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2009-11-21

2009-11-18

2009-11-05

Agriculture

Lifestyles

Thursday, June 25, 2009 12:38 PM

WOOD: ‘Cowboy up’ this weekend

By AMBER WOOD, What's Going On

Yee haw! Round ’em up and bring the whole herd to Ottawa this weekend. I’m not just talking about the horses and steers — it’s a fun time for the family, too.

The sixth annual Old West Cowboy Days re-emerges this weekend on the Ottawa scene with art, music, re-enactors, demonstrations and more.

Participants and festival-goers get down to cowboy business at 6 p.m. Friday at the Old Depot Museum with an art reception. The event will showcase local artists from the Ottawa Art Guild. The work will be of a western and country theme and will be available for purchase. In addition to the art, there will be hors d’oeuvres by Mark Burkdoll — including his famous “Mountain Oysters.” There will be wine from Plaschka and Kramer Liquor Store, Boulevard Beer and live music. The cost for the event is $10. Tickets can be purchased at KOFO, the Franklin County Visitors Information Center and Kansas State Bank.

If you’re feeling a little quacky lately, start Saturday morning with the Optimists’ Duck Race. The widely beloved event starts at 9:30 a.m. in Ottawa City Park. Duck tickets are $2 per ticket or $5 for three tickets. All proceeds benefit the Optimists youth projects for the children of Franklin County. For more information, call Trent Lancaster at (785) 242-7822.

Celebrate the “Old West” with a cattle drive at 10 a.m. Saturday down Ottawa’s Main Street. Don’t worry. This isn’t the running of the bulls — it’s a parade of cowboys, cowgirls, ranchers, horses, stage coaches and more. For more information, call Kathy at (785) 242-1220.

The parade will lead into Forest Park where afternoon festivities begin. Public parking will be located on the north inner road with designated parking spaces for people with disabilities. The city’s pool parking area will be for pool patrons only.

With fun beginning at 11 a.m., there will be much for you to do — so much that the festivities have spilled onto multiple stages with western events and country performances. Chicks in Chaps will perform, followed by musician Geff Dawson and Shandee Allen on the Kansas State Bank Stage. Open mic and Wild Women of the West will follow with performances by R.W. Hampton and Rusty Rierson, Charlie Green as Will Rogers, Bluestem, Trey Allen and Shandee Allen rounding out the day’s stage events.

Meanwhile, in the Brummel Farm Service Area, a chuckwagon race demo will be at noon and 2 p.m., with mounted shooting demonstrations at 1 p.m and 3 p.m. Don’t forget to stop at the Priefert Round Pen at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. to see an Old West Cowboy Days favorite, Kerry Kuhn, a Kansas equine clinician featured on RFD TV’s “Best of America by Horseback,” conduct a colt breaking demonstration and horse sense clinic.

Do you long for the sight of Wyatt Earp or Doc Holliday? Wonder what women of the West really looked like? Well, the Kansas River Gang will be performing its re-enactments at 11:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 1:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday night will feature a real treat for country and western music lovers. Old West Cowboy Days favorite R.W. Hampton returns this year with newcomer Rusty Rierson for a show at the Ottawa Municipal Auditorium. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m., and the show begins at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are general admission and cost $10. They are available at KOFO, Kansas State Bank, the Franklin County Visitors Information Center and Ottawa Municipal Auditorium.

Sunday begins early with biscuits and gravy by the Franklin County Shrine Club at 8 a.m. near the Kansas State Bank Stage, followed by Cowboy Church with R.W. Hampton at 9 a.m. Music continues until 4 p.m., with Trey Allen, open mic, Rusty Rierson, Geff Dawson and Charlie Green hitting the stage. A different act will perform every half hour.

If your pockets are burning at the festival, you easily can spend some cash. The park will have food vendors, as well as vendors selling craft items and western paraphernalia. New this year will be a tack swap area with good used tack. It will be north of the shelter house and south of the tennis courts.

Sunday also will introduce a first-time event, the Dutch Oven Cook-Off, sponsored by Baldwin Feed. The cook-off will start at 8:30 a.m., with judging at 11:30 a.m. For more information, call Jo Ellen at (785) 229-3520.

Need a complete copy of the events at Old West Cowboy Days? Stop by the Franklin County Visitors Center, 2011 East Logan St., Ottawa, or Country Mart to pick up a copy.

And if cowboys and the West aren’t your thing, don’t worry: the weekend fun is not limited to Forest Park. Come to the 25th Annual Sunflower Piecemakers Quilt Show 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Ottawa Middle School. There will be 150 to 200 quilts on display, demonstrations and craft and gift sale tables by Sunflower Piecemakers members. There also will be a miniature quilt auction Sunday. Tickets for the show are $3 and can be purchased at the door. For more information, call (785) 242-1922.

Amber Wood is marketing and events director of the Franklin County Convention and Visitors Bureau.

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WOOD: ‘Cowboy up’ this weekend

By AMBER WOOD, What's Going On

E-mail this story to a friend | Print this article | Enjoy the convenience of home delivery of The Ottawa Herald.

E-mail this story to a friend | Print this article |
Enjoy the convenience of home delivery of The Ottawa Herald.