TIHAN Update - By Scott Blades, Executive Director

TUCSON (Observer Update) - This weekend, January 17-18 (Martin Luther King Holiday Weekend), the Arizona Gay Rodeo Association (AGRA) is having its annual Road Runner Regional Rodeo at Rawhide at Wild Horse Pass on the Gila River Indian Community, approximately 90 minutes from Tucson, right off Interstate 10 before you get into Phoenix. TIHAN (Tucson Interfaith HIV/AIDS Network) will be there, and we hope you will be, too! They're expecting scores of cowboys, cowgirls, and friends for this annual Phoenix gay rodeo!

All the profits raised from the rodeo are distributed to charities, and TIHAN is grateful to have been one of the recipients of rodeo proceeds over the years. So, in addition to a great time, your presence at the rodeo also ensures funding for valuable services in the community. A lot of people go to Phoenix for the Rodeo as just a day trip, but some of us will be there all weekend staying at one of the host hotels. Rodeo admission tickets are $15/day or $25 for a two-day pass. For more direction and information about the AGRA Phoenix rodeo and schedules and host hotels, the AGRA rodeo hotline phone number is (602) 265-8166, or their website is agra-phx.com.

With its beginnings in Reno in 1976, the gay rodeo movement has grown substantially, and raises thousands of dollars for charity each year. The Arizona rodeo is among the longest-running and best-attended on the International Gay Rodeo Association circuit. TIHAN will have an information booth there, and we need volunteers to help staff the booth for two-hour shifts, so please let us know as soon as possible if you can help. Call us at (520) 299-6647 for more information. Come join your TIHAN friends and friends from around the country for a great time in Phoenix at the Gay Rodeo this weekend!