By GARETT VALCOURT
A place built around generations of cowboys, tradition and community will now carry the name of one of Holmes County’s own.
The Bonifay Kiwanis Club officially dedicated and renamed the Northwest Florida Championship Rodeo arena the Kevin Amerson Arena on Saturday, October 3, honoring the late John Kevin Amerson and the legacy he left within the rodeo and agricultural communities.
The dedication took place during the final night of the 82nd annual Northwest Florida Championship Rodeo at Memorial Field, transforming one of the community’s most recognizable landmarks into a lasting tribute to a man whose life was deeply connected to the cowboy way of life.
Amerson passed on September 16 at the age of 47, just weeks before this year’s rodeo. Born April 23, 1979, to Pat and Fran Amerson, he grew up immersed in rodeo and agriculture. As a young cowboy, Amerson competed in high school rodeo as both a team roper and calf roper before eventually finding his place as a pickup man. He was the cowboy charged with helping protect competitors and assisting them from bucking horses after their rides.
It was a role that those closest to Amerson said reflected much more than what he did inside an arena. His obituary described him as someone who consistently showed up when others needed help, building friendships throughout the rodeo, livestock and agricultural communities.
Beyond rodeo, Amerson spent more than two decades working within the cattle industry, providing feed supplements to farmers and ranchers and building relationships throughout the region. He was also closely involved with Dothan Livestock Company, where his work connected him with cattlemen and cowboys across Northwest Florida and Southeast Alabama.
Amerson and his wife, Tonya, shared 26 years together and were married for 24. Together they raised three sons, Kason, Kolton and Kasston. His family, faith, friendships and life as a cowboy were central to the legacy remembered following his death.
Naming the arena in his honor connects that legacy permanently to an event that has been part of Bonifay for more than eight decades.
The Northwest Florida Championship Rodeo traces its history to 1944, when Bonifay Kiwanis Club Secretary-Treasurer Paul Bowyer proposed a rodeo as a fundraiser. The first event was held December 6-8 of that year, when spectators watched from behind pasture fencing or sat on hay bales surrounding the field. As the rodeo grew, it eventually became affiliated with what is now the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, attracting competitors from across the country.
Today, the rodeo remains the Bonifay Kiwanis Club’s largest annual fundraiser, with proceeds supporting children and youth throughout Holmes County. The three-day event has also grown into one of the Florida Panhandle’s largest professional rodeos and one of Holmes County’s signature annual traditions.
With the arena now bearing Amerson’s name, generations of cowboys will enter a place connected not only to Bonifay’s rodeo history, but also to the memory of a local cowboy whose life was spent serving his family, helping others and answering the call when another cowboy needed him.
The name Kevin Amerson Arena ensures that while Amerson’s final ride may have come, his name will remain part of the Northwest Florida Championship Rodeo for years to come.
