Organizer: Community drives cowboy days

By JENALEA MYERS, Herald Staff Writer

For Ernie Rodina, Old West Cowboy Days is about honoring agricultural roots.

“It’s a way to show tribute to the folks in the community that have been involved in agriculture and part of the cattle and horse business,” the coordinator of the event said.

And honoring the area’s agricultural roots was the premise behind the start of Old West Cowboy Days, an event slated for this weekend, six years ago.

“I thought we needed something to pay tribute to those roots around Franklin County,” Rodina said.

But Rodina wasn’t the only one who thought that.

The celebration is a community effort, with many people and businesses donating to the event, he said.

“My hat goes off to the community,” Rodina said. “We came close to the dollars we’ve had in the past.”

That surprised Rodina, who thought the poor economy might affect donations.

“I was a little concerned, but the community really cowboyed up,” he said. “If there were any time we needed an event like this for the community, it’s this year.”

An art reception will open this year’s event Friday, and the official kick-off of the celebration will be the parade and cattle drive at 10 a.m. Saturday down Main Street.

Other events throughout the weekend include colt breaking seminars, mounted shooting demonstrations, mutton bustin’ chuckwagon race demonstrations, musical entertainment, a cowboy church service, the first Dutch oven cook-off and more.

The highlight of the event will be a musical performance by R.W. Hampton, Rusty Rierson and winners of a cowboy poetry contest Saturday night at the Ottawa Municipal Auditorium, 301 S. Hickory St.

Doors open at 5:30 p.m., and the show starts at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased in advance or at the door.

Hampton, who headlined the show last year, received a good reaction from the community, Rodina said.

“They loved him,” he said. “People said it was one of the best western music shows they had ever been to.”

Rodina said Cowboy Days has drawn 6,000 to 7,000 people Saturday and 2,000 to 3,000 people Sunday.

“A lot of folks have always had a little bit of love for the cowboy or cowgirl,” he said. “This is a way to enjoy it and have fun and bring some of that heritage back to Ottawa.”

Jenalea Myers can be e-mailed at jmyers@ottawaherald.com.

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Old West Cowboy Days

FRIDAY

• 6 p.m. — Western Reception and Art Show, Old Depot Museum, 135 W. Tecumseh St.

SATURDAY

• 10 a.m. — Parade and Cattle Drive Down Main Street

Kansas State Bank stage

• 11 a.m. — Opening ceremony

• 11: 15 a.m. — Bluestem

• Noon — Geff Dawson

• 12:30 p.m. — Shandee Allen

• 1 p.m. — Open mic

• 1:30 p.m. — Wild Women of the West

• 2 p.m. — Rusty Rierson

• 2:30 p.m. — Charley Green (Will Rogers)

• 3 p.m. — Bluestem

• 4 p.m. — Trey Allen

• 4:30 p.m. — Shandee Allen

Priefert Round Pen

• 1 p.m. — Kerry Kuhn — Colt Breaking

• 3 p.m. — Kerry Kuhn — Horse Sense Clinic

Brummel Farm Service Arena

• 11 a.m. — Chicks in Chaps

• Noon — Chuckwagon Race Demo

• 1 p.m. — Mounted Shooters

• 2 p.m. — Chuckwagon Race Demo

• 3 p.m. — Mounted Shooters

Stock Dog Arena

• 1:30 p.m. — Stock Dog Demo

• 3:30 p.m. — Stock Dog Demo

Kansas River Gang Re-enactments

• 11:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 1:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 4:30 p.m.

SUNDAY

Kansas State Bank stage

• 8 a.m. — Biscuits and Gravy

• 9 a.m. — Cowboy Church with R.W. Hampton

• 10:30 a.m. — Geff Dawson

• 11 a.m. — Charley Green (Will Rogers)

• 11:30 a.m. — Open mic

• Noon — Rusty Rierson

• 12:30 p.m. — Geff Dawson

• 1:30 p.m. — Rusty Rierson/Geff Dawson

• 2 p.m. — Open mic

• 2:30 p.m. — Charley Green (Will Rogers)

• 3:30 p.m. — Geff Dawson

• 4 p.m. — Rusty Rierson

Priefert Round Pen

• 1 p.m. — Kerry Kuhn — Colt Starting

• 3 p.m. — Kerry Kuhn — Horsemanship

Brummel Farm Service arena