Chestnut Square to host 'Spirit of the Cowboy' festival

Decades after the Wild West faded under skyscrapers and suburbia, its outlaws rode onto the big screen.

Some of those renegades -- America's cherished cinema cowboys -- are riding into McKinney the weekend of September 21-22, at Chestnut Square Historic Village's first Spirit of the Cowboy festival.

"I go to cowboy festivals all over the country, and I've always wondered why we don't have one right here in McKinney," said Donna Wilmeth, festival organizer. "So I just decided to get on with it and hold one. It's a great opportunity for the people of McKinney to meet their cowboy heroes."

Eleven celebrities from the hit Western television shows and movies of the 1950s and 1960s are signed on to attend the event, and will be available for pictures, autographs and a Dinner with the Stars: Robert Fuller of "Laramie," William Smith of "Laredo," James Stacy of "Lancer," Michael Dante of "Custer," "Legend of Custer" and "Winterhawk," Don Reynolds of "Red Rider," Denny Miller of "Wagon Train," Burton Gilliam of "Blazing Saddles," James Hampton of "F Troop," "Teen Wolf," and "Teen Wolf 2," Ken Farmer of "Silverado" and "Friday Night Lights," Alex Cord of "Laramie" and "Branded," and Charlie LeSueur, actor and emcee on B Westerns.

"Donna Wilmeth goes to cowboy festivals all over the United States, so she has all the connections," said Cindy Johnson, Chestnut Square director. "There's a whole posse of these celebrities who go from festival to festival."

Johnson tried to hold a cowboy event at Chestnut Square two years ago, but the event's featured appearance, the Trinity River Desperados, didn't promote it. And a fairly small crowd showed up, Johnson said.

Eager to this time hold a Texas-sized festival, Johnson got in touch with Wilmeth, a known country girl born and raised in McKinney. Wilmeth grew up rearing horses with her father, foreman of a 3,000-acre cattle ranch that's now Stonebridge Ranch in western McKinney.

"Back then, the population was around 5,000 people," Wilmeth said of older McKinney days. "We were true country people."

Four years ago, Wilmeth did what she could to return to her roots. She met Fuller, her childhood celebrity hero, at the Festival of the West in Scottsdale, Ariz. They chatted further at his home when Wilmeth presented him a photograph quilt she had made, sparking her ensuing attendance at similar cowboy events around the nation.

Each trip led to more celebrity acquaintances and cross-country friendships with fellow festival enthusiasts, creating a pipeline that will soon venture to Chestnut Square. People from Connecticut, New Jersey and even Japan have already bought tickets to the McKinney event.

"I've been really lucky in forming trusting bonds with these people," Wilmeth said of her celebrity friends. "I'm hoping to take all of the different things from these festivals and make a great one."

Chestnut Square will become a Western town of sorts, with Butterfield stagecoach rides taking attendees to and from downtown. A chuck wagon round-up will offer cowboy meals, Western movies will be played in the Chapel, and blacksmithing demos will take place at the Village forge.

Junior cowboys, those too young to recognize the celebrities, can enjoy a stick-horse rodeo, pony rides and mock gunfights. Dutch-oven cooking demos, a Friday night hoedown sing along and live broadcast from KHYI 95.3 The Range will complete the cowboy conversion.

"Our mission is to preserve and perpetuate the heritage of Collin County, and cowboys are definitely part of our heritage," Johnson said. "The cattle drives of the 1860s through 1890s went right by McKinney."

There won't be real outlaws. Dallas skyscrapers and suburbia will be on the outskirts.

But the Wild West will return -- at least for a weekend -- to McKinney.

"We already have more celebrities interested in coming next year," Wilmeth said. "When you think Western, the first place people think of is Texas."

Festival gates open at 1 p.m. and close at 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 21. The Camp Fire Hoedown starts at 7:30 p.m., and attendees are urged to bring their favorite instrument to join in. Saturday's activities run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Dinner with the Stars starts at 7 p.m. at The Pantry restaurant in downtown McKinney.

Tickets for Dinner with the Stars are limited. All tickets are available online at www.spiritofthecowboy.net.

Current Rating: 0 of 0 votes!

Rate File: Select Rating: * ** *** ****

 Plano Apartments
 Plano Attorneys
 Plano Auto Dealers
 Plano Auto Parts
 Plano Auto Repair
 Plano Beauty Salons
 Plano Car Rental
 Plano Dentists
 Plano Doctors
 Plano Flowers
 Plano Hotels
 Plano Insurance
 Plano Loans
 Plano Mortgages
 Plano Movers
 Plano Pizza
 Plano Realtors
 Plano Restaurants
 Plano Storage
 Plano Tax Preparation
 Plano Travel
 Featured
 More...