Dateline: September 20, 2007

Museum to host 11 wagons for cookoff

The Saints’ Roost Museum is preparing to host 11 authentic wagons this weekend for the 13th annual Col. Charles Goodnight Chuckwagon Cookoff this Saturday, September 22.

The event regularly attracts a large crowd, and lots of family entertainment has been planned for the weekend.

The gates will open Saturday at 7:30 a.m. 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.

Entertainment begins at 11 a.m., and performances are scheduled by local and area talent. This year’s featured entertainment will be Jay Riley and Bob Boatright.

Riley was born in Amarillo and attended Clarendon schools before beginning a career in country music. He has been an award-winning producer and has worked with Roger Miller, Johnny Paycheck, Tommy Overstreet, and actors Ben Johnson and Andy Devine. He has also been a spokesman for the Texas beef industry through the Texas Cattlefeeders Association.

Boatright has been playing the fiddle since he was 11 and was a member of the Texas Playboys from 1977 to 1986. He has appeared on Austin City Limits three times and has performed a the Houston Livestock Show and the State Fair in Dallas. He has worked on stage with the Light Crust Doughboys, Asleep at the Wheel, George Strait, and Red Steagall.

The Chuckwagon meal will be served at 1 p.m. again this year, and the menu remains the same: chicken fried steak, potatoes, beans, and cobbler.

At 3:00, 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 Chuckwagon meal are $15 each and can be purchased in advance at Henson’s.

On Sunday morning, cowboy church will be held under the tent at the museum at 8 a.m. with preaching by 1983 Clarendon High School graduate Shannon Hall, who won the NCHA Futurity in Ft. Worth. Hall is an NCHA Hall of Fame member and is now a resident of Loco, Okla.

Hall is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Donnie Hall of Clarendon.

Proceeds benefit the continuing mission of the Museum.