The block around the Dublin Rodeo Heritage Museum was filled Saturday, July 27 with music, dancing, engines and history as the museum hosted its first planned National Day of the Cowboy Celebration.
Organizer Rick Taylor said he is pleased with the reaction he got from everyone in attendance and hopes to grow the event when it returns the fourth Saturday in July next year.
“The biggest thing I liked about the overall event were the people, mostly from out of town, who were just happy to be there and excited about the history,” he said.
Taylor was also excited to bestow a quartet of awards recognized through the National Day of The Cowboy organization.
“That’s big,” he said. “That’s history being made on the spot.”
National Cowboy of the Year was presented to Lilly G Arena Director Bryce Barton by Jeff Jackrabbit Harris, who spoke fondly of meeting Barton on his first trip to Dublin. Barton got interested in rodeo in high school when he started competing in bull riding and bare bronc riding.
The Open Range Award was presented by Codye Daily to child author TJ “Stubby” Maughn. Maughn was on hand in the Bank of Houston parking lot to sign copies of his “Adventures of Stubby and Rusty” books. He first devised the books as a way to help pay for a paint horse after the two formed a fast kinship when the family was looking for a horse for him.
A Preservation Award was presented by Taylor and Angie Manning to the Huckabay ISD Rodeo Team for their accomplishments. Accepting were teacher Caylie Handgis and students Kenli Roberson and Kreece Smith.
The final award was a Hispanic Preservation Award presented to Chino Rodriguez for his investment in Hispanic cowboy culture and the community with his history and the opening of Rancho Viejo outside of Dublin.
In live entertainment, one of the most popular acts was the Intertribal Native American exhibition dancers who showcases a colorful variety of traditional clothing and movements from traditional tribal dances. Taylor said the group wants to come back next year following the positive reception and friendly people they met. People can also catch them live in the Comanche Pow-Wow set for the final weekend in September.
Live entertainment also included trick roper Hilda Machado, musicians Tim Turnbeaugh, Terry Brown, Miss Devon and the Outlaws, cowboy poet Elaine Fields Smith and a street dance serenaded by Mark Scott & Southern Comfort with Kennisyn Rain. Vendors were also set up next to Wright Park and the museum offering a variety of homemade treats and refreshments.
The event was preceded in the morning by a motorcycle poker run organized by Servant Souls to raise funds for Gage Nail to help pay off medical expenses from an accident earlier this year. The event drew several clubs and 15 bikers to participate in the fun for a good cause. Mercedes Scott, who drew five aces, was declared the winner.
Anyone who missed the fun this weekend is invited to mark their calendars for next year encouraged to go learn about Dublin’s rich rodeo history with the Colborn Bowl and being the last stop before rodeo at Madison Square Garden.
Saturday also marked the unveiling of eight new living legacy exhibits in the museum, which are being developed.
The museum is currently working on memberships for the coming year which will likely be ready by the beginning of September. Plans are being developed for the annual Rodeo Heritage Museum banquet on Sept. 14 with Teresa Burleson set to perform.
For more information on the museum or to donate to the cause, visit rodeoheritagemuseum. org or visit it at 118 W. Blackjack.