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WAYNE ALLEN

PDT Staff Writer

Dodie Rogers-Patterson, youngest daughter of the late Roy Rogers, was in Portsmouth Wednesday to take part opening ceremonies for the 29th Annual Roy Rogers Festival, and the opening of the Roy Rogers Memories Museum in downtown Portsmouth.

“They (the organizers of the museum) did a good job honoring my dad,” Rogers-Patterson said. “When you think about it, what better place to have a museum, than his hometown?”

Rogers-Patterson said this is her fourth year attending the festival.

“The festival is really nice and each year you meet more people. Now with the opening of the museum, it’s going to be really nice,” Rogers-Patterson said. “It’s fun to come back to Portsmouth every year, it’s one of my favorite places.

When asked about the motivation for opening the Roy Rogers Memories Museum, its coordinator Jane Lilly said, “Roy’s memory belongs in this area. He does not belong in California or Branson (Missouri). This is Roy’s home,” Lilly said.

Lilly said the museum will be educational, it will bring in tourists to downtown Portsmouth and will promote the city of Portsmouth. She said she would like to bring in classes from area schools to teach them about Roy Rogers, through a variety of resources.

Today’s festival activities will include a tour of Roy Rogers’ boyhood home and a question and answer session with the stars. This years festival also 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.”

The Roy Rogers Memories Museum is located at 526 Second St., in Portsmouth, and will be open Thursday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The 29th annual Roy Rogers Festival opened Wednesday, and will continue through Saturday. Lilly said she anticipated there will be between 500 and 1,000 people attending this years festival.

For more information about this years festival, visit royrogersfestival.org.

Wayne Allen may be reached at 740-353-3101, ext. 208, or wallen@heartlandpublications.com.