Cowboys at Silver Dollar City

Silver Dollar City is owned by the Herschend Family and has always been a great place to enjoy a family vacation. The private owners are openly Christian and have spearheaded the successful defense of Branson, MO from people who would like to open types of sinful entertainment. The owners sponsor special gatherings of homeschoolers and Christian activists, including the American Family Association (Don Wildmon). Moreover, after the park closes each day, everyone is invited to an evening songfest of Gospel music and Christian friendship in a large open amphitheatre.

Silver Dollar City is a family place with women attendants in long dresses, no Halloween decorations, and children that were well-behaved. [Maybe this last observation was due to the preponderance of homeschooled children, their parents, and a lot of retired people--many thousands!] Anyway, you won't find much cleavage, even though the park hosts tens of thousands of people a day.

This past week, Silver Dollar City welcomed some of my homeschooled grandchildren and their families at a nicely reduced price. In addition to the many rides, this autumn's celebration let us observe and talk with oldtime craftsmen: women who turned wheat straw into beautiful ornaments, rugmakers, carpenters who made furniture, bladesmiths who made knives, candlemakers, soapmakers, basketmakers, etc. Musicians who made and played their own instruments were also there.

The festival this year salutes the Great American Cowboy. We saw Johnny Lonestar with his lasso tricks, the steer trainer, and many western musical groups. Many of them gave a little Christian lesson in their act. For example, Travis Loewen told about training his steers and how he expects more out of his steers--just like God expects us to act above the nature of mere animals. His two Texas longhorns had horns that stretched at least four feet to either side of the heads of the huge animals.

The best musician was Don Edwards. He sings cowboy songs--the kind that were my favorites as a kid. Each song tells a story--a good story. Edwards' guitar work is absolutely excellent, and his voice is very good--especially in the large opera house. Curmudgeon likes country rock; I like the folk music of cowboys, especially when performed by someone like Don Edwards. The weather was great, too.