Frontier spirit: Chestnut Square plays host to first annual cowboy fest

For a country girl born and raised in McKinney, Donna Willmeth grew up inspired by cowboy legacies of the silver screen.

From John Wayne to Gene Autry, Wilmeth idolized many notable personalities from film and TV whose fame was predominantly in westerns. Today, their codes are creeds that Wilmeth wants to instill for future generations.

"For people like me who grew up with these guys, we had a different way of life that was instilled by the cowboy," she said. "Kids are not taught that nowadays, that's the cowboy way of life. That's what kids of today are lacking, in my opinion, is that cowboy code."

That essence came alive last weekend at Chestnut Square Historic Village, as the Spirit of the Cowboy marked McKinney's first year revering the themes of the Old West.

Chestnut Square served as the backdrop for the event, which showcased a chuck wagon round-up, blacksmithing demos, mock gunfights, pony rides and a stick horse rodeo for children.

Celebrities from classic western television shows and movies of the 1950s and 1960s signed on and were available for pictures, autographs over the weekend, and attended a Dinner with the Stars on Saturday night. Big names included Robert Fuller of "Laramie," William Smith of "Laredo," James Stacy of "Lancer," Michael Dante of "Custer," "Legend of Custer" and "Winterhawk," Don Reynolds of "Red Rider," Denny Miller of "Wagon Train," and Burton Gilliam of "Blazing Saddles."

The festival was the culmination of childhood memories and years spent frequenting western festivals throughout the country. From Scottsdale, Ariz. and Sioux Falls, SD, to Morristown, Tenn. and Olive Branch, Miss., her travels yielded more than just a good time. Forged friendships with fellow cowboy junkies and famed actors at these events are what inspired her to spearhead one of her own in McKinney.

"It took awhile for me to just get to the point where I felt like I had the information and what all I needed to make it work," Wilmeth said. "Each one was totally different from one another, in every respect and in every way. It was really good to have totally different venues to pull from."

While she had hoped the weather would have been 15 degrees cooler, Chestnut Square Executive Director Cindy Johnson felt the event "exceeded expectations."

The nonprofit lent 120 pairs of volunteer hands that helped bring in $22,000 in gross receipts from the weekend's activities, a number that Johnson said would keep them in the black.

"The first year is always a higher expense than usual," Johnson said. "We had a lot of competition from the Addison Octoberfest and the Plano Balloon Festival, but I think we did very well and we brought 100 people in from 25 different states and four different countries. I think this event is a natural fit because cowboys are a part of our heritage."

Because no western affair should be without culinary samplings of life on the trial, Garland-based caterer Randy May brought his chuck wagons to the shindig. The festival was an opportunity for parents and grandparents to educate children on the good old days without the use of a phone or the Internet, May said.

"When you can bring families out and people have chance to talk about the good old days it's a good thing," May said. "Kids put away their telephones ... and were looking at cowboys telling them stories about how we would go up and down the Shawnee Trail, which is now Preston Road. They didn't even know we had a road that ran right through the middle of Dallas. That's what we bring to the table."

Though there were a couple of "little blurps" typical of any first annual event, Wilmeth is confident the Spirit of the Cowboy has the potential to be an influential tourist attraction in McKinney and is eager to start planning for next year.

"I think [the people of McKinney] realize what we've got, it's just going to take a little bit of time to build it," Wilmeth said. "It's just an ongoing process all the time. This being first event, we were able to pull enough sponsors to hopefully break even, but we would like to get past breaking even so Chestnut Square could benefit from it."

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