Cowboy spirit alive and well in Rawhide
The 17th Annual National Festival of the West
by Jim Crawford

RAWHIDE – Every year about this time the town of Rawhide opens up with a genuine rootin,’ tootin’ Old West celebration second to none.

The 17th Annual  National Festival of the West from March 15‑18 promises to be one of the biggest shindigs ever, with loads of activities to please just about any member of the family, unless he might one of them city slicker fellers.

Country and cowboy music galore will fill the air as a variety of artists play on three stages during the Western Music Jamboree. There’s a Western Trade Show offering goods from more than 200 vendor.

One of the highlights of the event is the Western Film Festival with a long list of celebrities on hand who appeared in many western movies and TV series.

Each year event organizers present Cowboy Spirit Awards to men or women who have best depicted the moral character, integrity and  personification of the American cowboy.

This year the award is being presented to actors Ben Cooper and John Smith and Academy Award winner, actress and singer Shirley Jones.

Jones rose to stardom on the strength of her performance in the 1955 production of “Oklahoma.” she, who later portrayed the mother in the “The Partridge Family” television series, also appeared in such Western films as “Two Rode Together” and  “Cheyenne Social Club.”

“Shirley Jones has been branded in America’s hearts forever for her appearance in the Western musical “Oklahoma,” and I am so thrilled that she will be with us this year,” said show producer Mary Brown.

Ruth Buzzi is returning with her famous wit to the festival.

Buzzi is best known for her performances in the comedy show “Laugh‑In,” where she was one of only four people to appear in every episode. She is also a regular actor on “Sesame Street” and portrayed various characters in “The Jetsons” cartoon series. She can be seen in the Western comedy “The Apple Dumpling Gang” and  its sequel “The Apple Dumpling Gang Returns.”

“I go to a couple of these  festivals a year,” Buzzi told The Desert Advocate from her home in Fort Worth. “I had such a good time at the last one.  Really, I have a good time at all of them. The Festival of the West is the best one I’ve been to. It’s a wonderful show. There’s just so much to look at.

“I’ve found that if people stop and talk to you, they must like you,” she said. “If they’re not respectful, I’ll hit ’em with my purse.”

People best remember Buzzi for her role as the batty female in “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh‑In.”

“I’ve actually had lots of western parts,” she said. “And I’ve been in some stinkeroo movies, too. If you can’t laugh at yourself, you’ve got a problem.”

Still very busy with her acting career, Buzzi is proud of the fact she never accepted any roles that required “nothing dirty or nude or anything like that.”

“I just finished a children’s series that will be shown in Minneapolis and a cartoon film with Dom DeLuise,” she said. “I hope to see everybody at Rawhide soon.”

Johnny Western is a man who wears many hats.

From the age of five Western wanted to be a singing cowboy. Described as one of the “true cowboy voices” by the late Waylon Jennings, Western became a deejay and singing cowboy on TV by age 15. He wrote “The Ballad of Paladin” theme song for the “Have Gun Will Travel” TV  series and toured with Johnny Cash as his emcee and backup singer. He’s worked extensively with legends Gene Autry and Merle Travis and has appeared in more than 50 western films and TV shows,  including “Gunsmoke.”