Heritage Center Open House

The Muleshoe Heritage Foundation hosted a right nice evening of food, entertainment, and viewing of the Heritage Center’s new office. An appreciative crowd gathered Saturday evening, May 31st, for a variety of activities, starting with a horsemanship demonstration given by Jared Lee and his horse Charlie Brown. I was a bit late, darn it, and missed the riding, so I don’t have an action shot to share with you.

 

Then everyone ate beans and cornbread in the Depot meeting room before moving outside for a light-hearted and fun hour of song and stories from R.J. Vandygriff entitled “The Cowboy Ain’t Dead Yet!”

R.J., who regaled us with anecdotes from his somewhat brief but memorable acting career spent working on the Walker, Texas Ranger set with Chuck Norris, as well as his other singing career highlights, shared insights on his cowboy life spent in LIpscomb County, Texas, near Canadian; population 29. His poem “Cowboy Thang,” along with the well-known country and cowboy songs were entertaining, familiar, and resonated with the West Texas crowd as they nestled comfortably in the shade and welcome soft breeze outside the Depot. We all chuckled at his story about getting lost in the country looking for a cemetery to sing at a funeral and singing “Amazing Grace” to a crew of septic tank workers he mistook for the grave diggers, liked the history linked to the songs about a rancher in Lipscomb County and enjoyed the history of the once-a-month cowboy dances during the summers. He even told an Aggie joke that was fun and even made the Aggies in attendance laugh!

Mr. Vandygriff’s trip to Muleshoe was made possible by a program sponsored by the Texas Commission for the Arts.

Sidewalks and borders have recently been added to the grounds around the new office building, and the landscaping is an ongoing project. The inside of the office is nicely furnished and usable and will house rotating displays and exhibits in the future.

The office and grounds are open for visitors. If you have not been there, check it out some day when you think there is nothing to do in Muleshoe. You’ll be pleasantly surprised that touring the historical homes is not a bad way to spend an afternoon.