(Submitted)

Get your cowboy and cowgirl hats and boots ready. The longest running STARS fundraiser takes place in less than two weeks. 

The Rumsey Ride for Stars, in its 26th year, takes place on Sunday August 9. 

The event, will take place at the TL Bar Ranch just east of Trochu on Highway 585.

“It’s not just Rumsey, it’s all the little towns in the area (it is) Rumsey, Rowley, Morrin, Munson, Big Valley, Trochu and Three Hills,” Ride for Stars spokesperson Rob Richmond said.

He told the Mail, this is the longest running fundraising event for STARS, mentioning that STARS itself is celebrating its 30th year. 

“The ride has been there pretty much from when STARS actually started up,” he said. 

Richmond explained that a group of people from the Rumsey area came up with the concept. One of the main people involved was Rosalie MacFarlane.

“Rosalie had heard about this service that was going to start up. They wanted to do a fundraiser for STARS, one thing lead to another, and it is where it is today,” he said.

The main event is the trail ride, he explained. Last year it was a huge event, with it being the Ride’s 25th year.

“We always say it doesn’t matter how much you raise as long as you raise something for the service, you know $25,000-30,000,” he explained. 

“Last year, the Ride and all the other little events that go on, we raised over $60,000. It was a pretty moving thing, it was a huge day. It was all the hard work of everybody.”

“The volunteer part of it and the community spirit part of it, that’s kind of two big aspects for the ride,” Richmond said. 

“There’s lots of food and there is lots of fun. We have the pancake breakfast, we have the lunch at noon and then we have an awesome BBQ beef supper and a silent auction,” he said.

A lot of the smaller events wouldn’t be able to happen without the help of families in the area.

“The Richmond family, we do it to honour my dad who was a long time volunteer and we do a raffle. When it first started way back when, in the early years, it was a couple hundred bucks, last year for the raffle we just about raised $3500,” he said adding that Fresen Bros. in Drumheller, where his brother Ken works, are a huge sponsor and promoter for the Ride. 

Richmond said it is sometimes difficult to know what to expect in terms of a turn out because of the other various events and activities going on in the area. 

“We always tell folks, at the very least if you can try, donate in whatever way,” he said continuing by saying he has been doing promoting through Facebook the last couple of years. 

“Since STARS has celebrated their 30th year, they have flown almost 30 thousand missions,” he said.

He explained that the group who organizes the Ride were deciding if they should put on the event again this year and said they thought it would be a, “disservice if they didn’t do it.” 

“Everybody has had people (whether it be) neighbours, co-workers, friends, family or whoever that have had to unfortunately use the service. If it is two bucks, five bucks or $1,000, it doesn’t really matter what everybody donates,” he said. 

“For a lot of us it is kind of our part to do the volunteering part of it. It kind of makes a person feel good when little communities come together like that. There are a lot of moving parts and a lot of good volunteers that help make the Ride go,” he said.

Those looking for more information can contact Ernie Goddard at 403-368-2132 or Mary Newton 403-368-2121 or visit the 26th Annual Ride for STARS Facebook page. 

There is a familiar face and voice back in the valley as Jaydee Bixby reignites his country music career in Wayne.

Bixby is back working on a new album, has a new record label and is back on the road touring. Part of his western Canada swing begins this Thursday at Wayne, where a guitarist will accompany him, and his parents might even make it onto the stage.

It has been about two years since his last appearance on stage in Drumheller.

“I’m excited for this,” he said. “ For this tour I was set up with an agent through my new record company. She has been doing a fantastic job with bookings.”

“The big jump off starts with Wayne, and then we are going all the way to Ontario. I won’t be back until the end of September.”

This is part of his new relationship with Mid South Music, his new record company based in Memphis.

 Bixby said he is working on an album that he is aiming to drop in the fall. He is in a unique position because while he has been busy recording new material, he also has an extensive Canadian catalogue.

“Basically none of my material has been released in the States before, so I am taking a couple of the best songs from my three albums, along with some new songs I have written and we are going to make a whole new album for international release,” Bixby tells The Mail.

Along this tour through Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario, he will be introducing his new material on radio along the way.

Along with his music career getting busier by the day, there were more life changes for Bixby, who became a father, coincidentally on Father’s Day.

“My son will be here, I‘m excited for that, it will be his first time in my home town, he said adding that his family will accompany him along some of this tour.

The life change also affects him artistically.

There is a whole new group of songs I can get away with singing now,” he chuckles. “It is a new experience with little ones, and I could sincerely sing about it without knowing what I was talking about.”

Bixby performs at the Last Chance Saloon, Thursday, July 30.