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Western Day returns to Old Town Lewisville on Sept. 27, 2008
10:00 AM to 8:00 PM
Eli Young, tamale title to highlight
Annual Western Day festival on Sept. 27, 2008
Music, food and family fun abound at Western Day 2008
Updated Friday, August 15, 2008
There will be plenty to see, do and taste for fun-seekers of all ages at the
popular Western Day festival Saturday, Sept. 27, in Old Town Lewisville.
Headliner for this year’s event is the Eli Young Band, scheduled to perform at
6:30-8 p.m.
Other planned activities at Western Day 2008, designed to showcase Lewisville’s
rich history, include a Main Street parade, two festival stages of live music,
arts and crafts vendors, gunfight re-enactments, trick ropers, car show,
Longhorn cattle drive, Tailwaggers Ranch, baking and grilling contests,
Stickhorse Rodeo for kids, and the fourth annual World Tamale Eating
Championship.
Free shuttle parking will be available at Lewisville High School, 1098 W.
Main Street, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Western Day activities (including a children’s area, craft vendors, live music,
and Western-style re-enactments and demonstrations) will start at 10 a.m. and
end with the Eli Young Band concert. Other scheduled performers on the main
stage include Derek Sholl at 2 p.m. and Casey Donahew at 4:30 p.m.
Some festival-goers will get an earlier start to their day, however, with the
first Old Town Business Association 5K Fun Run, being held to raise money for
American Cancer Society in memory of longtime Lewisville resident Wayne
Ferguson. The run will start at 7 a.m. and follow a path through Old Town,
ending before the opening Western Day activities. Entry fee is $25 prior to
Sept. 1, or $35 thereafter. On-site registration will start at 6 a.m. in Wayne
Ferguson Plaza, on the north side of Main Street at Poydras.
For information, e-mail funrun@tracyscakes.com.
An exhibition Vintage Base Ball game between Lewisville and Farmers Branch will
be held from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the Lewisville Rodeo Grounds in Mill Street,
just north of College Street. Free shuttles will be available from the festival
zone. Vintage Base Ball is played using 19th century rules and equipment. This
exhibition will be played under the 1860s rules, with no gloves and underhand
pitching. Spectators (commonly called “cranks”
or “rooters” during the 1860s) are welcome. For more information about Vintage
Base Ball, visit www.vbbtexas.org.
The World Tamale Eating Championship, an official International Federation of
Competitive Eating event, will grant a $1,500 grand prize to the competitor who
downs the most Dallas Tortilla & Tamale Factory tamales in
12 minutes. It will start at 1 p.m. on the front steps of Lewisville City Hall.
Last year’s event featured a world record of 71 tamales in 12 minutes consumed
by two-time champion Tim Janus of New York, currently ranked fourth in the world
by IFOCE. Registration is conducted by the IFOCE through its website,
www.ifoce.com.
The popular Western Day Parade will begin at 3 p.m. The one-mile parade route
runs from Cowen Street east on Main Street to Mill Street, then south to DeLay
Middle School. Parade applications are available at www.cityoflewisville.com.
Greater Lewisville Kiwanis Club will hold two Stickhorse Rodeo events, each
offering genuine Nocona belt buckles to the top three finishers in three age
divisions through second-graders. The rodeos will be held at noon and 5 p.m.,
with registration starting half an hour in advance. Also during the festival,
The Home Depot will offer stick-horse making for kids.
The 13th annual Lewisville Morning Rotary Club Car Truck & Cycle Show, open to
all years and makes of vehicles, will be staged on Mill and Main streets
throughout the day. Registration is 9 to 11 a.m., judging will be 11 a.m.-noon,
and trophies will be awarded in four categories. Entry fee is $20 per vehicle
($10 with a valid student ID), with a discount for early registration before
Sept. 1, and the first 75 entrants receive a dash plaque and other gifts.
Proceeds benefit Christian Community Action, Adopt-a-School, Rotary Foundation,
Habitat for Humanity and other community charities. For information, call (972)
436-6258 or visit www.lewisvillemorningrotary.com.
Tailwaggers Ranch returns to Western Day with a variety of pet-related
activities and vendors including displays and demonstrations from more than a
dozen animal rescue and support groups. Contests for pets and their owners will
be held at three times during the day. There also will be service dog
demonstrations by Gifted Animal Program, and a free Doggie Yoga
(DOGA) class for dogs and their owners conducted by Blue Anjou studio.
Old Town Preservation Society will raise money for restoration work at the
historic Lane Chapel CME Church on Hembry Street by holding a kids pie-eating
contest at 11 a.m. and a cake contest at 1 p.m., both at the Lewisville Feed
Mill on the corner of Main Street and Kealy Street. Entry fees are $5 for the
cake contest and $1 for pie-eating entrants. For contest rules and entry forms,
e-mail jackbethramsey@verizon.net. (Media
note: More information about Lane Chapel CME Church is included at the end of
this release.)
