WAYNE ALLEN
PDT Staff Writer
The Roy Rogers Memory Museum will officially open on Wednesday with Dodie Rogers-Patterson, Roy’s youngest daughter, cutting a ribbon during the start of the annual Roy Rogers Festival.
When asked about the motivation for opening the museum Jane Lilly, coordinator of the Roy Rogers Memories Museum, said, “Roy’s memory belongs in this area. He does not belong in California or Branson (Missouri). This is Roy’s home.”
She said the museum will be educational, it will bring in tourists to downtown Portsmouth and will promote the city of Portsmouth, and he would like to bring in classes from area schools to teach them about Roy Rogers through a variety of resources.
The opening of the museum is happening days before the beginning of the 29th annual Roy Rogers Festival. This years festival will take place Aug. 1-4. This years festival will feature, Marlyn Mason, Dan Haggerty, John Fullerton, Dodie Rogers-Patterson, Jon Patterson along with many others.
“We will also have three of Roy’s granddaughters coming to perform. Also performing will be the Gate City Gunslingers,” Lilly said. “We will also have a little train that will take people from the Holiday Inn around the murals, up by the museum and back to the Holiday Inn.”
Lilly said it’s anticipated there will be between 500 and 1000 people attending this years Roy Rogers Festival.
The museum will be open Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For more information about this years Roy Rogers Festival visit royrogersfestival.org.
Wayne Allen may be reached at 740-353-3101, ext. 208, or wallen@heartlandpublications.com.
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