Worth, Texas, area, Peters said he always enjoyed public speaking.

He said he remembers as a child watching television newscasts. After watching the news, he would take the newspaper to his room and practice reading the news stories while looking into the mirror.

When he was 12, he entered a junior rodeo. With the rodeo being short an announcer, he filled in, and participated as well.

He said he has spent time working in all facets of the rodeo business, from working in the livestock pens to competing as a cowboy. "I rode bareback horses and bulls through high school."

But Peters said he was always drawn to the announcing end of the business. "There was something about the entertainment end that intrigued me."

Peters spent a few years as a radio disc jockey. But in 1978 at the age of 29, he went into the rodeo-announcing business full time.

He has announced a number of major rodeos over the years, including a 1983 "command performance" rodeo held in the Washington, D.C., area for then-President Ronald Reagan.

"I like the sport," said Peters. "I believe in what it stands for."

For Peters, rodeos personify the American frontier spirit.

He views his job primarily as that of an entertainer, taking rodeo audiences on a "ride through the romanticism of the Old West frontier."

Said Peters, "I'm a verbal craftsman, an entertainer, a master of ceremonies."

He said his job is to tie together all the various elements of a rodeo, the various competitions and performances through his words to the audience.

"What is really on your mind during a performance is entertaining them," he noted.

A 2-hour rodeo is a fast-paced show, he pointed out. Mental preparation is important.

To do that, Peters must review a wealth of information, on everything from the individual contestants to rodeo events.

"We have 10,000 members in PRCA." At any one rodeo, there are generally about 300 cowboys competing.

"My briefcase weighs about 97 pounds," he said with a chuckle. "It is just chock-full of information."

Peters is not one to sit still. He's in the process of doing some remodeling on his home, when he can find the time to be home.

Said Peters, "I'm a real homebody and I love to be home I'm just never there."