Johnny Crawford to Headline 10th Anniversary John Wayne Birthday Celebration

Actor/singer Johnny Crawford has been a welcome guest in millions of American homes ever since 1955 when he was featured as one of Walt Disney’s original Mouseketeers. Best known as young Mark McCain, Chuck Connors’ son in the hit series The Rifleman, Crawford appeared regularly in such television classics as The Lone Ranger, Wagon Train, Zane Grey Theater, The Donna Reed Show, Hawaii Five-O and Murder She Wrote. And, of course, he had the honor of being shot dead by John Wayne in Howard Hawks’ El Dorado (1967).

Mr. Crawford has also enjoyed a successful musical career, first as a Billboard Top-40 teen pop star and, since 1992, as the leader of the Johnny Crawford Dance Orchestra featuring classic American music from the 1920s and 1930s by such hit makers as Duke Ellington, Cole Porter and Cab Calloway.

We could not be more pleased to announce that Mr. Crawford will be our guest of honor at our 10th Anniversary John Wayne Birthday Celebration where he’ll perform at our benefit dinner on May 27th and share Hollywood stories and sign autographs at events to be announced.

Welcome, Johnny, Crawford!

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Calling All Horses!

Plans are underway for an all-horse parade through the streets of  picturesque Winterset, Iowa in conjunction with the 2016 John Wayne Birthday Celebration on Saturday, May 28th. The parade will be designated as a salute to military veterans and law enforcement officers and will include horse drawn wagons and buggies, and draft and saddle horses. All equine organizations and enthusiasts are welcome to participate. For information contact Frank Santana at 520-241-6442 or e-mail at fsantana@aol.com.

Since John Wayne rode to movie fame atop a stagecoach, we are thrilled to welcome the celebrated Wells Fargo Stagecoach to our John Wayne Birthday Celebration Horse Parade on Saturday, May 28th.