This post documents my experience on August 2, 2014.
Although Roy Rogers (Leonard Slye) was born in Cincinnati in 1911…
…he would eventually come with his family to Portsmouth via houseboat (built by his father and uncle)…
…and spend his childhood just north of there (Lucasville)…
…in this modest house on a hill.
That’s why, each year, fans return to the town of his youth…
…to pass this Holiday Inn lobby sign…
…and go through these doors…
…to celebrate him at the Roy Rogers Festival.
Set up basically as a trade show…
…vendors sold everything (even slightly) related to Roy Rogers…
…from toy pistols…
…comic books…
…posters…
…records…
…wooden carvings…
…and festival souvenirs…
…to bullet pendants…
…historic and western romance books (Hubbard/Smith)…
…and coffee by this Fuzzy Q. Jones look-alike (Bunkhouse Coffee).
In fact, there were so many look-alikes at the festival…
…that they not only had souvenir photos available…
…but there was even a look-alike competition.
Of course, there were also some real-deal celebrities present like Russ McCubbin…
…and he was kind enough to give me an autographed Dukes of Hazzard photo (honestly, the guy was really cool).
But other than Dogwood Pass‘s free historic shoot-out shows across the street…
…all food and entertainment came in the form of ticketed meal events at various locations (unless you count the Holiday Inn’s restaurant and bar, I guess)…
…making it unlike most festivals I typically review.
But, with that said, I took advantage of my visit…
…by checking out the beautiful Floodwall Murals…
…and learning all about Portsmouth’s history.
I even tried some local country cut pork ribs at the Scioto Ribber…
…but not before following the look-alikes in the Holiday Inn lobby…
…for a huge group shot at the festival’s end.