Rob and Doris Acklin of Dunsmuir, Calif., said they were just passing through on Thursday and saw one of the posters for the weekend of activities. Doris said they were not not on a set timetable as they are touring all over Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, so they thought they would stay.
“Our first stop was the re-enactment of the Meeker Massacre, and Rob and I have never been so impressed with a small-town production like that,” Doris said. “It was well performed, well staged, the narrative was clear and interesting, and the entire schedule of events over the weekend we found exhaustive.”
“There had to have been something for everyone even though we will no way be able to take it all in,” Rob Acklin said. “I wonder how such a small town can do this over three days and I am not certain that the residents of Meeker realize what a beautiful setting exists here.”
The Acklins said they had heard of Meeker before due to the annual Meeker Sheepdog Classic in September because they have a friend who comes to Meeker every two or three years to take in the Classic.
“They told us what beautiful country it is around here, and I don’t believe they exaggerated at all,” Rob said.
Mary K. Krueger of Meeker, who owns a business, is a rancher and a musician and who is involved in many facets of Meeker life, played with her band the Clover Loafers after the parade on Friday and played a role in the Meeker Bank Robbery Re-enactment, said she enjoys Range Call and enjoys taking part.
“It’s a lot of fun and it exposes Meeker to a lot of new people each year,” she said. “It takes a lot of people to make the Range Call a success, and a lot of work is done by a lot of people, and it is great to see the community so involved while bringing people into Meeker at the same time.”
Tom and Reina Montoya are newcomers to Rangely. They did return home the night of the Fourth to watch the fireworks display over Kenney Reservoir, but they were in Meeker on Friday and Saturday.
Their son, Joey, 7, really enjoyed the bank robbery and playing on the water slide in the downtown area.
“I really look forward already to next year,” he said. “I already told my mom and dad that we are coming back next year.”
This was the Montoyas’ first trip to Meeker since they moved here from Longmont in late May.
“I didn’t know anything about Meeker before this weekend,” Reina said. “It is really exciting to see so much going on in a town of this size. The people here have been so friendly and we have been kept so busy doing fun things all weekend long, that I guarantee we will return again – very soon.”
“With the green mountains and meadows and all the water, Meeker looks like a different world than Rangely,” she said.”
Three-year-old Josh Simmons of Meeker was a little bit bummed because he had just broken off the small holder to the American flag he had been waving before Chris Cagle took to the stage, Saturday night.
But he was mostly hyped up because the music was about to start up again, and he wanted to show off his Western attire, including the flag, which he had attached to his cowboy hat.
“I am having a good time, except I broke the stick to my American flag,” he said, adding that he had enjoyed the day so far. “This is a lot of fun between the cowboy music and fireworks.”
Rob Strong was in Meeker for the eighth Fourth of July in a row from Rawlins, Wyo.
“For only being a couple of hours away, this is totally different country, and I enjoy getting down here into Rio Blanco County as often as I can,” he said. “It’s much cooler, much greener, there’s more water, the people are as friendly if not friendlier, and there is a lot to do over the Fourth of July weekend.
“I enjoy the Meeker Massacre every time I come down here from Rawlins, but there are also the rodeos and the bank robbery and good food I can splurge on once a year,” Strong said. “I have been coming for eight years in a row, and I expect I will be coming for quite a few more.”
Danny and Laurie Agnew are from Pensacola, Fla., and they found what might be a life-changing experience when they visited Dinosaur and Rio Blanco County for eight days.
The family, which included 16-year-old twin daughters, had never been west of the Mississippi River and had never seen snow, not to mention snow-covered peaks in June and July.
“My wife and I are near retirement and the girls have another year before they graduate from high school,” Danny said. “This is like a whole new world out here, and we all love it.
“We will definitely stay in Florida until next summer, when the girls graduate from high school, but we have all talked about it and we all think we can see a move to Rio Blanco County next summer,” he said.
“We actually came up here to see the old West because we just couldn’t imagine what it was really like,” Laurie said. “We spent three days up around Dinosaur, which is nice, but not beautiful like it is here in Meeker.
“We stopped in a little store in Dinosaur and someone mentioned that this Range Call thing was quite a production, so we came down on Thursday night in time for the pageant, and after seeing what Meeker can do on a three-day weekend, we really don’t want to leave,” she said.
Beth, one of the twins, said, “We have traveled as a family all over the East Coast and we kind of thought that was paradise. After a week here in Colorado and in Meeker, I feel like a kid in a whole new world.
“It is incredibly beautiful, the weather has been good and warm, but a lot drier than at home,” she said. “But the mountain scenes, the wildlife, the nice people and the entire stay here has been impressive. Meeker really does a great job with a large variety of things to do over the Fourth of July. This looks like the one place on earth I might leave Florida for – especially in the summer. This has been a fun time in Meeker.”
Gayle Rogers is a member of the Range Call Committee, the Rio Blanco County Historical Society, other local groups and she played a role in the Meeker Bank Robbery Re-enactment on Saturday as well as working as security/gate watcher during the Chris Cagle concert on Saturday night.
She has the energy of a person in her 30s, says she is often told by people that they think she is quite active for a woman in her 60s, but in reality is right around that 80-year-old mark.
“I do all this because I love doing it; it is great to be part of a town like Meeker, where you can do all sorts of things,” she said. “I love Range Call and will be as involved as much as I can as long as I can.
“Range Call is a great event because there is so much one can do, from rodeos, the pageant, the parade, the gun shoot, the bank robbery, the fireworks and just the opportunity to see everyone on this end of the county, some from the other end of the county and to meet people who have never been here.
“Not a single person can say there is nothing that interests them going on here over the weekend,” she said. “There’s good weather, good food, good fun and good people. What else do you need?”
