When tasked with raising money to fund the Roanoke Volunteer Fire Department, the chief went a little hog wild.
“They’re starting with calf roping and they’ll be going to bull riding eventually,” said Brandon Taylor, the fire chief.
He was talking about the order of events for the Roanoke Rodeo, which the department set up to raise money for the coming year.
“This is starting to be one of our big fundraisers for the year,” Taylor said.
This year is the second annual rodeo put on by the fire department and the ABP Rodeo Company, but this year’s event blew last year’s rendition out of the water.
“Last year unfortunately it rained a lot right before the rodeo,” Taylor said. “We had probably 500 people still showing up with the mud… to see this, I think we’re close to 2,000 (this year).”