In the Corral

SCOTT & COSTNER

Movie legends Kevin Costner and John Scott, Parade Marshalls at 2022 Calgary Stampede Parade

THE CALGARY STAMPEDE’S exclusive Parade Marshall Club has welcomed some western icons over the years, including Roy Rogers, Sam Elliott, Iris Glass, Darryl Sutter, and in 2022, John Scott and Kevin Costner.

Both men have been instrumental in the movie business, especially Western movies. For the few people who might not know this, John Scott almost single-handedly built Alberta’s film industry. For Kevin Costner, Yellowstone aside, his involvement in film classics Dances With Wolves and Open Range earned him a permanent place in the hearts of Westerners.

“It was a good visit with Kevin,” said Scott in an interview. “He’s very polite and very nice. It was very noisy because there were over 300,000 people on the parade route, yelling “Kevin, Kevin;” some yelled ‘Kevin for Prime Minister.’ It was crazy,” he laughed. “Women from 9 to 90 were blowing him kisses. He was a star.”

As for what it was like for the veteran horseman, John Scott was honoured. “We had good horses, but all in all, I had 80 head of horses in that parade, so I was worried about what was happening in the back end, but it went pretty smooth. But it’s hard to pick horses for these people [Costner], but I knew the horse would handle the noise, the manhole covers and the tracks, and it was good.”

Later that evening, Costner and his band, Modern West, entertained at the Big Four Building.