Grill aficionados will have a chance to fire up their best offerings in the
inaugural Great Western Burger Battle hamburger grilling contest, sponsored by
Tierney’s Café & Tavern at the corner of Main Street and Kealy Street.
The contest will be held at the restaurant starting at 4:30 p.m., and
registration is limited. The cook whose burger is rated highest by the judges
will receive a $500 cash prize. Entry information will be posted at
www.tierneyscafeandtavern.com.
Concurrent with Western Day, the Big Bass Tour will hold its inaugural Ego
Energy Drink North Texas Classic at Lewisville Lake on Sept. 27-28. Based at
Lake Park, this popular event comes to Lewisville for the first time, offering
amateur anglers the chance to compete for dozens of prizes while enjoying the
waters of the official “Urban Bass Fishing Capital of Texas.”
The angler who catches the biggest bass during each hour of the competition will
win a cash prize, and the largest overall fish will capture a 2008 Nissan Titan
from Avery Johnson’s North Texas Nissan. For event information, visit
www.bigbasstour.com.
Sponsors for Western Day 2008 include City of Lewisville, Lewisville Convention
and Visitors Bureau, EMC Mortgage , Pro Tow, Bud Light, Big Bass Tour, Waste
Management of Texas, The Home Depot, Dallas Tortilla & Tamale Factory and 99.5
The Wolf. Community supporters include Old Town Business Association, Old Town
Preservation Society, Lewisville Morning Rotary Club, Greater Lewisville Kiwanis
Club and Lewisville High School.
For additional information and the latest on Western Day 2008, visit
www.cityoflewisville.com or call 972.219.3401.
General Entertainment schedule:.
7 a.m. OTBA 5K Fun Run
9:30 a.m. Vintage Base Ball Exhibition: Lewisville vs. Farmers
Branch
11 a.m. OTPS Kids Pie Eating Contest
Noon Greater Lewisville Kiwanis Club Stickhorse Rodeo.
1 p.m. World Tamale Eating Championship
1 p.m. OTPS Annual Cake Contest
3 p.m. Western Day Parade & Longhorn Cattle Drive
3 p.m. Lewisville Morning Rotary Club Car Show awards
4:30 p.m. Great Western Burger Battle
5 p.m. Greater Lewisville Kiwanis Club Stickhorse Rodeo
Main Stage performance schedule:
10 a.m. Dallas Stars Sing
10:45 a.m. Glad Dance Troop
11:25 a.m. Beyond Words with Vaughn Anthony
12:30 p.m. Dancers in Motion
2 p.m. Derek Sholl
4:30 p.m. Casey Donahew
6:30 p.m. Eli Young Band
Community Stage performance schedule:
10:15 a.m. YMCA Kickers
10:50 a.m. Dance Fusion
11:15 a.m. Double Team
11:35 a.m. Macedonia Youth Dance Team
Noon Crown Violet Belly Dance Troupe
12:45 p.m. Karen Kouassi
1:30 p.m. Performing Artists Network
2:35 p.m. Millennium Dancers
4:30 p.m. Excite! Dance Company
5:30 p.m. The Fiddle Rascals
6:55 p.m. Megan Mason band
Tailwaggers Ranch schedule of events
10 a.m. DOGA Doggie Yoga by Blue Anjou
10:30 a.m. Gifted Animal Program service dog demonstration
11 a.m. Doggie Contests – Waggiest Tail, Best Dressed, Most Kissable
Noon Gifted Animal Program service dog demonstration,
12:30 p.m. Doggie Contests – Waggiest Tail, Best Trick, Best Bark
2 p.m. Gifted Animal Program service dog demonstration,
2:30 p.m. Doggie Contests – Waggiest Tail, Owner Look Alike, Most
Kissable
About Lane Chapel CME Church (per state historical marker on site)
Anthony Hembry and six charter members, all former slaves, organized
Lewisville Colored Methodist Episcopal (C. M. E.) Church in 1882.
Lewisville had the largest African American population in Denton County
and this church, called Lane Chapel after 1902 for Bishop Isaac Lane, was
a significant social center. Other C. M. E. churches formed with the
encouragement of this congregation. As rural Americans migrated to larger
cities in the 1920s-1940s, the black population of Lewisville diminished
and church membership dwindled. The church survived the late 20th century
through donations and funds from other C. M. E. churches and the devotion
of Lane Chapel members. A strong ministry in the 1990s led to a revival
for Lane Chapel, and by the beginning of the 21st century membership had
increased.
Media contact: Marketing and Tourism Manager Jennifer Galante, 972.219.3710
