Folks used to say that Frontier Days in Cheyenne is when people from all over come to town, but Cheyenne people tend to get OUT of town.
Pretty sure it has something to do with Wyoming folks and crowds.
We've lived in Cheyenne for going on 20 years, and we treat Frontier Days like a buffet. We pick and choose events, and avoid downtown and the area around Frontier Park like the plague. Too much traffic. Too many people – many of them with pants tucked into cowboy boots.
I was at a downtown store a few years back as Frontier Days loomed, and the manager said, “For the next week, it's either a parade every morning or a free pancake breakfast.” Not good for business.
Up in Casper, a business owner once told me that when the Central Wyoming Fair was going on, his customer traffic dropped to nearly nothing. His customers were out at the Fair, spending their money on carnival rides, gimcracks and gewgaws.
The Daddy of 'Em All isn't my first rodeo when it comes to local festivals. There was Jubilee Days over in Laramie, where cops one year disbursed a drunken final night crowd at Fourth and Grand with night sticks.
In Rawlins, I was once in town for a wedding when their county fair was in full swing. Hung over from the bachelor party the night before at a dive bar, we were awakened by marching bands, shotgun blasts and sirens, as a parade went past our motel.
In Illinois, Sen. Everett Dirksen's favorite flower was the marigold, so his hometown observes the Marigold Festival. You had to love everything about the Marigold Festival, or at least pretend to. And if attendance was off for any reason, folks would claim the local paper hadn't promoted it enough, no matter how much you promoted it. Occupational hazard, I guess.
In Mattoon, Illinois, they have the annual Bagel Fest, because bagel baker Lenders has a big plant there. I remember it was always hot as a bagel in a toaster during Bagel Fest. (Marty Stuart put on a heck of a concert there one year.)
In the world of theater, they talk about “suspension of disbelief” to enjoy a play. Here in Cheyenne during Frontier Days, you have to “suspend thrift and frugality” to enjoy yourself. It ain't cheap.
The grandkids went to the carnival, and a day pass for all rides was $40. So that's $120 for two kids and a parent. Pretty stiff. You could buy individual tickets, but the better rides required four tickets. So grin and bear it, Mom and Dad.
I'm told the concerts are a bargain, though. The $115 ticket price is much more reasonable than many other venues. The last Frontier Days concert I attended featured the great Merle Haggard 13 years ago, and at $60 it was worth every penny.
One of our family members (who has a cast-iron stomach) loves the Frontier Days cuisine. This year he had a turkey leg, encrusted in candied bacon, and deep fried, for $35. He had the deep-fried butter for $8, but it wasn't a whole stick.
And he had a Korean corn dog, encrusted in Flaming Hot Cheetos, for $17. Said it was all great, but pricey.
A box of popcorn went for $10. Lemonade was $9, but it was a big cup.
Last year, he had a “Cowboy Burger,” which (I am not kidding) entails two glazed doughnuts, with a hamburger patty and cheese in between, an onion ring, and barbecue sauce, for $20.
(Just writing about this makes me clutch my chest and reach for the Pepcid Complete.)
For my money though (and I'm pretty tight) the highlight of Frontier Days is always the Air Force Thunderbirds. The show itself is always crowded, but just watching them practice in the days beforehand is spectacular. One year I watched them roar right over our back yard, and just about every dog in the neighborhood was barking or howling.
If those F-16s and those pilots don't make a thrill go down your spine, well mister, you probably ought to see a doctor sometime soon.
By the time you read this, Frontier Days will be over.
And that'll be OK, too.
Dave Simpson can be reached at: DaveSimpson145@hotmail.com
