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Urban cowboys: Elite group balances civic duties with wild, western way to have fun
By Marc Beauchamp
Record Searchlight November 6, 2006
BOTTOM LINE
- What: Asphalt Cowboys
- Where: Clubhouse at Redding Rodeo Grounds
- Leader: Ron Wickershiem, "top puncher," or president
- Established: 1954
- Members: 37
- Phone: 244-1117
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Despite their somewhat rowdy reputation, Redding's Asphalt Cowboys are a hard-working and civic-minded bunch, insists Ron Wickershiem, the group's "top puncher," or president.
"We like to have a good time," said the former owner of Leatherby's Family Creamery, referring to the Cowboys' reputation for tipping a few at their clubhouse and for shooting blanks with their cowboy revolvers in parades and downtown during Redding's Rodeo Week.
"The club expects a lot," he added. There are weekly meetings from February to September. Members are also expected to sell tickets for and work at the annual Asphalt Cowboys community barbecue in September and the pancake breakfast during Rodeo Week in May.
These are not small affairs. The Cowboys, attired in bright yellow western shirts, neckerchiefs and "good guy" white hats, fed 6,707 people this year at the barbecue in Lake Redding Park.
The outdoor breakfast, in "Roaring Gulch" downtown, serves 10,000 people in just five hours. They go through 14,000 sausages, 3,000 cartons of milk, 200 pounds of butter, 20,000 cups of coffee, 1,250 pounds of pancake batter and 15,000 packs of syrup.
These two signature events raise money for Rodeo Week festivities, including the downtown parade, a mile-long spectacle attended by 30,000 people. Thanks to the Cowboys' largesse, it's the only parade of its kind in California without an entry fee, Wickershiem said.
Rodeo Week activities cost in the neighborhood of $35,000, he said, which includes about $20,000 for food and $2,000 for cash prizes for winning parade entries. Besides these events, the Cowboys also cook breakfast at Kool April Nites and the biannual Redding Air Show. They grill meat at the Redding Electric Utility's barbecue and prepare some 2,000 burgers and hot dogs for the annual Red Ribbon Drug Awareness Rally at Turtle Bay Exploration Park.
One of the club's biggest expenses is equipment. For example, the Cowboys have about 1,000 folding chairs and 175 eight-foot-long plastic tables, the latter purchased three years ago. Regular upkeep is needed to keep their portable propane-fired grills and huge steam kettles (used for brewing coffee) in working order.
Wickershiem tentatively plans to move the Rodeo Week dance, quick-draw contest and chili cook-off from Roaring Gulch downtown to the rodeo grounds. The outdoor pancake breakfast - the largest event of its kind in the world, he said - will remain downtown.
Membership in the Asphalt Cowboys is limited to 37 active Cowboys, who pay annual dues of $150 (most of which goes to buy beer and other beverages for the club house). The nonprofit Cowboys are run by a board of directors, known as the Corral. Advancement is primarily based on seniority. Wickershiem, a member for 10 years, will serve one year as top puncher before joining the Corral, after Rodeo Week next year.
All new members are voted on by the whole membership. Approval must be unanimous, Wickershiem said.
"It's a great group, but it's a tough group - we pick on one another," he said.
When the group was founded in 1954 as a committee of the Chamber of Commerce, members had to be business owners, like hardware store owner Jimmy Fox, in whose memory the Cowboys' clubhouse is dedicated. That requirement has been relaxed in recent years.
"There are not that many independent businesses in town anymore," he said. Current members include entrepreneurs like Paul Ogden of SECO Manufacturing and restaurateur Richard Paulson of Lulu's Eating and Drinking Establishment. Others come from the ranks of accountants, electricians and plumbers.
A good number, like 63-year-old Wickershiem, are retired. "You don't join the Cowboys to better your business, no," said Wickershiem.
Cowboys often have leadership roles in the community. Cowboys who've served on the Redding City Council over the years include George Fleharty, Archer Pugh, Dave McGeorge and John Mathena.
The Cowboys are sensitive about criticism of their gunplay. Shooting their hammer-action .38- and .357-caliber revolvers is "part of the rodeo atmosphere," Wickershiem said. "People just go wild" when the Cowboys shoot their revolvers in parades in McCloud and Red Bluff, he said.
The gun issue can overshadow the Cowboys' good works in the minds of some people, Wickershiem acknowledges.
One of his favorite activities is the Special Kids Day that kicks off Rodeo Week, where Cowboys provide horse rides at the rodeo arena for children with special needs.
The group recently donated $4,000, raised in part from a fashion show hosted by Cowboy wives, to the canine unit of the Shasta County Sheriff's Department.
And should a disaster strike Redding, he said, the Cowboys could be quickly mobilized "to feed thousands of people."
Despite its somewhat anachronistic image, there's a waiting list to join the group, Wickershiem said. Part of the attraction, he thinks, is the cachet. "There are only 37 (Asphalt) Cowboys in the world. We tout that as kind of an elite organization."
Reporter Marc Beauchamp can be reached at 225-8221 or mbeauchamp@redding.com.
Compliments to the Record Searchlight for the use of this article....thanks Marc.
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