One of the nation’s greatest family friendly festivals is back at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. The Museum will be celebrating the 18th Annual Chuck Wagon Gathering & Children’s Cowboy Festival presented by Delta Air Lines, May 24 and 25, 2008, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Children can participate in numerous outdoor activities including pony rides, rope making, bandana designing, paper fan decorating, coloring and leather crafting. Stagecoach and covered wagon rides around the festival grounds are a family favorite. Photo opportunities are abundant and pictures taken with Oreo, a Texas Longhorn steer, are popular. Tammi Sauer, author of Cowboy Camp and other children’s books, and Hall F. Duncan Ph.D., “Dr. D” author of The Wild Adventure of Oklahoma Joe’s 10-Gallon Hat will share cowboy stories at the storyteller’s tent.
The food is fantastic! Ten chuck wagon crews cook such delicious fare as stew, brisket, sourdough biscuits, beans, cobblers and rice pudding for visitors to sample. Recipes are prepared hourly at a demonstration wagon by sisters Sue Cunningham and Jean Cates, award-winning cooks from the C Bar C Ranch, Hartley, Texas. The Cunningham wagon is still used during spring and fall roundups. Demonstration recipes are free to the audience and cookbooks are available for purchase at The Museum Store wagon.
Western musical entertainment is scheduled on two separate stages. Don Edwards will be on stage Saturday, May 24. Edwards’ career as a balladeer, guitarist and composer has spanned more than three decades, enriching audiences with his authentic Western music and his extensive knowledge of cowboy lore. He played the role of Smokey, Robert Redford’s best friend, in the motion picture “Horse Whisperer.”
Red Steagall, who will perform Sunday, May 25, has performed at the Chuck Wagon event since 1991. The official Cowboy Poet of Texas is a master songwriter, recording artist, author, actor, radio personality and rancher. His career spans more than 25 years of performances at rodeos, major fairs, poetry gatherings and worldwide tours. Steagall was inducted into the Museum’s prestigious Hall of Great Westerners during the 2003 Western Heritage Awards ceremonies. He has received seven Wrangler Awards throughout the years for outstanding Western albums. Brother Danny will be accompanying Steagall on guitar.
Rich O’Brien, well-known throughout the Western music world, will perform on Sunday with Steagall. O’Brien has been involved as a guitarist and producer on more than 150 recordings. He has received 12 Wrangler Awards, more than any other person in the history of the Museum’s Western Heritage Awards.
Chuck Milner, cowboy singer, poet and songwriter will entertain as well as introduce other performers on the platform stage at the south end of the festival grounds. Milner, who has performed at many Western events across the country, has entertained at the Museum’s gathering since its inception 18 years ago.
New to the entertainment stage this year is the Byron Berline Band. For traditional bluegrass and Western swing music, join three time national fiddle champion Byron Berline and some of his band; John Hickman, Jim Fish and Richard Sharp. Berline has recorded seven solo albums, including his highly acclaimed "FIDDLE & A SONG" with guest performances from Vince Gill, Mason Williams, Earl Scruggs and Bill Monroe. In 1996 the album was nominated for two Grammy awards, “Best Album of the Year” and “Best Song of the Year.”
Another addition to the entertainment this year is Oklahoma Stomp, an all-youth Western swing band. These nine talented boys range in age from 12 to 16 and have been individually recognized with several awards from music writing to instrumental and vocal music competitions. The director of Oklahoma Stomp believes one of the most important ways to keep traditional Western swing alive is to encourage young people to listen and play it. The boys enjoy the music and the opportunity to carry on the Western swing tradition of Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys.
Other festival entertainers include talented Oklahoma Flyin’ Fiddler Wayne Cantwell, who plays Celtic, old time and bluegrass; cowboy singer Jim Garling; and working cowboy Gary Pratt accompanied by bass player Doyle Ellis and Susanne Woolley, violin & harmonies. Pratt has performed for the RFD-TV series “Best of America by Horseback,” and has appeared in “The Black Marshall” and “Trail End” with actor Barry Corbin for which he wrote the title song.
Dr. H.P. Hedgethicket III, Esquire will hawk his many "remedies and cures" during a hilarious Old West Medicine Show. Gary Robinson will demonstrate blacksmithing techniques. Lisa Sorrell, Guthrie, Oklahoma, will demonstrate boot making. Also returning is Oklahoma City Blazers hockey coach Doug Sauter’s Express Clyde and Pony Show +1 featuring the Clydesdale Blazer, donkey Redhawk and miniature horse Taxi.
When it’s time to cool off, families can take kids up the hill to the Museum’s indoor Children’s Cowboy Corral which offers plenty of hands-on entertainment. "Please touch" is the mantra often heard in the children’s building where activities include mounting real saddles, dressing up in cowboy gear and pretending to cook at a real chuck wagon camp. From howling coyotes atop a 20-foot rock mountain to oversized puzzles of Museum paintings and interactive computer games, the Three C’s Ranch is a fun place to be.
One of the best bargains of the day is the chance to visit the Museum’s fascinating galleries that tell the story of the West. Not only do children love the activities at the festival and the Children’s Cowboy Corral, they love to step back in time and walk down the streets of the Museum’s turn of the century old Western town, Prosperity Junction. A popular gallery with the adults, the Western Performers Gallery, evokes fond memories of movie stars from the silent era to the present. One of the most charming components of the gallery is a 1930s replica theater where a short film, narrated by Sam Elliott, captures the eventful history of Hollywood Westerns.
Chuck wagon activities, along with a tasting bowl and Museum admission, are included in the price of festival admission: adults $14, students with student I.D. $12, seniors 62 and over $12, children 6-12 $5. Children five and under are admitted free, as are members of the Museum. Two-day passes are available for adults $21; seniors and students $18; children 6-12 $7.50. Festival hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Museum remains open until 5:00 p.m. No discounts or coupons will be redeemable during the festival.
The Memorial Day weekend event was recognized by the American Bus Association as a 2004 Top 100 Event in North America. The festival with its mouth-watering food, activities for children, musical entertainment for the entire family and opportunity to browse the nation’s premier Western heritage museum attracted the attention of the Food Network which featured the festival on its “Top Five: Summer Sensations” program.
Delta Air Lines presents the 2008 Chuck Wagon Gathering in cooperation with the Dogwood Foundation, The Oklahoman, KKNG 93.3 FM and Great Plains Coca-Cola, with support from Museum Partners Devon Energy Corporation, Chesapeake Energy Corporation and the E.L. and Thelma Gaylord Foundation.
The National Cowboy Museum, America's Premier Western Heritage Museum™, is supported through memberships and private and corporate donations. The Museum offers annual memberships that include year-round admission for six people, including the Chuck Wagon Gathering, subscription to the award-winning, quarterly publication Persimmon Hill and discounts for events and at The Museum Store. Nationally accredited, the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum is located in Oklahoma City’s Adventure District at the junction of I-44 and I-35. For more information about the Museum or for a calendar of events, visit www.nationalcowboymuseum.org or call (405) 478-2250.
Wayne Cantwell
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