Bell County set for first Cowboy Christmas Posted On: Wednesday, Oct. 21 2009 04:24 AM By Jade Ortego
Killeen Daily Herald

BELTON – "Where the 'possum and the badger, and rattlesnakes abound,

"And the monstrous stars are winkin' o'er a wilderness profound;

"…Where the antelope is grazin' and the lonely plovers call –

"It was there that I attended 'The Cowboys' Christmas Ball.'"

Bell County will have its first Cowboy Christmas Ball, based on a concept expressed in the eponymous poem by William Lawrence Chittenden, at 7 p.m. Dec. 12 at the Bell County Expo Center.

The poem, first published June 19, 1890, in the Anson newspaper, The Texas Western, recounted an annual frontier dance, complete with a bass viola, a tambourine, fiddles and traditional dance steps, held in Anson since the 1880s.

Bell County's ball, which will include live music, dancing, a silent auction, hors d'oeuvres and a bar, will benefit the Bell County Youth Fair Livestock Show and Rodeo Scholarship Fund.

The Bell County Youth Fair and Rodeo, Texas AgriLife Extension Bell County and Bell County Expo Inc. are putting on the event.

Country music legend and native Texan Michael Martin Murphey and local country bands will perform. Murphey, a Western Music Association Hall of Fame inductee, is known for his 1975 single, "Wildfire." Murphey recorded "The Cowboys' Christmas Ball" to music in 1985.

The event planners are asking for donations of "high-end" Texas and Western-themed items for the silent auction. They plan to sell 60 to 75 items, including hunting trips.

Tim Stephens, Bell County Expo Center's executive director, said he hopes to sell about 800 tickets to the event.

The Youth Fair Scholarship Program has given about $45,000 to Bell County high school seniors in the past two years, chairperson Lindsey Strait said.

"The students who participate in the fair are the cream of the crop in Bell County," Strait said.

"Not only is it an exciting event … it's also is a wonderful opportunity to raise money, and all the proceeds from the silent auction and the events are going to go directly into the hands of a Bell County senior," she said.

Dirk Aaron, Bell County AgriLife Extension agent, said that some business owners have expressed a desire to purchase tables, which seat eight, and offer seats to soldiers and their spouses.

"As we're selling some of those sponsorships, our vision is to sell as many of those to people who realize the importance of our soldiers and the connection between the heritage of the cattle real estate (and) the heritage of the military," Aaron said.

The ball, Aaron said, expresses the community's personality.

"This connects all the dots, we think, and allows us to continue the perpetual investment in the kids of our county," he said.

Individual tickets are available for $50.

"Cattle Baron" tables are $1,000, "Gold Star" tables are $800, "Silver Spur" tables are $600, and "Stetson" tables are $400.

The planners ask attendees to RSVP by Dec. 1 and wear formal Western attire. For tickets, to donate items or for more information, call (254) 933-5305.

Contact Jade Ortego at jortego@kdhnews.com or (254) 501-7553.