If you’ve never attended an induction program for the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame you have missed a very important and fun-filled time. The 34th Annual Luncheon and Ceremony was held October 16th across the street from the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame Museum at the Will Rogers Memorial Center. It was a perfect fall day and a huge crowd was expected.
I arrived, about 30 minutes early, and entered the Round Up Inn, a huge room holding 95 uniquely decorated tables, plus numerous vendors at the back of room ready to sell their western-related unusual fare, from lamps made of copper to look like native Texas plants, to one-of-a-kind jewelry, to hand-made Santa Claus decorations, intriguing tassles, and so much more. Once I surveyed the fare and decided what I couldn’t live without, I moved on. One could complete their Christmas list here without hesitation.
Next I went to look at the decorated tables before the crowds arrived as each creation required time to view it and see all the clever ideas each artist put forth. The round tables seated ten people were decorated by a table sponsor. No two tables were alike. For example one table showed off, for it’s centerpiece, a beautifully hand-tooled saddle adorned with beads and jewels from the saddle horn to the fenders. Another table’s center was adorned with barbed wire and vintage license plate signs reading “Cowgirl” and “Rodeo”. One table with the new flower-like spur design chosen by the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame as their logo, made completely out of flowers was gorgeous. Some tables even decorated the chairs with jeans, wreaths, and an array of things depicting the west. The creativity of the table sponsors gets better each year and brings attendees early to photograph and admire their talents.
This year five women were honored to a packed house after a tasty grilled tenderloin luncheon was served by dozens of waitpersons ready to fill a guest’s every need. Red Steagall, Texas’ music ambassador, gave the welcome and served as Emcee. Rhonda Sedgwick Stearns, 1977 Honoree, gave the Invocation.
The first honor was the 2009 Gloria Lupton Tennison Pioneer Award which was given to Laura W. Bush for her many years service promoting and encouraging literacy not only in families, but communities, across our country and throughout the world. She has worked diligently and through many avenues to encourage families to read together and has done so throughout the world, not just in our country. Her many roles in this endeavor were pointed out during the presentation. Red Steagall said of her, “To me you will always be the first lady of the United States,” which brought a rousing standing ovation from the crowd.
In her acceptance speech Mrs. Bush said, “Although I was born and raised in west Texas I never was a cowgirl, although I always wanted to be one.” She went on to say how thrilled she was to receive this honor and “This museum is one of my favorites in all the world, and believe me I’ve been to a lot!”
The first 2009 Hall of Fame Honoree was Cornelia ‘Ninia’ Wadsworth Ritchie. Her great-grandmother and great-grandfather, Cornelia and John Adair, teamed up with cattleman, Charles Goodnight, to form a five year partnership to establish the JA Ranch in 1876, the first ranch in the Texas Panhandle. Goodnight, the cattleman, provided the know-how and John Adair provided the financing. After the death of John Adair, Cornelia took a personal interest in the ranch and it’s management. In 1935 Ninia’s father, Montie followed in the management and retired in 1993. The ranch has continued to sustain a profit without the benefit of oil or gas, which was unusual of the area. When Ninia’s mother died when she was four, she was raised by her dad on the ranch and spent hours with him and the cowboys, on horseback. For a time she moved to Colorado and a family ranch there and entered the world of English riding. She returned to the JA Ranch in the early 1970s. Today much of the work is overseen by her son, Andrew Bivins, which is the fifth generation in the family to manage the ranch, but she is still an active part of the management team. Her participation in preserving the buildings at ranch headquarters which was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960. Her dedication to the land, plus her knowledge of ranching and abilities with horses are all reasons why she was honored. In accepting her award the rancher said, “I accept this with gratitude, pride and humility. My dad always said, ‘No one exceeds in the world alone.’” She went on to say, “I don’t travel far from the ranch any more because I’m completely content on the ranch.”
The second 2009 Honoree was Mary Jane Colter. She was born in 1869 in Pittsburgh, PA. She attended the California School of Design in San Francisco and worked as an apprentice architect. The idea, new at the time, was that buildings should reflect their environment rather than copying European styles of architecture. She taught mechanical drawing for fifteen years and lectured on architecture. But her interest in architectural design as a full time occupation never dwindled and she was contracted by Fred Harvey, of the famous “Harvey Houses” built across the nation to accommodate passenger using the new railroad, to decorate the Indian Building, adjacent to his Alvarado Hotel. She was commissioned in 1905 to design the Hopi House at the Grand Canyon. In 1921 Harvey hired her full time and she spent forty-five years as chief architect and designer and was responsible for twenty-one projects, including all the Grand Canyon buildings. Eleven of her buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places and five have been designated National Historic Landmarks. She died in 1958 at the age of 88. She never married and had no children. A Cowgirl Hall representative accepted her award.
Kay Whittaker Young, of Overbrook, Oklahoma, was the third recipient. At twelve years of age she got her Women’s ProRodeo Association permit and started barrel racing and bull riding, with many wins in her competitions. She was the National High School Rodeo Barrel Racing champion in 1964. She has made seven trips to the National Finals Rodeo in barrel racing. She became the President of WPRA in 1976 and began a campaign to have barrel racing established as a sanctioned rodeo event, and to improve the ground conditions and pay for the event. She was on the board of the Barrel Futurities of America for nineteen years. She also held barrel racing clinics for years. She trains and works with numerous horses that need to be rehabilitated when others have given up on them. Many of these horses are able to be revitalized and return to competition. A consummate horsewoman, when receiving her award she said, “When I first received word I was to be inducted I thought I was not good enough. Secondly I thought, I am not old enough!” She also said, “I accept this award not because I feel qualified but for those who preceded me, and for all the great horses I have had the opportunity to ride. A competitor is only as good as the horse she rides.”
Artist Deborah Copenhaver Fellows was the final Honoree. She was raised in Idaho in a rodeo family. Her father, Deb Copenhaver, is 1955 Saddle Bronc World Champion and her brother, Jeff, was 1975 World Champion Calf Roper. She barrel raced in the Girl’s Rodeo Association and as Miss Rodeo Washington was runner-up to the 1968 Miss Rodeo America. Her art career was spawned at Fort Wright College where her mentor, Sister Paula Mary Turnbull, introduced her to the art masters of Italy and Greece. Although she spent time in her own interior design company in Spokane, then managed Horse World, an indoor arena in Oregon, and spent time competing in barrel racing she then was hired as the head wrangler at Shadow Valley Ranch in Prescott, AZ, where she got back in to her art. She found a great admiration in sculpture and has bronzes in numerous places across our nation including: a Bing Crosby bronze at Gonzaga University; Northwestern Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Spokane, the Washington State Korean War memorial on the capitol grounds, the University of Texas, National Cowgirl Hall of Fame and so on. In her acceptance speech she said, “I have been blessed to spend my life doing what I love. It is humbling to be honored for what I love doing. I once heard someone say, ‘God wouldn’t give you a dream, if you didn’t have the ability to achieve it.” She went on to say, “My dad said this award I am receiving is like winning a go-round at the Madison Square Garden rodeo!”
The day was glorious and many former recipients of becoming honorees of National Cowgirl Hall of Fame were in the audience. Some I saw were: Nita Brooks Lewallen, Dixie Reger Mosley, Audrey O’Brien Griffin, Betty Sims Solt, Mitzi Riley, Elaine Kramer, Pam Minick, Linda Davis, Martha Josey, Hope Varner, Joan Wells, Jimmie Gibbs-Munroe, Jan Youren, Donna Howell-Sickles, Sherri Mell, and so many more I missed. The new inductees will fit right in with this prestigious group of outstanding women.
