MYAKKA CITY — Every few minutes somebody drove along Clay Gully Road, tapped the horn and Victor Scarbrough waved back.
Even if he didn’t recognize them.
It might’ve been somebody coming to Myakka City Bull Riding tonight and saw the lanky event organizer and ranch manager with his Ford F-450 pickup truck at the Circle S Rodeo Arena.
“It’s a good little thing we’ve got going on,” Scarbrough said Wednesday, taking a break from stapling up posters around town. “Man vs. beast. Going up against a bull 1,200 to 1,800 pounds for eight seconds. Everybody loves bull riding. It’s a rush. Gives the community something to do on a Saturday night.”
Danny Cacchiotti, Myakka City’s fire chief, agreed.
“You’d never catch me riding a bull, but watching it is invigorating,” he said. “For folks living here not much goes on, but it’s good entertainment for a good price. There’s been a lot of word of mouth about it. Somebody just called me and asked if I’m going. Heck, yeah.”
Scarbrough, 42, grew up here, roping and riding since boyhood, and after years of putting on bull riding events statewide decided to focus on home.
Tonight is the fourth show at the 120-foot-by-100-foot arena supporters helped him complete in February.
“If it weren’t for this community, my sponsors — and we’re looking for more — people from Arcadia and LaBelle coming in and helping, it wouldn’t happen,” Scarbrough said. “It’s amazing the people who come together and made this go.”
Myakka Family Worship Center is among them.
Scarbrough’s first bull riding event was held on the congregation’s Singletary Road grounds three years ago, drawing 300, said Pastor Lynn Howell.
Months later at MFWC, it drew 3,000 and raised $14,000 for a Myakka City firefighter fighting cancer.
Howell, whose church youth group mans the children’s bounce houses and helps sell popcorn, snow cones and home baked desserts, appreciates the event’s impact.
“It brings the community together for a good time, a good cause, and become a real family event,” the Myakka City native said. “It’s a great way to raise money and have fun in a safe environment.”
Scarbrough augments that feeling by inviting other youth groups — high school FFA, 4-H clubs, etc. — to run concessions.
Sarasota Manatee Association for Riding Therapy will do it tonight.
“Growing up, I never had people say, ‘We’re going to do this to raise money for you.’ So all the concession money goes to them,” said the stepfather of four. “Trying to help youth groups is all this is.”
If Scarbrough needed a sign it was a good idea to build a lighted bull riding arena with bleachers amidst a 40-acre field, he saw it last month.
“It was pouring rain and there were still hundreds of people in the stands, wearing raincoats and trashbags, hollering, ‘Buck them Bulls! Buck them Bulls!’ ’’ he said. “They were loving it.”
Carl Sellitti Jr. was impressed, too.
He’s chairman of the Southern States Bullriding Association, which sanctions tonight’s monthly stop on the SSBA Jason Wade Challenger Series Red Man Tour.
“We’ve got big time riders — pros like Jimmy Lathero, Brian Courson — and they were saying, ‘We thought we were tough,’ ’’ Sellitti said. “People never left. Amazing.”
He knew Scarbrough was onto something the first time he caught Myakka City Bull Riding in March.
“I came over from Arcadia and there’s a line of cars wrapped around the curve of this country road in the middle of ranch land,” Sellitti said. “I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh. Look at this!’ Then when I got into the event, the amount of people there, the noise, the excitement, it was electric.
“Mind you, it’s not big like Arcadia’s rodeo, and I see 100 to 200 events a year, but this is one I look forward to. Those folks put on a good show.”
Vin Mannix, local columnist, can be reached at 745-7055, or write him at Bradenton Herald, P.O. Box 921, Bradenton, Fla. 34206 or e-mail him at vmannix@bradenton.com. Please include a phone number for verification.
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