Rodeo clown comes home
WASHINGTON TWP — Though he has lived in Alabama for more than 20 years, performing at the North Washington Rodeo is still a homecoming for Trent McFarland.
“This is one of the biggest and most important rodeos to me,” he said. “It's my hometown rodeo.”
McFarland, 37, tours the country 11 months of the year as a rodeo clown and is performing in North Washington for the second straight year. He is the entertainer and barrel-man, which entails telling jokes and keeping the crowd entertained in between other events.
The animals can sometimes be temperamental, so the clowns have to step in when the events are not going according to plan, said Dave Hazlet, rodeo chairman.
The rodeo was part of McFarland's heritage from the time he was born.
His parents, Suzy and Sid McFarland, actually met at the North Washington Rodeo in 1975. He was a clown, and she was an instructor with the local Flames and Flickers majorette group.
Growing up in the Chicora area, McFarland spent a lot of time at the rodeo and learned about being clown from his father. When he was 9 years old, he got his first opportunity to perform in a rodeo when he was part of clown Quail Dobbs' act.
“From that moment on, I knew I wanted to be a rodeo clown,” he said.
He performed alongside his father for about 10 years before starting his own act.
When he was 15, he moved away from Pennsylvania, but he still has friends here from his days at Karns City High School. His mother, grandparents and other extended family also live in the area. He said he gets a boost from seeing a little cheering section that comes to see him in North Washington.
He said he's thankful that he is able to make a living traveling the country and doing what he loves.
“Putting a smile on somebody's face is about as important a job as there is,” he said.
The North Washington Rodeo, now in its 58th year, continues Friday and Saturday night at the rodeo grounds on Route 38. The doors open at 6 p.m., and the show starts at 8 p.m.
A full report will appear in the Butler Eagle.
