A Roy Rogers Memory

Above, Roy Rogers and Trigger.

At the end of today's Tournament of Roses Parade, a float celebrating "the King of the Cowboys" Roy Rogers appeared on-screen. It celebrated the 100th birthday of Rogers that will take place this year (November 5).

According to Wikipedia:

Roy Rogers, born Leonard Franklin Slye (November 5, 1911 – July 6, 1998), was an American singer and cowboy actor, one of the most heavily marketed and merchandised stars of his era, as well as being the namesake of the Roy Rogers Restaurants franchised chain. He and his wife Dale Evans, his golden palomino, Trigger, and his German Shepherd dog, Bullet, were featured in more than 100 movies and The Roy Rogers Show. The show ran on radio for nine years before moving to television from 1951 through 1957. His productions usually featured a sidekick, often either Pat Brady (who drove a Jeep called "Nellybelle"), Andy Devine, or the crotchety George "Gabby" Hayes.

Every time I hear or read the name of Roy Rogers, I always remember this little incident:

Back in the late 1980s, my then-wife and I did a lot of camping (we had a tent trailer and later a micro-mini motorhome). We went to a couple of Thousand Trails campground resorts for free promo camping (for 3 days and two nights of free camping, we sat for their 90-minute membership sales spiel each time). Roy Rogers was, at the time, Thousand Trails's celebrity spokesman. We'd see his image everywhere (billboards, travel shows, etc.) touting Thousand Trails.

It was around 1988 or so when we went to the Warner Center Marriott in Woodland Hills for breakfast. My sister-in-law waitressed there. After we started eating breakfast, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans entered with a young couple and were seated at a table next to ours. My wife's back was to the entrance of the restaurant and didn't see them. While sitting down, Dale Evans saw my then-two-year-old daughter Amber in a restaurant high-chair and said, "She's cute."

When the Rogers-Evans party came in, I said (with a drawl) to my wife, "Here comes Roy and Dale!" She responded with something like, "Yeah, right." She didn't bother to look. A few minutes later, my stepson (about age 9) noticed Roy's cowboy garb and said, "That man's dressed like a cowboy!" My wife then looked up and turned her head. When she spotted Rogers, her teeth almost flew out of her mouth. The shocked look on her face was priceless! Serves her right in not believing me!

He ordered oatmeal and Dale called him "Papa".

Here's a tip of the hat to Roy Rogers!