WASHINGTON TWP — While the rides can last just 8 seconds, the memories of the North Washington Rodeo last a lifetime.

The 55th annual installment of the rodeo continued Wednesday night under cloudy skies.

Watching from the front of the bleachers was Butler native Jim Joy, who started riding there more than half a century ago.

“I got my start at the second annual North Washington Rodeo,” said Joy, now of Jackson Center, Mercer County.

The event marked a rough start to his career.

“I hit the ground pretty hard four times,” he said. “There were so few bareback entries back then I had to ride four times.”

Joy said he spent more than eight years competing as a bareback and saddle bronco rider. After his riding days were over, he worked as a rodeo photojournalist and a rodeo judge.

The North Washington Rodeo maintained a special place in his heart.

“This is a good event,” he said. “It's always been big.”

Jake Sowers, 22, of Akron, Ohio, can relate to Joy's tales of starting out.

Sowers has been riding bareback broncos for just seven months, but already realizes it is just as physical as the sports he grew up playing — football and rugby.

“They feel about the same physically,” he said, describing the pain of being stepped on by a bucking bronco.

While it is tough, Sowers said the new sport has become a passion of his.

“It's fun,” he said. “It's such an adrenaline rush.”

The wet conditions Wednesday in the arena only added to the excitement of the event.

“It's pretty muddy right now,” Sowers said. “That makes it fun. We won't stop if it rains. We'll just go out there and get muddy.”

The wet conditions were not a problem for Mark Kreder, a professional bareback bronc rider from Tulsa, Okla.

“A little rain never hurt nobody,” he joked.

The 19-year-old was making his second trip to what is promoted as the largest rodeo east of the Mississippi River.

Kreder said he competes in 120 events every year, traveling across the country and into Canada.

The rodeo in rural Washington Township stood out to him.

“This is a great rodeo,” he said. “I wouldn't come all the way to Pennsylvania if I didn't like it.”

Kreder said he was off to Ohio following his event Wednesday night. Then he will travel to Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan before going home.

“This is how I make my living,” he said. “It pays the bills.”

Austin Stewart of Charlotte, N.C., also earns a living at rodeos, just in a different fashion.

Stewart works as a rodeo clown and has been featured on the television show “America's Got Talent.”

But he also competitively rides bareback broncs. The fifth generation cowboy enjoys both roles equally.

“Entertaining is my career,” he said. “But competing is fun, and I still prepare at a professional level.”

While the rodeo offers a fun evening for fans of the outdoor sport, it serves a greater purpose for the community.

North Washington Fire Chief Nick Grove said the event is his department's primary source of funding.

“If we can get $50,000 toward our budget, that's great,” he said.

The department serving Washington and Concord townships has four trucks and between a dozen and 20 volunteer firefighters. Grove said his firefighters already have responded to 160 calls this year.

“Every firefighter we have is doing something here,” he said. “Whether it's making french fries or selling tickets, they're helping.”

The event also depends on the support of the department's Ladies' Auxiliary, which prepares a fundraising dinner served in the social hall each night.

Peg Hortert and Stella Lominski, both of the township, have been working on those dinners for each of the rodeo's 55 years.

Lominski, who turns 90 next week, said she enjoys every second of it.

“It brings a bunch of people together,” she said. “This is our community. It's our fire department.”

Hortert has served as the president of the Ladies' Auxiliary since 1984.

“It keeps me busy,” Hortert, 88, said. “It keeps me from getting old.”

The dinners are no easy feat to prepare.

“We had 250 pieces of steak (Tuesday),” Hortert said. “Today we have 10 roasters for roast beef.”

The work is worth it to help tie together the event, said Jim Zanella, chairman of the rodeo.

Zanella said the rodeo offers the community something for the whole family.

“That's what we're after,” he said. “We want to get the kids out here.”

Zanella said he expects the rodeo to attract up to 18,000 spectators during the week. He said last year's attendance was above average, but said rain this year may lower the numbers.

“Rain definitely has an impact,” Zanella said. “But true rodeo fans have ponchos.”

Fans can continuing attending the rodeo, which continues through Saturday.