Posted
on July 24, 2013
My
husband and I were just in Cheyenne (in Wyoming) for the first time,
a couple of weeks ago. Nice place! We especially loved the Paul Smith
Children's Village at the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens. We wanted to
rent out a few kids to help us enjoy the village even more!!
From
July 19 to July 28, Cheyenne is enjoying Frontier Days (and Frontier
Nights). Think rodeo. Think concerts. Think BIG. Think old-time fun!
Frontier
Days is one of the largest rodeos in the world—and it's a really
long-standing tradition, too—the first one was held in 1897! The ten-day event attracts 200,000 people every year.
 |
| This is cowgirl Prairie Rose, riding in the Frontier Days Rodeo around 1920. |
 |
| Photo by Pat Bonish |
A
rodeo is an exhibition in which people—men and women, boys and
girls—show off their cowboy skills. Lots of times it's more of a
contest than a show—think winners and trophies, medals and
belt-buckle awards! The contestants compete to see who can stay
astride a bucking bronco or bull the longest, who can rope a calf the
quickest, who can wrestle a steer to the ground the quickest...(cue
animal rights activists!)
Frontier
Days includes all the normal rodeo stuff, plus a midway with food
booths, rides, and games. There are comedy shows, musical concerts,
and wild west shows. Basically, there are a whole lot of ways to
spend money!
But
there are also some great freebies at Frontier Days. There is a free
Native American village with cultural exhibits, demonstrations, and
pow wows. There is Wild Horse Gulch, a free area in which visitors
can get a feel for the Old West. There are even free pancake
breakfasts on many days! I'm not sure I've ever seen 40,000 people
served more than 3,000 pounds of ham and over 100,000 pancakes! I
wonder if they use real maple syrup, the kind the costs $19 a pint—or
if they use the cheap imitation stuff that is flavored high-fructose
corn syrup? (I think I have a guess!)
One
thing that doesn't fit with the old-time Wild West theme is the Air
Force Thunderbirds Air Show—but the Thunderbirds have been
performing aerobatic stunts at the Frontier Days event since 1953.
That's even before I was born, so I officially declare the
Thunderbirds participation as being old-time enough!
Also
on this date:
Plan
ahead:
Check
out my Pinterest pages on July
holidays, historical
anniversaries in July,
and July
birthdays.
And
here are my Pinterest pages on August
holidays, historical
anniversaries in August,
and August
birthdays.
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