Cookoff to be held Saturday

The Old West will come to life this weekend at the Saints’ Roost Museum during the 21st annual

Col. Charles Goodnight Chuckwagon Cookoff this Saturday, September 26.

Fourteen wagons are scheduled to compete for top prizes, and other activities include a photo exhibit entitled, “After Barbed Wire: Cowboys of our Time” by photographer Kurt Markus.

The photo exhibit will remain at the museum through October and is on loan from the Panhandle Plains Historical Museum.

“Michael Grauer, Associate Director for Curatorial Affairs/Curator of Art and Western Heritage, was instrumental in helping us secure this collection of 21 photographs,” said Saints Roost Museum board member Jan Campbell. “The photographs depict both formal portraits and shots of cowboys engaged in normal everyday ranch activities in settings such as Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, and Texas.”

The wagon teams will arrive Friday to host area students for a day of learning about the chuckwagon and cooking the cowboy-way over an open fire. Friday afternoon will also include the junior cookoff, which pairs kids, ages 8-17, with mentors on participating wagon teams to learn the ropes of cooking over an open fire.

The big day for the cookoff will be Saturday when the wagons square off to battle for top prizes. The tradeshow starts at 10 a.m., and museum tours will be available throughout the day. Local and area entertainers will also be performing.

The authentic wagons will serve at 1 p.m. with the traditional chicken fried steak dinner, and other activities will include a hay auction and the Goodnight family reunion.

Admission is free. Tickets for the Chuckwagon meal are $15 each and can be purchased in advance by calling (806)874-2746.