Although the 2020 Kamloops Cowboy Festival was cancelled, some things, just like ranching, kept right on happening. The best examples of the ongoing awards are the inductees to the Hall of Fame, the winner of the Joe Marten Award and the Student Scholarship winners.
Congratulations to horseman and silversmith Richard Tenisch of Merritt on winning the Joe Marten Memorial Award for the Preservation of Cowboy Heritage in BC.
The 2020 honourees for the BC Cowboy Hall of Fame include Allison Everett (White), inducted as a Builder of Western Culture. Allison is a well-regarded horse trainer and competitor who makes her home near Williams Lake.
This year’s Ranching Pioneer is Frank Armes (1908–2002), a well-known rancher and businessman in the Cariboo.
In the Ranching Pioneer & Century Ranch, the Hall of Fame honoured the Bayliff Family & Chilancoh Ranch, now in their fourth generation of ranching in the Chilcotin.
The Working Cowboy and Ranching Pioneer inducted in 2020 is Paul “Buck” Mammel (1920–1996), a very successful cowboy and rancher in the Cariboo region.
The BC Cowboy Hall of Fame is a part of The Museum of the Cariboo Chilcotin, located in Williams Lake, B.C. Be sure to visit the museum (Cowboy-Museum. com) and read the inductees’ interesting biographies and see just why they were inducted.
Congratulations to the two winners of BCCHS scholarships: Amy Baechmann of 100 Mile House for her short story titled “A Cowboy’s Dance” and to Mikayla Castle of Mission who won the art scholarship for her pencil sketch of well-known B.C. cowboy, Rob Dinwoodie. The winner of the Mike Puhallo Memorial Scholarship is Paige Ingram of Vancouver for her poem, “Grit Not Glamour.” Each of the winners received a $500 Student Scholarship.
Tickets for the 2021 Kamloops Cowboy Festival (March 18–21) will go on sale Nov 1. For more, visit the BC Cowboy Heritage Society at bcchs.com.