Roy Rogers - Dale Evans Museum may be forced to close

[shooter32]

Update, The Museum will be closing in December and items sold.. Trigger too.


Roy Rogers-Dale Evans Museum may be forced to close
Comments 40 | Recommend 20
February 14, 2009 9:11 PM
by Brooke Edwards / STAFF WRITER
The Roy Rogers-Dale Evans Museum is on the verge of closing its doors forever, faced with dwindling visitors and expenses that top $70,000 a month.

Now the children and grandchildren of the Western icons, who once called the Victor Valley home, are asking for help to keep the Branson, Mo. museum open.

"If this was any other business, if it didn't have the mission to carry on what Roy and Dale stood for, you'd cut bait and go fish somewhere else, find something else to go and do with your life," said grandson Dustin Roy Rogers, who runs the museum. "But now, more than ever, we need to go back to that warm feeling, those good family values, morals and ethics Roy and Dale never forgot."

The museum first opened in 1967 in Apple Valley, where Rogers and Evans "retired," only to continue filming TV shows and doing charity work.

The museum moved to Victorville in 1976 and remained there until the family took it to the tourist town of Branson in 2003 in hopes of reaching more fans.

"It takes a lot of people to go through the museum just to pay the rent," Dustin Rogers said. "Unfortunately, Roy's generation of fans (is) not out there as much anymore. And then, just with the sheer economic condition in this country."

In 2008, there were several months when the museum barely covered its bills. Now the museum is left with no reserves to get through the slow winter months.

The couple's son, Roy "Dusty" Rogers Jr., donated $33,000 to cover the museum's rent for the month of January. The family is hoping other Roy and Dale fans will step up and do the same, to secure the museum until tourists return to Branson in the spring.

To support the nonprofit museum, call Renee Contreras at (417) 339-1900, ext. 222 or send donations to The Roy Rogers-Dale Evans Museum, 3950 Green Mountain Drive, Branson, MO 65616.

For more information, visit www.RoyRogers.com.

Brooke Edwards may be reached at 955-5358 or at bedwards@VVDailyPress.com.

[tt11758]

A sad day, indeed.  A monument to a pair of individuals who were pillars of morality for a generation of adults and kids alike is forced to close for lack of money, while at the same time, the government is prepared to throw millions of OUR tax dollars at a memorial library for a murdering, womanizing, alcohol-soaked reprobate named Ted Kennedy.

Where is this country headed, and why are we in this handbasket?

[Timothy]

"murdering, womanizing, alcohol-soaked reprobate"

That would make a good headstone at his gravesite....

[twyacht]

I think folks like Toby Keith, Garth Brooks, Shania Twain, Alan Jackson, and members of the Grand Ol' Opry, need to have a charity event and just buy the property and than turn it into a non-profit business, keeping it open.

Or BHO could name it a National Treasure, and it would defer all the financial obligations.

But he won't.....

I'll bet George Bush (either one) would have.

[Rastus]

I went through the museum a couple of years back and it was really kewl.  My children, however, did not have the tie to it.  Roy Roger's hasn't been on Saturday mornings for years and their interest was slight...they did like the guns, however.  I hope I can visit it again.

It is a bit off the beaten path in Branson.  If you make a trip to Branson the museum is a must.

[Sponsor]

[Woody]

Happy Trails....

[Clark Kent]

I think folks like Toby Keith, Garth Brooks, Shania Twain, Alan Jackson, and members of the Grand Ol' Opry, need to have a charity event and just buy the property and than turn it into a non-profit business, keeping it open.

A charity event like "Farm Aid."  Great idea!

The NRA could cowboy up for this one, too.

[billt]

My children, however, did not have the tie to it.  Roy Roger's hasn't been on Saturday mornings for years.

Sadly, that is where the disconnect is. I used to work with a twenty something kid who didn't even know who Dean Martin was. As time passes these heroes of old will be mostly forgotten. Today the younger generation jumps on band wagons saying we "faked the Moon landings". If any of them were alive when it all happened, they would realize the foolishness of their beliefs. Time changes people, and sadly most of that change isn't for the better.   Bill T.

[Johnny Bravo]

Roy and Dale represented a part of the american spirit that should be remembered. They lived it and tried to pass it on to others. It's a crying shame it's not very popular now. I hope someone steps up and a solution can be found to save this small slice of american history. Times are changing.

[fightingquaker13]

Nothing lasts forever. Why should kids remember Roy when they've never seen him? Hell, I'm pushing 40 and my exposure is reruns of him and Hop along Cassidy on TBS when I was young. The thing is that what he represents, needs to be reinforced for him to stay relevant. Without that, its a lost cause.
FQ13