Where do you begin once the reminiscing starts? A dear friend of ours forwarded a sad story to us about how the "Roy Rogers Museum" in Branson, Missouri was being closed down and the artifacts being sold off. I guess there just wasn't enough of us children from the 50's willing to pay a little homage to our childhood hero's. Maybe some of us were a little embarrassed to take our grand children to see the stars of the TV programs we grew up with, learned from and thoroughly enjoyed. By today's standards, with all the special effects and the HD color television sets, our shows just wouldn't be of interest to today's young folks. Sad, isn't it? All of these programs had one very important thing in common, do you remember what that was? Close your eyes, think about it, it'll come to you, unless of course you're too taken with today's fast paced, car chase, cop movies. As you scroll down and look at the pictures, think back to those programs. Did you ever see anyone get killed, even with all the shootin' going on? Did you ever hear even one cuss-word? Was there ever a questionable scene for young eyes or young ears? Did the good guys and gals ever win by using deception or underhandedness? Was there ever an episode ending without a moral to learn and to live by? Was there ever an episode where you couldn't tell the good guys from the bad guys? Was there ever an episode where the good guys turned into bad guys? Now do you remember why we watched those programs? I'm sure you do. Now you understand why our parents allowed us to watch these programs?
 |
| Annie Oakley portrayed by: Gail Davis |
 |
| Cisco Kid & Poncho portrayed by: Duncan Renaldo & Leo Carillo |
 |
| Gene Autry: Himself |
 |
| Hop-a-long Cassidy portrayed by: William Boyd |
 |
| Lone Ranger & Tonto portrayed by: Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels Now, ask yourselves why you allow your children and grandchildren to watch the programs they are watching today? Is it for the same reason your parents felt safe? Are the programs Hollywood produces today as moral and upstanding as when we were young? Are you sure you wouldn't rather have you kids watching Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, The Lone Ranger, Sky King, The Cisco Kid, Hop-a-long Cassidy or Annie Oakley? C'mon, be honest with yourselves. |
 |
| Roy Rogers & Dale "Evans"Rogers |
 |
| Wild Bill Hickok & Jingles portrayed by: Guy Madison and Andy Devine |
 |
| Sky King with Penny portrayed by: Kirby Grant & Gloria Winters
Is this the end of an era? Or can this be the beginning of a New Era of Morality, Honesty, and Faith In God? Can we as adults step in and instill the code of the cowboys in our children, grand children and great grand children? Do we as adults have to stand by and watch the future of America be indoctrinated into Communism, Atheism and lifestyle of debauchery? I guess the answer lies within our own morals, doesn't it?
It is not difficult to recognize people who grew up without ever paying attention to the words of our Cowboy hero's. By the same token, it is easy to recognize people who did pay attention. If you watch the news programs these days, you know what I mean. Almost every cowboy legend took the time to write creeds and codes for young folks to follow. It is a shame that those creeds and codes fell into mediocrity along with the programs themselves. Roy Rogers wrote "Rider's Rules", Gene Autry wrote "Ten Commandments of the Cowboy, Lone Ranger wrote "The Lone Ranger's Creed" and Hop-along Cassidy wrote "Creed for American Boys and Girls". Every one of these carried and conveyed the same basic message; Honesty, honor, obedience to parents and elders, respect for others, truth, good work ethics and last but certainly not least Faith in God and obedience His commandments. One of most endearing memories from my childhood was the prayer that was written by Roy Rogers, it goes like this: "Lord, I recon I'm not much just by myself, I fail to do a lot of things I ought to do. But Lord, when trails are steep and passes high, help me ride it straight the whole way through. And when in the falling dusk I get that final call, I do not care how many flowers they send. Above all else, the happiest trail would be for YOU to say to me, "Let's ride, My friend." Amen With that said, let me borrow some words written by Roy Rogers and his wife Dale Evens that became the song repeated over and over throughout my childhood, and the words are forever etched into my brain. "Happy trails to you, until we meet again. Happy trails to you, keep smilin' until then. Who cares about the clouds when we're together? Just sing a song and bring the sunny weather. Happy Trails to you, 'til we meet again..." Today is Memorial Day, as we celebrate with our families and friends at outings and picnics, let us remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice so that we have freedom and liberty in America. Remember those families who are suffering the loss of family members who unselfishly gave their all. "All gave some, some gave all." God Bless and Happy Trails, Sincerely, The Watchman This Blog Post respectfully dedicated to Ernie and June, two people who followed faithfully in the footsteps of our Lord and kept the Cowboy Creed. Ernie has taken that happy trail with Jesus and he is missed. The Lord be with you June till you meet Ernie again at the next Trail head. Love and Blessings.
|
