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With Christmas fast approaching, the Clarendon Chamber of Commerce still has three nights of Late Night Shopping and prize giveaways planned providing plenty of opportunities for people to support local merchants.

Several merchants will be staying open late the next three Thursday nights, December 9, 16, and 23.

This week the First United Methodist Church will hold a Parents’ Night Out on Thursday, December 9, from 5:00 to 8:30 p.m. Parents can drop off kids while they take part in late night shopping. The kids will enjoy games and activities while the parents get a Night Out to finish up their last-minute shopping.

Shoppers can register at any “Shop Donley County” merchant throughout the week for the prize drawings on Late Nights. You must be present to win, and the location of the drawing will be at different locations each week. This week’s drawing will take place at Henson’s at Third and Kearney at 8 p.m.

Merchants known to be open past 5 p.m. this week include Floyd’s Automotive until 5:30, Buckin’ Bean until 7:00, Clarendon Outpost until 10:00, Outpost Deli until 8:00, Cornell’s Country Store until 6:00, Broken Road Jr. Liquor Store until 8:00, Country Bloomers until 5:30, Henson’s until 8:00, Every Nook & Cranny until 8:00, Loaded Nutrition / Rambling Ranch Boutique until 8:00, Floatin’ T Boutique until 8:00, and Saye’s Flying ‘A’ Tack until 8:00.

Also this Thursday at 6:30 p.m., the public is invited to attend a ribbon cutting and grand opening of The Savage Agency north of the Mulkey Theatre at 106 S. Kearney.

For updates on Late Night Shopping information, check out ClarendonTx.com/ChamberEvents.

By Ted Harbin

LAS VEGAS – To most men, the thought of entering the ring with the greatest heavyweight fighters in the world wouldn’t be considered.

Bareback riders aren’t like most men. They don’t mind a prize fight, and Saturday’s third round at the National Finals Rodeo was a 15-round bout. It was Cole Franks’ first foray in the NFR’s “Eliminator Pen,” and he matched up just fine.

“It’s really nerve-wracking,” said Franks, 20, an NFR newcomer from Clarendon, Texas. “When I was waiting on the draw last night, I was getting really anxious and couldn’t sit still.”

By the time he nodded his head, Franks was ready. He rode Four Star Rodeo’s Deep Springs for 85 points to finish sixth in the round, worth $4,352. He has pushed his NFR earnings to $28,071.

“I got really lucky that I drew one I had been on before, which worked out the jitters since I knew what to expect more,” he said. “I hadn’t been on any of these other horses before.”

This was the first night the toughest-to-ride horses in the world are scheduled to be out at this year’s NFR. They will return next Thursday for the eighth round, and they definitely earned their moniker by being true eliminators. High scores were hard to come by, and a couple of cowboys hit the Thomas & Mack Center dirt hard after being bucked off.

Franks had ridden Deep Springs for 82 points in Pendleton, Oregon, this past September, and that allowed him a bit more confidence when it came to trying to spur the strong animal.

“It was definitely a dog fight both times I had him,” Franks said. “he’s real strong and pumps his head, and the rigging drops out of there. He’s just real big and strong.”

The bareback riders get a bit of a break heading into the next two nights. Sunday’s fourth round will feature the “Hopper Pen” of bucking horses, the animals that are supposed to be the easiest to ride. Monday’s fifth round will expose the “TV Pen,” which will showcase the most electric bucking horses in bareback riding.

“I’m going to have to let it all hang out, because it’s going to be a spurring contest,” he said, referring to the cowboys spurring from the horse’s neck back to the rigging in rhythm with the animal’s bucking motion. “Really the only way you’re going to get rewarded (Sunday) night is if you make the perfect ride.”

Of course, as one of the top 15 bareback riders in ProRodeo, he knew it was going to be a battle over 10 December nights to decide this year’s world championship.

“It’s awesome to be part of this field,” Franks said. Everyone here makes you bring your best, too. Everybody here wants you to win just as badly as you want to win, and they’re going to push you to try and beat them.”

By Ted Harbin

It was the fall of 2020 when Cole Franks made a couple of goals for himself.

