Three area rodeos within an hour's drive have been nominated as best of the year in their categories.

The Black Hills Stock Show Rodeo has been nominated for the 12th time as top indoor rodeo of 2007 by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. The Black Hills Roundup at Belle Fourche and Deadwood's Days of '76 are two of the top five medium-size outdoor rodeos.

It may be the largest number of rodeos nominated for top honors from such a small population base.

The Days of '76 has been named best small outdoor rodeo in the country four times and medium outdoor rodeo three times.

The Belle Fourche Roundup this year has its first nomination as top medium event. The two Northern Hills rodeos are within a half-hour's drive and are produced less than a month apart.

The Black Hills Stock Show Rodeo won the top indoor rodeo award in 2002 and 2003.

All three will compete with events in much larger communities.

The stock show is competing for top honors against Denver, Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio, Texas, indoor rodeos - all operations that get far more media coverage.

Deadwood and Belle Fourche are competing against Bremerton, Wash., Gladewater, Texas, and Jackson, Miss.

Winners will be announced the evening before the start of the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas in December.

At PRCA headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colo., communications manager Sherry Compton said the nominations are "quite a coup for the rodeos in your area."

The three rodeos have different rodeo contractors, but each is a legend in the sport.

Belle Fourche hosts one of the nation's oldest ongoing rodeos; 2008 will be the 89th annual Roundup. Powder River Rodeos, operated by Hank and Lori Franzen, contracted Belle Fourche after they opened for business 21 years ago at Wright, Wyo.

The Franzens have a barnload of awards for PRCA top rodeos and top rodeo livestock. In 21 years of business, they have become one of the top four or five stock contractors in the world.

Korkow Rodeos, contractor for Deadwood, and Sutton Rodeos, which produces the stock show rodeo, are among the country's oldest rodeo contractors.

Korkows are one of only three contractors who have produced livestock for the national finals every year since it began in the 1950s.

The Suttons had NFR horses from 1959 through 2006.

Meanwhile, plans are going forward for the 2008 Black Hills Stock Show Rodeo, set for Jan. 25 through Feb. 3.

The Xtreme Bulls Division I, which will be televised by ESPN, will open the rodeo on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 25 and 26.

New this year will be the Saddle Bronc Classic at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 26, with the finals to be held Saturday night during the Xtreme Bulls Finals, according to a news release from Sutton Rodeos.

The 20X High School Rodeo will again be featured on the first Sunday of the stock show, Jan. 27.

The PRCA tour rodeos will begin Thursday, Jan. 31, and run through Sunday, Feb. 3.

Another new event for the 2008 rodeo will be the Super Elite Bucking Bull Sale on Saturday, Jan. 26, beginning at 11 a.m. in the arena.

The annual Bucking Horse & Bull Sale will be held Wednesday and Thursday, Jan. 30 and 31.

Also new this year, Sutton Rodeos will be selling a special ticket package including all 10 rodeo performances during the stock show. The ticket packages will be sold through ticket fliers mailed on Nov. 1. The package deal will provide the ticketholder the same seat throughout the rodeo performances, according to Julie Sutton of Sutton Rodeos. More details on the package deal will be announced later.