Cowboy humorist Baxter Black headlines the kickoff to this year’s World Championship Ranch Rodeo, November 12-15 in Amarillo. Baxter will be featured in a presentation the night before the rodeo starts, November 11, in the Heritage Room at the Amarillo Civic Center.

            “An Evening with Baxter Black” coincides with the introduction of the 2009 WRCA competing teams.

            Baxter is a veterinarian who actually practiced the trade until 1982, when it became evident that his brand of cowboy poetry and public speaking made a better (and easier) way of living. Since then he has made presentations all over the country, appeared on the “Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson, has a weekly radio show broadcast on more than 200 stations and writes a syndicated weekly column called “On the Edge of Common Sense” that is carried in a number of agricultural publications and city newspapers.

            Baxter lives on his ranch near Benson, Arizona, and says that he still doesn’t own a television or a cell phone.

            Tickets for the Baxter Black performance, which starts at 7 p.m. and includes heavy hors d’oeuvres as well as the introduction of the rodeo teams, are available for $20. Tickets may also be purchased for a one-hour pre show, which includes a VIP meet and greet with Baxter along with the performance and rodeo team introduction, for $30.

            Tickets go on sale August 10 and may be purchased through the WRCA office, P.O. Box 7765, Amarillo, TX  79114 or by calling (806) 374-9722. All tickets must be purchased or reserved by November 2.

            Tickets for the 14^th annual World Championship Ranch Rodeo are currently available through Panhandle Tickets, (806) 378-3096 or www.panhandletickets.com.