He was a sophomore at Clarendon College in his hometown, competing on the rodeo team for his father, Bret Franks, the program’s coach. He also had just purchased his card, allowing him to be a full-fledged member of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association instead of a permit-holder.

He wanted to win a college championship for his team for the 2020-21 National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association season and hoped to add the PRCA’s Bareback Riding Rookie of the Year title.

The missions were accomplished in multiple ways over the summer run of rodeo. Franks dominated the bareback riding race at the College National Finals Rodeo and also qualified for the championship round in saddle bronc riding to win both the bareback riding and all-around titles in Casper, Wyoming. He also was a major part of the reason the men’s team title went to Clarendon.

Within a few weeks of that, he’d earned enough money to have clinched the rookie crown. He finished with $77,393 in earnings, leading the field by nearly $45,000. With that, though, he added another major accomplishment to his list by qualifying for the National Finals Rodeo. In fact, he’ll head to Las Vegas for ProRodeo’s grand finale as the 12th-ranked bareback rider in the world standings.

“Making the finals is really great,” said Franks, 20, now a junior at Missouri Valley College in Marshall, Missouri.

“When I got my card this year, I wasn’t focused on it or even looking at the finals this year. I was just looking at the rookie deal and banking on making the finals next year. For it to happen this year is really cool.”

It happened because of relationships he’s developed in his time in ProRodeo. He joined two NFR veterans – three-time world champion Tim O’Connell and 2020 average titlist Jess Pope – on the rodeo trail and gained some education because of it. As Franks moved his way up the bareback riding money list, O’Connell and Pope offered the idea of a switch in priorities: Focus on making the NFR, and the rookie race would come.

That’s exactly what happened. Along the way, Franks picked up some big victories. In fact, he finished the 2021 campaign with 13 event titles and had three rides of 90 points or better, all of which came the same week in early August. He started out the week by scoring 92 points on Three Hills Rodeo’s Spanish Feathers to win in Carson, Iowa.

A couple days later, he followed that with a 90 on Pickett Pro Rodeo’s Bar Code to win the first round in Dodge City, Kansas, advancing to the championship round at the ProRodeo Hall of Fame event in western Kansas. On Short-Round Sunday, he set an arena record by spurring Frontier Rodeo’s Gun Fire for 93 points, one of the highest scores of the season in the PRCA.
Born in Guymon, Oklahoma, Franks is the second generation of his family to advance to rodeo’s most prestigious event; Bret Franks was a three-time NFR qualifier in saddle bronc riding. Cole Franks proves the genetics come strong in their athletic form, but so does the love for the game.

He was two months from being born the last time his dad played on the biggest stage in ProRodeo. He’s only seen videos and heard stories, but that never curbed his hunger to be one of the best cowboys in the sport. Like his dad, Cole Franks likes riding bucking horses. He uses a bronc saddle some, especially in college, but he’s excelled using a bareback rigging.

“It’s cool to think I’m following in Dad’s footsteps, even if it’s in bareback riding and not bronc riding,” said Franks, who credits much of his success to his sponsors, Cinch, Pete Carr Pro Rodeo, Western Legacy Co. and 287 Ag.

“I have always told myself that I had to make it at least three times, tying Dad’s three,” he said. “But I want to make it to where I have three (world championship) gold buckles to put with Dad’s three back numbers.”

By transferring to Missouri Valley, he’s positioned himself to only improve upon his skills. The college is well known for its bareback riding prowess, and Franks will be one of four bronc busters with ties to the college performing at the NFR, joining O’Connell, Pope and Tanner Aus for the 10 nights of action from Dec. 2-11 in Las Vegas.

“Bareback riding is just more of a fight,” Franks said. “I wouldn’t say I’ve always had a fighter’s personality, but I’ve always wished I was in a way. I think that’s what made me stick with it because of the aggressiveness of it. In the bronc riding, you have to be relaxed to a point, but in bareback riding, it’s 100 percent bare down.”

It’s the perfect fit for the young man who won’t back down from a fight with a 1,200-pound bucking beast.