After three years and $5.3 million in renovations, the Will Rogers ranch house and adjoining properties will reopen with a yippee-kay-ay this Saturday with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Rogers family at the ranch to mark the event. Admission is free. In 2002, California State Parks began to restore the ranch with the intention of approximating its appearance when the Rogers family lived there. Festivities will begin at 10 a.m. with The Lost Canyon Rangers performing on the ranch house stage. At 11 a.m., the rededication ceremony will commence, with Schwarzenegger among the scheduled speakers. Public tours of the restored ranch house will begin at 11:30 a.m. The cornerstone, sponsored by Riviera Masonic Lodge No. 780 with master of ceremonies Bill Branch, will be dedicated at Jim Rogers’ Barn at 11:45 a.m. “Will Rogers” himself (Robert Basgall) will be on hand to deliver a special tribute to Will Rogers at 12:15 p.m. Gun spinner Joey Dillon will perform dazzling tricks and famous trick ropers Dave Thornbury, Gene McLaughlin and Pat Puckett will entertain. Trail rides ($20 per person), sponsored by the Circle K Ranch, will allow visitors to view the 186-acre park that still offers an easy retreat from urban Los Angeles. There will be a no-host Western-style barbecue catered by Calamigos Ranch throughout the day, from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. The Will Rogers Polo Club will give a polo demonstration, narrated by Andrew Bossom. There will be no on-site event parking at the park itself, but complimentary shuttle service will be provided at three locations: 1. Paul Revere Middle School, at the east parking lot (near the Mandeville entrance). 2. Los Liones Gateway Park, 400-500 Los Liones Dr., with stops at parking lots A and B. 3. Temescal Canyon Road, the SW corner of Temescal Canyon Road and Bowdoin Street and at the bottom of Temescal Canyon Road. Off-site parking locations open at 9 a.m. Free shuttle service begins’by’ 9:30 a.m. at each location. Note: Last shuttles leave Will Rogers Park at ‘4 p.m.
This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.
