Oklahoma City KEY - Cover Story

C?One of the nation’s greatest family friendly festivals returns to the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City May 27 and 28. Designated an official Oklahoma Centennial Festival, the 16th Annual Chuck Wagon Gathering & Children’s Cowboy Festival offers mouth-watering food, activities for children, musical entertainment and opportunity to browse the nation’s premier Western heritage museum.

Recognized by the American Bus Association as a 2004 Top 100 Event in North America, the festival also has attracted the attention of the Food Network, which
featured the festival on “Top Five: Summer Sensations,” and Nick Jr. Family Magazine in its May 2006 “Now Playing” column.

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. Pace Picante chuck wagon spokesman Tom Perini is returning to share recipes at a cooking demonstration wagon along with award-winning cooks from the C Bar C Ranch.

Children can participate in numerous outdoor activities including pony rides, rope making, bandana designing and leather crafting. Stagecoach and covered wagon rides around the festival oval are popular. There are demonstrations from a wheelwright and wagon master, a blacksmith and a boot maker.

Western musical entertainment is scheduled on two separate stages. Cowboy balladeer, guitarist and composer Don Edwards will be on stage Saturday, May 27. Red Steagall will perform Sunday, May 28. Steagall, who has
performed at the Chuck Wagon event since 1991,
was inducted into the Museum’s prestigious Hall of Great Westerners in 2003.

Back again for a Saturday-only performance are the delightful and captivating young, Texas fiddlers The Quebe Sisters. The talented trio has added singing to their lively fiddling act.

New this year is Sourdough Slim, a free-wheeling, fast-paced comedian, award-winning yodeler and teller of Western lore. This comical, minstrel-of-the-range performs to a repertoire of catchy tunes on accordion anddraws audiences into his fun-loving antics and musical ingenuity.

Admission covers entrance to the festival and the Museum. Museum members are admitted free. Adults are $10; seniors 62 and over $8.50; and children 6-12 $5. Children ages five and under also are admitted free. Two-day passes are available. Concessions and tasting bowls are additional, with tasting bowls $3 each. Festival hours are 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and the Museum is open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Dobson Communications Corporation presents the 2006 Chuck Wagon Gathering in
cooperation with Delta Air Lines. Pace Picante makes possible the appearance by famed Buffalo Gap, Texas cook Tom Perini. Additional co-sponsors include The Oklahoman. KKNG 93.3 FM and Great Plains Coca-Cola, with support from Museum Partners Devon Energy Corporation, Mustang Fuel Corporation and Chesapeake Energy Corporation.

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. Annual
memberships include year-round admission, including the Chuck Wagon Gathering, for six people. For more information call (405) 478-2250.

?Make it a Western Weekend in OKC

Oklahoma’s heritage is uniquely Western, and Memorial Day weekend is a great time to take in more than one event. Attend the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association Range Roundup, a
top-notch ranch rodeo, taking place at State Fair Park, Friday and Saturday, May 26-27 at 7:30 p.m. Range Roundup is the perfect complement to the daytime Chuck Wagon Gathering & Children’s Cowboy Festival at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum! Tickets available at www.tickets.com or (800) 511-1552.

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