TURLOCK -- There won't be any chewing tobacco banners at this weekend's Stanislaus County Sheriff's Posse Rodeo.

There won't be any cigarette ads. And there won't be any billboards, scoreboards or programs promoting tobacco of any kind.

The posse has banned tobacco advertising at the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association event, which continues this evening at the Stanislaus County Fairground. While a handful of rodeos throughout the state also have refused to accept such advertising, the posse is thought to be the first group to sign an agreement stating its commitment.

That's quite a statement, considering the rodeo cowboy's reputation for a "pinch between the cheek and gum."

"We're countering the image of cowboys and spit tobacco," said Heather Gruenig Duvall, coordinator of the Stanislaus County Health Services Agency Tobacco Education Program.

The Health Services Agency approached posse members with the agreement, and they agreed to ban the ads. At last year's rodeo, two banners advertising tobacco products hung above the arena, Duvall said.

Stopping the ads wasn't too painful, rodeo organizer Mike Wagner said. Tobacco ads only contributed a few hundred dollars to the Turlock rodeo.

For Wagner and other posse members, it wasn't the money that mattered. It was the message. After all, the posse bills the rodeo as a family event. Tickets are given to children. And some proceeds go to area 4-H clubs.

"We wanted to provide a healthy message to young people," Wagner said.

One pinch of spit tobacco held in the mouth for 30 minutes delivers three to four cigarettes' worth of nicotine, the National Cancer Institute reports. About 8,500 die from mouth cancer each year.

In place of tobacco banners, the Health Services Agency provided the rodeo with a new banner with a slogan: "A New Breed ... Tobacco Free." The agency paid $500 for the privilege.

"We just hope that people will see the banner out there and we can raise awareness," Duvall said.

The Stanislaus County Sheriff's Posse Rodeo will continue at 7:30 p.m. today at the Stanislaus County Fairgrounds in Turlock. Gates open at 6 p.m. Admission is $12. Proceeds go to children's organizations and to buy equipment for the sheriff's mounted officers.

Reprinted by permission of Modesto Bee.