Range Call: Four days of fun, games, music, celebration | The Herald Times | Serving Meeker, Rangely, Dinosaur & Northwest Colorado

With the four-day Range Call in Meeker and the Rangely Fourth of July Celebration it was a heck of an active and fun weekend in Rio Blanco County. A huge array of activities occurred in both towns.

After a heavy downpour and in the middle of a mild continuous rain, the display of the Colorado state flag and the American flag by Molly Turner, left, and Chuck Humel, right, signified the beginning of the Pageant on Friday night at the Rio Blanco County Fairgrounds. The Pageant is a re-enactment of the the Meeker Massacre.

The Bank of Meeker’s would-be robbers caused quite a stir on Oct. 13, 1896, and are seen here holding bank clients under gunpoint in Monday’s re-enactment. However, the unsuccessful bank robbery ended up with all three robbers dead.

Hypnotist Chris Mayberry had the hundreds of people watching in stitches as he turned this local young gentlemen into the doll Barbie and had him/her entertain the crowd on the runway with a nice strut and then a short musical number. Mayberry did an outstanding job of entertaining the crowd Saturday at the Downtown Plaza gazebo at the intersection of Fifth and Main streets.

The band Blackhawk was the main attraction for the concert held at the Rio Blanco County Fairgrounds on Saturday night. Dodging a torrential rain storm right up to the very end, Blackhawk was really well received by the thousands in attendance who filled the entire fairgrounds parking lot as well as the lots at Meeker Elementary School and everything in between.

A barrage of different-colored rockets continuously bombarded the sky above Highland Cemetery on Monday night with a fireworks show that was well grouped and showed some new designs. Hundreds of people filled Meeker Town Park and Meeker Circle Park while residents could be seen in streets, in trees and on rooftops taking in the lights.

Cheryl’s Artisan Creations was one of the vendors on hand over the weekend in downtown Meeker as part of the Range Call Celebration which started Friday night with the Pageant and concluded Monday night with an impressive fireworks show shot off from Highland Cemetery. In between was a lot of activities, including runs, walks, basketball challenges, concerts, barn dances, food and drink vendors, face painting, a zipline and a wide variety of other activities.

Flying high in the sky above the Rio Blanco County Courthouse in downtown Meeker was local resident Dawn Pozorski, seen taking her turn on the short zipline set up. Several games, vendors, bouncy houses and water slides kept the children busy Saturday and Sunday as did food and refreshment stands and folks such as those painting children’s faces.

Chosen as grand marshals for the annual Range Call Parade were Meeker’s Jim and Bev Brennan. The Brennans have played a major role of many years in making Range Call the success that it has become.

The Jon Wangnild Memorial Shoot was a huge success on Sunday as men, women and children converged on the Meeker Sportsman’s Club shooting range south of Meeker, where they shot shotguns, .22 caliber rifles, high-caliber pistols and archery with a big assist from area officers of the Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

Opening act Ned LeDoux was well received Saturday night at the concert at the fairgrounds in Meeker. LeDoux is the son of the late recording artist, sculptor, champion bareback rider and songwriter Chris LeDoux, who died of a rare form of cancer in 2007. Ned’s strong gentle voice and acoustic guitar reminded many people of his dad, who wrote many of the songs Ned played. Ned also played several songs he had written, including crowd favorite “Hawk,” which he wrote in memory of his father.

Having braved a major downpour just minutes before the beginning of Saturday night’s Ned LeDoux/Blackhawk concert on Saturday night, the open field in front of the massive stage filled quickly with a huge local crowd. Other than just a few sprinkles, the concert went on as scheduled without any interruptions until the end of the Blackhawk set, when the rains set in again.

One of the vendors on hand on the Rio Blanco County courthouse lawn on Saturday and Sunday was Yellow Snowman, which offered a wide selection of homemade snow cone flavors. The business is owned by Margie and Leif Joy, and Leif is seen above catering to some customers, who took advantage of the business due to the warm and humid days downtown. Several vendors of different varieties were on hand for the three days in the downtown area, Saturday through Monday.

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