Anyone planning to visit the Roy Rogers & Dale Evans Museum Attraction in Branson should hurry.I had a chance to do a New Year's Eve banquet with Roy and Dale in 1986. They were really great people and very gracious to everyone there. Somewhere I have a photo with Roy - I'll have to try and find that again. Dale, upon hearing that my future wife and I were engaged, spent some time talking to her about the Rogers' long marriage.
The attraction, which moved to Branson in 2003 from Victorville, Calif., is closing later this month, according to a news release.
The Rogers family cited a combination of factors in the decision, including the overall economy and a lack of visibility; the museum is located at 3950 Green Mountain Drive, away from the main Branson Strip.
The museum includes an extensive memorabilia collection, including Roy Rogers' first guitar, the mounted figures of his horse, Trigger, and Nellybelle the Jeep. Roy Rogers died in 1998, and his wife Dale Evans passed away in 2001.
The family hopes to find a single buyer for the collection, but it could be auctioned off in pieces as well.
"Roy said, `At the end of the day, it's just things,'" Dustin Rogers, Roy and Dale's grandson, said in the release. "He didn't want it to be a financial burden to anyone."
It was a great chance to meet some very special people.
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Having visited the previous location of this museum in Victorville many a time, it's no surprise that it's closing now the way the economy is currently.
Dusty, Roy and Dale's son, moved the museum to get the visitor gate necessary to pay the taxes due on his parent's estate. Sadly, due to the location off the main drag in Branson and due to the current economic climate, it will now close.
Dusty tried, and I give him credit for doing so. Happy Trails to you, Rogers family. . . until we meet again.
The manager of our local McDonalds has a Honda GoldWing with a yellow sidecar. There's a round pic of Roy and Dale on the front, Roy and Trigger on the back.
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