Rodeo grand marshal

Rob Lauer is the 2023 Dayton Rodeo grand marshal. Lauer grew up on a farm in Webster County and graduated from Callender High School in 1962. He began working for the Webster County Road Department in 1966 and stayed on the job there for 57 years. Lauer was a rodeo competitor in high school and served on the Dayton Rodeo Committee.

Motocross show

A motorcycle stunt show called the Steel Rodeo will be the specialty act during the 2023 Dayton Rodeo. Kenny Bartram, known as Cowboy Kenny, will be the primary rider. He is a professional freestyle motocross rider.

Haylie Roberts

“I’ll be hanging off the back of the bike and the front of the bike,” he said. “It’s a high flying act.”Bartam is a four-time gold medalist who has also won two silver medals and four bronze metals in the X Games and Gravity Games.

Flag carriers and queen

The 2023 Dayton Wrangler American Flag Carrier is 16-year-old Haylie Roberts, of Dayton. She is the daughter of Ann and Jamie Fyler and Amber and Wesley Roberts. She is currently a senior at Southeast Valley High School and will be pursuing a career in cosmetology after she graduates. She is a member of the Central Plains FFA, Red Rock Riders Drill Team, and the Honey Creek Rodeo Association, where she competes in barrel racing, goat tying, and soon to be breakaway.

Morgan Lenning, the Iowa state flag carrier, is the 14-year-old daughter of Erin Lenning and Dave Lenning. She is a freshman at Webster City High School and resides in Stratford. She has been a part of this rodeo for as long as she could remember. In her spare time she enjoys running barrels, flanking ponies, 4-H, serpentine, and spending time with her friends and younger brother.

The 2023 Dayton Wrangler Sr. Queen is 17-year-old Shelby Sorenson, of Pilot Mound. She is the daughter of Trent Sorenson and Steve and Bernadette Culp. She is currently a junior at Southeast Valley High School. She is active in the Central Plains FFA Chapter, National Honor Society, Student Council, and the IRR (Iowa Rodeo Roughstock), where she competes in barrel racing, goat tying, and breakaway.

Tayah Carter

Tayah Carter, 14, of Bussey, is the Dayton Wrangler Jr. Queen. She enjoys playing sports such as softball, basketball, volleyball, swim team, and trap shooting and anything that involves a horse. She has a gelding named Samson and a mare named Ginger. She is involved in 4-H, showing, horse judging, hippology, and quiz bowl. In November, she will be competing in the Eastern National 4-H Roundup contest in Kentucky.

Gizmo McCracken returns to Dayton Rodeo in 2023

“We live in a world where it is hard to laugh anymore. We need to learn to laugh again,” said Gizmo McCracken about his rodeo comedy act that will be gracing the arena this year for the annual Dayton Labor Day rodeo. Gizmo has several different characters he portrays in shows.

“The best compliment I get is when a little kid comes up to me after the rodeo and asks me, ‘Which one were you’?” He said that adults like to listen to what he has to say, but kids “wanna see ya.”

Gizmo has been to Dayton three times in the past (including the last two years) and has fond memories of the rodeo. “Folks in Dayton are great,” he said. “One year they ran a phone line to my bus so I could work on my other business interests while I was here. Cell phone service is pretty bad in Dayton, but the rodeo folks went out of their way to make sure I could still make calls.”

Rob Lauer

He said he works the rodeo from “hello to goodnight.” He has been nominated for the rodeo Comedy Act of the Year many times and won the award in 2017. Gizmo and his family–including a tea cup long-haired chihuahua named Tea Cup–live in southwest Missouri.

Schedule of events

September 1st – 3rd

5 p.m. – Gates open

7 p.m. – Rodeo followed by fireworks

Gizmo McCracken

September 4th

10 a.m. – Parade

11:30 a.m. – Gates open

1:30 p.m. – Rodeo

Tickets

Adults – $20

Kids ages 6 to 11 – $10 • Kids under 6 – Free

On Sept. 1:Those will a military ID will get

a $200 discount

On Sept. 4:Kids age 11 and

under will be admitted free