The Covington County Commission on Wednesday agreed to pledge $1,500 to a group planning to bring a state rodeo final to the Covington Arena.

David Tisdale, president of the Alabama Junior Rodeo Association, told commissioners the money would help his organization secure the rental of the arena and would bring approximately 300 people to Andalusia for the three-day event.

“We will be setting up on June 4 and we’ll be holding the rodeo June 5 through June 7,” Tisdale said. “We’ll be breaking it down June 8. We expect this to bring about 300 people to town. They’ll be eating here; they’ll be sleeping here. They’re going to be visiting the convenience stores and the grocery stores here.”

Tisdale said it was important to him that Andalusia host the event, both because his family is originally from Andalusia and because he believes the arena is the best venue in the state.

“I was a 45-year resident of Andalusia,” Tisdale said. “We moved to Bay Minette because of my wife’s job. But, my daughter competes, and when she fills out her forms, she still lists Andalusia as her hometown. We want to bring this state final to Andalusia; to our hometown. We want to bring as many people to Andalusia as we can.”

The donation from the commission comes on the heels of a pledge of $1,500 from the City of Andalusia, contingent on a match from the county. Tisdale said the $3,000 total would secure the arena’s rental for the event.

In other business, the commission:

• approved a donation of $500 for a two-year calendar by the Andalusia Classic and Streetrods group.

• approved the appointment of three people to the E911 board, including the reappointment of Sonny Bedsole from Florala, the appointment of Cory Spurlin from Opp and the appointment of Thomas Huggins from Red Level. Spurlin, the current Opp fire chief, replaces former chief and board member Joey Williams, while Huggins replaces Cody Ward of Andalusia;

• approved the financing of a new Kenworth dump truck and tractor through BancorpSouth for five years, with annual payments on a total of $282,182 with 1.9 percent interest rate;

• approved the purchase of a sign truck and tractor with side cutter for the Countywide Road Department in the amount of approximately $92,000; and

• approved the purchase of a Chevrolet Tahoe SUV for $36,000 to replace a sedan totaled in an accident in April.