Dateline: September 23, 2004

Chuckwagons ready to battle for top prizes 

By Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise

Fourteen wagons will be rolling into Clarendon this Saturday for the tenth annual Col. Charles Goodnight Chuckwagon Cookoff at the Saints’ Roost Museum.

The event unofficially begins Friday night with the dinner with the Chuckwagon cooks open only to paid members of the Museum with reservations.

Gates for the cookoff will then officially open at 7:30 a.m. Saturday with breakfast and lunch concessions provided by Boy Scout Troop 433.

The tradeshow starts at 10 a.m., and Museum tours will be available throughout the day with exhibits by Kenneth Wyatt Galleries, Jim and Vanelle Stevenson, Cowboy Fudge by Jim Rentfro, Clarendon Assembly of God, Tina Hagler’s Hot Sauces, Boyd Baxter, Hedley Senior Citizens Center, Hedley Lioness Club, James and Cecilia Rowe, Steve Cook and the International Commission, Iron Buckboard Silver, Custom Cuts, and Stained Glass by Bridget & Jennie.

The second annual Saints’ Roost Gun & Knife Show will again accompany the Cookoff from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. The gun show is located inside the Community Center, and admission is free with a cookoff ticket or $3 at the door.

Back on the museum grounds, Patrick Robertson and KEFH-FM will provide music beginning at 11 a.m.

Live entertainment follows with afternoon performances scheduled by Audrey Brown of Clarendon, the Saints’ Roost Jamboree Band, music by Katie Askew of Clarendon, Robert Shelton of Clarendon, Delbert Trew of Alanreed, cowboy poet Oscar Auker of Clarendon, Dusty Michele Armstrong of White Deer, Gary Alan Bruce of Clarendon, Donna Sheppard of Clarendon and Booker, Payton Kane of Dodson, and the National Anthem performed by Bill Houston of Clarendon.

The Chuckwagon meal will be served at 5 p.m. with a menu of chicken fried steak, potatoes, beans, and cobbler.

At 6:30, the museum will raffle off a pair of James Owens Handmade Boots, followed by the presentation of the cookoff awards.

Admission to the all-day event is free. Tickets for the authentic Chuckwagon supper are $10 each and can be purchased in advance at Henson’s in Clarendon by calling 806/874-3517. Boot tickets are also available at Henson’s or from any museum board member.

On Sunday morning, cowboy church will be held under the tent at the museum with preaching by Shannon Hall of Loco, Okla.

All proceeds from the cookoff and the gun show will benefit the Saints’ Roost Museum’s continuing efforts to preserve the history of Donley County.

The tenth annual Col. Charles Goodnight Chuckwagon Cookoff is sponsored in part by the Texas Yes! program.

Texas Yes! is a new initiative from the Texas Department of Agriculture designed to spotlight rural Texas and promote rural Texas tourism. Make your getaway!