ND Cowboy Hall of Fame - Archived Articles

Hall of Fame Induction Program Set

July 26, 2003

---HALL OF FAME INDUCTION PROGRAM SET---

Three ranchers, three rodeo cowboys, a ranch with a lighthouse, a rodeo producer and a 50-year-old rodeo will be formally inducted into the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame this coming Saturday and Sunday, August 2 and 3, in Medora and Sentinel Butte. Governor John Hoeven will be the keynote speaker at the program for the nine honorees on Saturday at the Tjaden Terrace in Medora at 1:00 p.m. MDT. The Medora portion of the program is free and open to the public.

The nine inductees come from across the state and will join 56 others who have been inducted since 1998. The inductees will be featured in the Hall of Fame Hall of Honorees that is planned for Medora.

The nine inductees for 2003 include: “Tex" Appledoorn of Dunn County in the Modern-era Rodeo Division; Frank Marshall of Dickey County and Alex LaSotta of Golden Valley County in the Pre-1940 Rodeo Division; Margaret Barr Roberts of Medora and Theodore “Ted” Albers of Oliver County in the Pre-1940 Ranching Division; Brooks Keogh

of McKenzie County in the Modern-era Ranching Division; the Nelson Sunrise Ranch of Morton County in the Ranch Division; the Minot Y’s Men’s Rodeo in the Special Achievement Division; and George Gardner of Billings County in the Rodeo Producers Division.

The honorees will be featured in the planned Hall of Fame’s Hall of Honorees, which will be the centerpiece of the $3-million Hall of Fame planned for Medora. NDCHF President Phil Baird of Mandan notes, “Those not selected for induction into the Hall of Fame this year are eligible for nomination in future years.”

NDCHF Executive Director Darrell Dorgan says, “Bids are being sought on the Medora project, and it’s possible construction could begin the end of September. Construction depends on fundraising and the bids. So far, we have commitments of more than $2 million, and the cost of the total project is about $3 million. We plan to make it a work in progress and build as we have the money. With a bit of luck, we could raise the rest of the money and complete virtually all of the project by late summer of 2004.”

Entertainment at this year's inductions begins at 12:00 p.m. MDT at the Tjaden Terrace in Medora. The actual induction program is expected to begin at 1:00 p.m. The inductees and their families will be introduced the following day at the Champions Ride Rodeo at the Home on the Range in Sentinel Butte.

Dorgan says people looking for rooms may call the Medora Chamber of Commerce at 701-623-4910 or the Dickinson Convention and Visitors Bureau at 701-483-4988.

NDCHF has a nationwide fundraising drive underway to pay for the project to be built on the site of the current Museum of the Badlands in Medora. Contributions for the project may be sent to The North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame, 1110 College Drive #216, Bismarck, North Dakota 58501.

back to What's New | Article Archive