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A Short
History Of Wild West Express...
    
In The Beginning...
In 2000, we did a short stint filling in dates for the Canadian group
Red River Riders. Taking the advice of Rick and
Judie Fatland of Viking Agency, Wild West Express was born, with
original team members Ken and Bob McMeans,
Todd Pierce, and the injured Steve Rothblum. Our first event was the
San Dimas Western Festival where we won first
prize in the Equestrian Division of the PRCARodeo Parade. The stage was
set...
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Todd, Ken, and Bob, along with Todd's son Ryan, in the fall of 2000... The
gang with Rick Fatland in Ventura, CA
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Todd taking a 'short' nap during year one. After the tragedy of 9/11, Todd
re-enlisted in the Air Force, and left the gang he helped start, and ended
up for several years in the hot zone in Afghanistan and Kosovo. He made it
safely home in 2005 with his beautiful new wife from Kosovo,
Albania, and now lives in Maryland. |
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2001: How The West Was Fun... |
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 Curly Bill, Sheriff Slim Chickens, and Rattlesnake Jake. And the
forefathers of our trusty steeds Shorty, Spot, and Skunk...
The
gang got off to a slow, but confident start in 2001 with 60 dates at a
handful of events including Western Washington Fair, Madera District Fair,
Clark County Fair (Vancouver, WA), San Dimas Western Festival, and several
fall Harvest Festivals. |
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2002: The Wild West Coast Tour... |
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Things took off for us in 2002, with well over 200 dates (thanks to our
first trip to the Western Fairs Association Convention, and continued help
from Viking Agency)...events included Western Washington Fair, Puyallup
Spring Fair, Ventura County Fair, Santa Barbara County Fair, Contra Costa
County Fair, Glenn County Fair, San Bernardino County Fair, Alameda County
Fair, Los Angeles County Fair, Kern County Fair, Sacramento County Fair,
Amador County Fair, El Dorado County Fair, Grand National Rodeo, Farmer's
Fair, Western Idaho Fair, Oregon State Fair, Inter-Mountain Shasta Fair,
International Sportsmen's Expos, and numerous Harvest Festivals. Eric
Holmquist, Mike Piper, Tim Colceri, Earl Baze, and John Crater joined the
gang (and Todd Pierce did a few days while on leave from the military)...
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The 2003
Running Wild Tour...
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The 2003 Tour included stops at almost 60 fairs and events in 13
states. Some of those fairs included Western Washington Fair, Oregon
State Fair, Western Idaho Fair, Canadian National Exhibition (Toronto,
Canada),
Los Angeles County Fair, Central Washington State Fair, Alameda County
Fair, National Orange Show, Solano County Fair, Ventura County Fair,
Sacramento County Fair, Contra Costa County Fair, El Dorado County Fair,
Shasta District Fair, Santa Barbara County Fair, Lassen County Fair, El
Paso County Fair (Calhan, CO), Amador County Fair, Yuba-Sutter Fair,
Santa Clara County Fair, Siskiyou County Fair, Madera District Fair,
Santa Cruz County Fair, Draft Horse Classic, Mendocino County Fair, The
Big Fresno Fair, Puyallup Spring Fair, Colorado River Country Fair,
Valley Fair, Nevada County Fair, Antelope Valley Fair, Harvest Festivals
( in Las Vegas, Pleasanton, Ventura, Anaheim, Phoenix, San Diego),
International Sportsmen's Expos ( in Salt Lake City, Phoenix,
Pleasanton, San Mateo, Sacramento), Matt Galvin Memorial Rodeo, Rocky
Mountain Elks Foundation Benefit, and Autumn Harvest Faire. I'm tired
just thinkin' about it... |
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The gang grew even larger in 2003, with the addition of cast members Ron Graham, George Lindsey, Jr., Stephanie Roberts, Francisco 'Paco'
Sanchez, Rich Warren, and Clarke Wilson. We spent months and months scouting for just the right people...
too bad we didn't find them! |
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Introducing Jessie and her Wonderhorse Junior...
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But, of course, the major highlight of 2003 was seven-year old
cowgirl Jessica McMeans, joining the team for six fairs during the
summer months. Jessica, is of course, the daughter of Wild West
Express founder Ken McMeans. (Jessica will be on the road with her Dad
again in 2004, performing with her Wonderhorse, 'Junior', at a number
of summer fairs, including the Tanana Valley State Fair in Fairbanks,
Alaska, the El Paso County Fair in Calhan, Colorado, the El Dorado
County Fair in Placerville, California, the Oregon State Fair, in
Salem, Oregon, and the Western Idaho Fair, in Boise, Idaho. )
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The 2004 'Gone West' Tour...
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We signed with national
booking agency Harmony Artists in Beverly Hills, California in December of 2003.
It was just what we needed to help us make an even bigger push across the
nation, and we ended with numerous State fairs and dozens of County Fairs. As always, Viking Agency continued to keep us busy at the majority of the fairs they represented. Also
highlighting the year was a year end trip to Vegas and performances at the
Fremont Street Experience during the start of NFR Week. We also began doing
unusual special events including putting on and emceeing the pig races at the
Kenai Peninsula State Fair in Ninilchik, Alaska, and sort of helping the kids in
the Calf Scramble, down in Waco, Texas .
Dusty (Eric Holmquist) became our Events Coordinator, as we
enlisted the help of as many as 18 different cast members at one point. Veteran
Cast Members were myself Ken McMeans, Steve Rothblum, Eric Holmquist, Earl
Baze, Ron Graham, George Lindsay Jr., Mike Piper, John Crater, Paco Sanchez, and
of course my girl, Jessica McMeans. New with us were Marq Del Monte, Damian
Gravino, Dan Wiles and Steven Lord, Donnie Smith, Earl Baze Jr., Susan
Rosen's Assistant Jeremy, and Terry Horton. Lori Soto returned to work with us
on a few fairs, Jessica took over the show in some states, and Todd Pierce came
back in one piece from Kosovo and the US Navy.
It is also the year we began our
onslaught of Texas and the 'year of the car', my first new such vehicle since I
was 18 ( a Mitsubishi Spyder convertible). And the thing we thought would
never happen did, and our website
www.wildwestexpress.net brought the cowboys into Cyberspace.
What a year...we could not have done it if it hadn't been for the help of Jerry and Adrienne at Harmony Artists, Rick and Judie Fatland at Viking Agency (to whom we say a silent 'thanks' on a daily basis), Andrea at Wilson Events, Big Mama Sue with Big Mama Sue Productions, and Read Zaro with TEC (one of the nicest guys in the industry!). You all have treated us like royalty and we are forever grateful for your help in making Wild West Express a bigger success than I could ever dreamed or imagined...
Ken McMeans March 2005
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"Thanks to all our
fair industry family
and friends for making 2004 our best
ever! When we're riding
hard on the trail, we hope to look over
and see you ridin'
alongside. Happy Trails & may the horse
be with you!"
Ken McMeans 1/25/2005
Stay Tuned For
The 2005
'Riders In Disguise' Tour...
&
The 2006
'Spirits Of The West' Tour..
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