Jubilee Days

Jubilee was very well attended this summer, starting off with the Friday Fun Night, which hosted between 200 and 300 guests. Face painting, always a favorite, was conducted by the Moorcroft Library and the Texas Trail Cruisers brought in 21 well-loved and restored vintage vehicles for display.

The Ranch Rodeo, hosted by the Moorcroft Rodeo Club, offered a full show with nine teams that competed in trailer loading, roping and doctoring steers. The Secret Squirrel Brigade ran the gate and friends Todd McInerney and Jett Schloredt entertained the audience with a running commentary on the action in the arena.

A one-man performance by Gib Young as Teddy Roosevelt entertained guests at the West Texas Museum Friday night and tables filled early at their annual Chuckwagon breakfast Saturday morning, which fed around 350 people.

One of the main events of the weekend was the Parade on Saturday with Voy Cox announcing the event. Grand Marshal Bob Smoot proudly held a Bible aloft, traveling with the book as he has most of his life as son Paul drove slowly along so long time friends and neighbors of the retired reverend could wave.

The barbecue at noon quickly overwhelmed the fire hall with the tables below filling as ever more guests came through the feed line and the line from the hall door to the alley kept growing; by the end of lunch, almost 1200 people had been served.

The VFW and American Legion-sponsored ice cream social ran through the 12 gallons of the frozen treat long before they ran out of over 200 guests so many people enjoyed cake and cookies with a drink and no ice cream at all. One volunteer said, “Every year, we buy more and we still run out!”

Kids lined up around the “redneck swimming pool” in Robinson Park, counting down the last minutes before Splash Bash officially began, waiting for the whistle to jump in and frolic.

The Celebrity Box Social auction included Tyler Lindholm, Ogden Driskill, Mike Enzi, KOTA’s Eric Gardner, Joe Carmen and Hugh Jenkins; as well as True Oil Gloves, a cribbage board and a branded wooden bench. Chamber member Elaine Buckmiller reported, “The auction was well received and the bidding was fast and furious.”

The Barstool Prophets opened for Chancey Williams and the Younger Brothers Band to a crowd of nearly 2000 people Saturday night.

The end of Jubilee weekend came Sunday morning as almost 50 people took advantage of the Nondenominational Community Church Service followed by a potluck provided by the Moorcroft First Presbyterian Church and Cornerstone.

“The three-day event sponsored by The Moorcroft Area Chamber of Commerce could not be possible without all of the generous people who volunteer to make it happen,” said Buckmiller. “Please take the time to express your appreciation to all who participated to make it possible – see you next year!”

Moorcroft Chief of Police Doug “Red” Lundborg prepared for potential problems due to an increase in guests to the town in the weeks before Jubilee, employing all of the department’s police officers and two extra simply to walk and keep a presence in the street. He noted that the sheriff’s department had a number of men in town as well to assist if needed and the highway patrol kept a presence on the roads going in and out of Moorcroft.

He expressed his pleasure in the way the public behaved: “We had no real issues; every one seemed to work well together - everything flowed well. The public cooperated with clearing main street [after the concert]; we only had a couple minors in possession of alcohol, they were 18 so we cited and released them.”

“We’ve been doing this a long time and nothing came as a surprise. I thought it went fine.”