A good announcer is at the heart of any great rodeo.

In fact, the announcer can make or break a rodeo and that’s why the Pike County Cattlemen contract the best announcer possible for the Cattlemen’s Annual Championship Rodeo.

And, the Cattlemen were able to snag the great Jim Poole to announce this weekend’s rodeo tonight and Saturday at Cattleman Park.

“We are excited to have Jim Poole behind the microphone,” said B.B. Palmer, publicity chair for the Pike County Cattlemen. “Jim brings added excitement to each event with his knowledge of rodeo and his flair for gab. He’ll keep the audience well entertained throughout the rodeo.”

Poole is a native of Durant, Okla. and grew up in a cowboy family.

“Jim began roping calves when he was barely six years old,” Palmer said. “He later added steer wrestling to his ‘menu.’ He rodeo’d, roping and wrestling, for years and started announcing while still competing.”

Poole’s rodeo announcing began by accident when the scheduled announcer didn’t show up.

“Jim was asked to fill in and that’s how his 50 years behind the mic got started,” Palmer said. “After about 12 years of competing and announcing mainly in Texas and Oklahoma, Jim got serious about his lifetime occupation and began booking rodeos all over the United States.

For years now, he has announced rodeos from Montana to Florida and from California to North Carolina.”

Poole and his wife moved to Louisiana in the 1990s and he was honored to be installed in the Louisiana Hall of Fame as a rodeo competitor and announcer.

“Jim said being named to the hall of fame was a humbling act and it will always be in his memory bank,” Palmer said. “But, he said that doesn’t rank as high as when he surrendered his life to the Lord. Jim’s a great man and a great announcer.

He’s looking forward to being at the Pike County Cattlemen’s Annual Championship Rodeo and we’re looking forward to having him. We’ll all have a good time together.”

The doors of Cattleman Park open at 6 p.m. and the rodeo begins at 7:30 tonight and Saturday. Tickets are $12 for ages seven and up. Ages six and under are admitted free.