MELODY RANCH READIED FOR POETRY COMPLEX PREPARED FOR CITY'S ANNUAL COWBOY FESTIVAL.Byline: Naush Boghossian Staff Writer NEWHALL - City crews have spent the past few weeks cleaning up a saloon, a general store and an old western hotel, and mending some porches as they prepare for this weekend's cowboy festival at Melody Ranch. On Wednesday, they installed handicap-accessible ramps, hauled in the portable toilets A portable toilet is a modern, portable, self-contained outhouse manufactured of molded plastic in a variety of colors and are often used as a temporary toilet for construction sites and large social gatherings. and generally finished spiffing spiff Informal tr.v. spiffed, spiff·ing, spiffs To make attractive, stylish, or up-to-date: spiffed up the old storefront. n. up the place for the four-day fiesta that will open tonight. The eighth annual Santa Clarita Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, Cowboy Poetry & Music Festival, expected to draw 20,000 to the Placerita Canyon movie ranch A movie ranch is a ranch that is at least partially dedicated to being used as a site for the production of motion pictures. Movie ranches first came into use in southern California in the 1920s when westerns had become increasingly popular. , celebrates the city's rich western heritage. Rod Alley from Santa Clarita Field Services has been working at the ranch for about a month to prepare it for the visitors. ``It's enjoyable to work on the old set,'' Alley said. ``We all look forward to it, and it gets everybody's morale up.'' Melody Ranch - the setting for the popular television show ``Gunsmoke'' and the movie ``Wyatt Earp'' with Kevin Costner - is open to the public just once a year, for the festival. Admission for the popular event is $10 in advance and $15 at the gate, and it includes entertainment such as a trick horse show and three stages with music and poetry. Vendors will offer a wide variety of food and cowboy gear - lassos, silver jewelry jewelry, personal adornments worn for ornament or utility, to show rank or wealth, or to follow superstitious custom or fashion. The most universal forms of jewelry are the necklace, bracelet, ring, pin, and earring. and art with a western theme. All of the Saturday shows are sold out, except for the Don Edwards For other persons named Don Edwards, see Don Edwards (disambiguation). William Donlon Edwards, (born January 6, 1915), usually known as Don Edwards, is an American politician of the Democratic Party, formerly a member of the United States House of Representatives from show, which had eight tickets left Wednesday, city spokeswoman Gail Ortiz said. Also, 70 tickets remained for the ``Son of the San Joaquin'' show Sunday. Ortiz said 20,000 people are expected over the course of the weekend. In recent years, about half the visitors have been from out of town. The city estimates that last year's festival generated about $800,000. The estimate includes the increased business in local stores, especially in the hotels and restaurants. A new addition to the festival is the Melody Ranch Museum, which will display memorabilia mem·o·ra·bil·i·a pl.n. 1. Objects valued for their connection with historical events, culture, or entertainment: posters, publicity photographs, and other movie memorabilia. 2. from the film and television productions that have taken place on the ranch. There will be a separate admission fee for the museum. Parking for the festival will be down the road from the ranch in a lot on the corner of Arch and 13th streets. From there, a shuttle bus will transport guests to the ranch. CAPTION(S): 3 photos Photo: (1 -- 3 -- color) Workers repair gaps in the boardwalk along Main Street at Melody Ranch, top, to get ready for this weekend's Cowboy Poetry & Music Festival. At left, Main Street's dirt gets smoothed out Wednesday to accommodate the 20,000 visitors expected for the annual celebration of frontier culture. Above, portable toilets arrive to offer a modern alternative to the outhouses OUTHOUSES. Buildings adjoining to or belonging to dwelling-houses. 2. It is not easy to say what comes within and what is excluded from the meaning of out-house. authentic to the Old West. David R. Crane/Staff Photographer |
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