He finds rest and relaxation -- and a degree of satisfaction -- working long hours helping to run the Wild Bill Hickok Rodeo, which runs July 29 through Aug. 1 at the fairgrounds in Abilene.

"It's just something I enjoy doing, and of course, there's no pay," said Marsteller, 58.

Marsteller, a delivery driver who covers the eastern two-thirds of Kansas for Van Diest, an agricultural chemical distributor, eagerly anticipates a week's rodeo vacation every summer.

In his eighth year as rodeo committee chairman, he's been among the rodeo volunteers since 1991. The goal is to fill the stands with up to 3,500 people each night and provide hospitality to the 591 cowboys and cowgirls who are entered.

"We're in the entertainment business," Marsteller said.

To meet those lofty standards, he will serve at the rodeo grounds 16 hours a day "for four days straight."

The rodeo in Abilene is vital for several reasons -- as a revenue producer for the town, as a major attraction conjoined with the Central Kansas Free Fair from July 29 through Aug. 4, and as one of a triangle of nearly simultaneous Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association events in Kansas:

n64th annual Wild Bill Hickok Rodeo, July 29 through Aug. 1 in Abilene

n80th annual Kansas' Biggest Rodeo, July 30 through Aug. 1 in Phillipsburg

n and Dodge City Roundup Rodeo, July 29 through Aug. 2

"It's a big social event for the whole area," said D.J. Base, a professional bull rider from Park City.

The rodeo in Phillipsburg is by far the biggest annual event in town, said Steve Bruning, rodeo committee secretary. More than 200 people volunteer at the rodeo every year.

"We have a lot of family reunions and a lot of high school classes that schedule their reunions around the rodeo," Bruning said.

Last year, 421 contestants competed in Phillipsburg, and about 15,000 fans attended the three-day event. This year, 505 are entered.

"Contestants around the nation (are) increasing because fuel prices are down," said Ruth Nicolaus, of Blue Hill, Neb., a publicist who helps promote the rodeos in Abilene and Phillipsburg.

"Attendance at my rodeos and, I think, rodeos nationwide has not dropped," she said. "People still want to be entertained, but they are looking for it closer to home. Pro rodeo is a good value for the dollar."

The rodeo is a major contributor to Abilene's transient guest tax, said Glenda Purkis, director of the Abilene Convention & Visitors Bureau, which is funded by the tax.

Local hotels fill up and restaurants are crowded during rodeo week, she said. The same occurs in Phillipsburg, Bruning said.

"We like to get those heads in beds," Purkis said. Of the $134,000 in bed tax revenue generated last year in Abilene, more than $20,000 was collected in August, she said.

The rodeo is as good as those who put it on, Purkis said, and Abilene is fortunate to have Marsteller. The Wild Bill Hickok Rodeo was ranked in the top five of the PRCA rodeos in 1995, 2001 and 2002.

"That's his passion, and he chooses to do it," Purkis said. "The rodeo, I'm sure, would not be the event that it is without Jerry and his volunteers."

Marsteller's volunteer job is year-round, with monthly meetings. Enthusiasm hits a crescendo in late July.

"He lives, breathes, eats and sleeps it. That rodeo is run very well because Jerry makes sure things get done. He takes care of people," Nicolaus said.

The rodeos attract some of the best cowboys in the world -- among them Trevor Brazile, of Decatur, Texas, the 2008 world champion all-around cowboy at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo last December in Las Vegas; and Stran Smith, of Childress, Texas, last year's world champion tie-down roper -- who have entered the Abilene and Phillipsburg rodeos.

Seven of last year's world champions are entered in the Phillipsburg rodeo, Bruning said. Four of those are competing in Abilene, Marsteller said. Of the nine champions at last year's Wild Bill Hickok Rodeo, "eight are entered to defend their titles," he said.

With overlapping rodeos in the vicinity, the top cowboys and cowgirls are attracted to Kansas.

The schedule also helps the rodeo athletes who maintain careers outside of the sport, such as Base, 25, a chemical engineer for Syngenta.

He will compete in Abilene on Wednesday night, Dodge City on Thursday and Phillipsburg on Friday.

"Those are really great rodeos," Base said. "The circuit system is set up to where you can travel within your state or three or four states, if you can't be gone all the time."

Abilene and Phillipsburg both have well-run rodeos, he said, with rodeo committee members who treat the contestants well.

"I think those two shows, with the community involvement, are huge for our circuit," Base said. "Phillipsburg probably IS the biggest rodeo in Kansas. It has huge grandstands and it's just packed."

One problem, when cowboys are darting all over the state to compete, is having the best competitors when the paying customers are in the stands. These rodeos use "slack" times for cowboys to compete, during the mornings and afternoons.

Phillipsburg has adopted a "progressive format" for timed events -- calf roping, team roping and steer wrestling -- which requires all contestants to compete in the slack, Bruning said.

"The faster 36 times will run in the rodeo Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights," he said. "The advantage is, hopefully, we see the top 36 contestants come back and the people in attendance then will see more world champions."

Before, some of the contestants with the best times in an event might compete and then move on, robbing spectators of a chance to see the best.

"Now, the best times run in the rodeo," Bruning said.

Prize money is what brings the best to Kansas. The Phillipsburg rodeo has added $63,000 to the purse, Bruning said. He was unsure what the total purse would be.

Contestants in Abilene are competing for approximately $85,000 in prize money, with $37,500 in added money from the rodeo committee and the fair board, Marsteller said, which is generated through sponsorships.

The top 15 money winners in each of the nine events during the rodeo season qualify for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in December.

"Cowboys compete for dollars. Total dollars is what gets them to the national finals," Abilene's Marsteller said.

More than dollars, the pro rodeo athletes like the atmosphere and the hospitality, he said.

"We treat 'em like they're family," Marsteller said.

n Reporter Tim Unruh can be reached at 822-1419 or by e-mail at tunruh@salina.com.

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