Sedona, AZ: National Day of the American Cowboy, proclaimed by President Bush in 2005, will be celebrated with a free community event on Saturday, July 26, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., along “Main Street” (Hwy. 89A) in Uptown Sedona. Come enjoy “a whole lot of cowboy goin’s on.”
Enjoy live performances non-stop throughout the day at Cowboy Plaza. Join Joey Dillon, three time World Champion Gunslinger and Loop Rollins, World Champion Trick Roper who will also display bullwhip cracking and six-gun handling. Hoot and holler’ at the shoot-out skits by Rock Holliday and other western re-enactors. Rock, also known as Gene Kurz, is a Sedona resident and employee who performs as a cowboy TV and movie actor, and Wild West performer.
Holliday brought the concept of celebrating the National Day of the American Cowboy to Sedona by creating an event in Uptown. Sedona Main Street Program has joined his efforts by helping to add activities and promote it for the benefit of the community and the Sedona Main Street District.
Enjoy several activities, demonstrations and live entertainment throughout Uptown. Look for the Roasted Corn wagon provided by Sally’s Mesquite Grill & BBQ in front of Joe Wilcox Stagecoach Emporium. A little further along at the Mid-Block Plaza (near Rollies Camera), take your chances on a raffle for a handmade Judy Jones Dalton quilt and a hand-tooled and beaded leather wallet. Both were donated by Dalton to raise money for a Tibetan refugee settlement camp in a remote area of India.
While there, take a family photo with the life-size sculpture depicting Joe Beeler – one of the founding members of the Cowboy Artists of America right here in Sedona and an incredibly talented artist.
At Old West Pueblo Gallery, meet and greet the accomplished western artist James Durham. His work can be found in many private collections and seen in the Cowboys and Indians magazine. Wander over to the Goldenstein Gallery and find Naomi Offner painting in residence, the first female artist recognized by the National Day of the American Cowboy. Also featured is a special show of photography by Charles W. Gildner who records on film the life of working cowboys on real ranches of the west.
At Sinagua Plaza, Joe Wilcox Western Wear is hosting Dave Rowland of Rio Verde Saddlery demonstrating his leather working skills on saddles, holsters, gun belts and all the other cowboy accoutrements. Gordon Williams, a Verde Valley blacksmith will demonstrate blacksmithing and the use of branding irons. They will be accompanied by live music with Cowboy Bob from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m., in the courtyard.
