Jack Kelly: Hoppin' Along With Bart Maverick 2011! :)

Howdy All!

Before I start, I just wanted to say "Welcome" to our newest follower, and to say "Thanks" for all the cool comments and kind words for this blog.

Now, finally, I have a moment to tell you about my recent visit to the "Hopalong Cassidy Festival" in Cambridge, OH. This is the same western festival I visited last year. However, this year, instead of unseasonal heat and sunny skies, the temperature was about 20 degrees cooler and gray clouds continually threatened rain. And, instead of zooming down the freeway to Cambridge, I decided to meander down historic Route 40.

It's a good thing I did, too, or I would have missed this:


There was no "sign" of Bart or Bret at this car lot, unfortunately! ;-)

After I blogged about my visit to last year's Hoppy Fest, I received an e-mail chiding me for not visiting the 10th Street Antiques Mall, which also houses the Hopalong Cassidy Museum in Cambridge. So, I wanted to make sure it was on the itinerary this year. First, I had to find it. I stopped for lunch at a burger place and asked the cashier if she could direct me to the antiques mall.
"Sure! Just go back out on the main road here and turn left at the post office," she helpfully replied.

After finishing my burger, I set out for the antiques mall. Okay, drive back out this way, and turn left at the post office.

Oops! Apparently, the kindly cashier wasn't aware that you can't turn left at the post office, or at least, I couldn't that day. The street was closed due to road construction. (In fact, it seemed like most of downtown Cambridge was under construction.) But, luckily, I was able to turn down a side street to reach the antiques mall.
The mall is set up within a rambling old building, with room after room jammed with western and other movie and TV-related artifacts. It's a kollector's paradise.

What first caught my eye was a photo on the wall, right inside the front door. I instantly knew I had to have it. First, though, I made a quick circuit around the rooms, looking for anything else of interest. Quite a few other fans were on the hunt, as well. Honestly, I could have spent the entire afternoon immersed in memorabilia. But, I was eager to purchase my pic and visit the rest of the fest.

As I'm somewhat vertically challenged, I asked a tall gentleman if he could reach the pic and hand it down to me. He gladly obliged, and I paid for my prized purchase:

Yes, this wonderful autographed early 1950's portrait of "Smilin' Jack" had been welcoming customers to the mall for some time! And, besides the fact that it shows JK, the other great thing about this pic is that it was 50% off the marked price! :-)

With carefully-wrapped portrait in hand, it was now time to travel to the Pritchard Laughlin Civic Center, where the main festivities of the festival were taking place. This year, they didn't stamp my hand after I paid the admission fee. They handed me a little Hopalong Cassidy fan club card (dated 2004) instead.

More about the Hoppy Fest next time! :-)

UPDATE: It's a good thing I bought the autographed JK portrait when I did. The Hopalong Cassidy Festival was held for the final time in 2015, and the Hoppy museum/antique mall was destroyed by fire in 2016... :(