Rodeo thrills audience at Greene County Fair
WAYNESBURG – For a solid 90 minutes Wednesday night, the crowd that packed the grandstand at the Greene County Fair was entertained with blood and mud and tacky jokes. They called it the rodeo. The event, put on by Sam Swearingen’s Rawhide Rodeo Company of Leicester, N.Y, included bronc and steer riding, calf roping, and the single ladies event, barrel racing.
The show kicked off with a tribute to America, featuring a flag-bearing cowgirl who led the grand entry, and the national anthem sung by Rebecca Hardy of Waynesburg, a recent engineering graduate of West Virginia University.
Every minute of the show – even when “Killer Bee” (a young stallion) acted like he wanted to kill someone before he was let out into the ring – was jammed with jokes in between the acts. Every event brought thrills and chills as 99 contestants ripped and roared about on livestock that looked madder than hornets.
Despite some nasty spills and a few cowboys nearly being trampled by bucking steers, no one was seriously injured.
Still, not everyone was feeling lucky at the end of the show. Stuart Little, 29, a cowboy from Greenville, rode a bucking bronc bareback, and fell hard within a few seconds. Little brought his wife, Amanda, and daughter Aurien, 2, both of whom hung on the fence, watching unfazed as Little hit the ground.
“I’m used to it,” Amanda said.
Little, who has a large scar over his left eye and some missing teeth, said he’s been at it for nine years, suffering concussions, cracked teeth and broken ribs. Still, he shows no sign of stopping. Normally, he said, he does it for the money, to supplement his job as a pizza delivery person. “But not this year,” he said wryly.
At 19, Wade Rhodes of Jefferson Hills has been participating in rodeos for about half his life. “My mom and dad did it,” he said. “I’ve been around horses all my life.”
Rhodes didn’t have much better luck than Little. In the team-roping event, his horse stepped in the rope, and in the calf-roping event, his horse broke the barrier. That is, the horse overtook the calf, which is not allowed according to the rulebook.
Rodeo owner Sam Swearingen said he understands why people want to participate in rodeos.
“All I ever wanted to be was a cowboy,” he said. And he was a good one, riding saddle bronc in his younger days.
He said he’s on the road with his staff of 22 from Montreal to Richmond, Va., most weekends and many weeknights throughout most of the year. It is his life, he said.
All of the contestants in his shows must belong to a professional rodeo association to be covered by insurance, he said. Still, part of the draw for the cowboys, as well as the crowd, is that death is only a second or two away.
It happens.
“In 22 years, I’ve seen three deaths,” he said.
The show also featured Amanda Payne, the “one-armed bandit,” who steered three mustangs around the ring with a cracking whip, mobilizing them onto the top of their horse trailer.
At one point during the steer-riding segment, the clown, known as “Rockin’ Robbie Hodges, popped out of a barrel sporting a pink tutu. The crowd roared.
When the show was over, Payne, Hodges and several cowboys autographed free photos for the crowd.
Debbie Stephenson, fair board member, said, “It was one of the best things we’ve had in awhile as far as entertainment in the animal industry.”
Calling the rodeo, “top-notch,” Jake Blaker, county parks and recreation director, said, “You talk about a quality rodeo. I was very impressed.”
Wednesday night’s event was Round One of the competition, which continues today at 7 p.m.