Event of the Month

Postmaster, please deliver to: Mr. Andy Devine Motion Picture Cowboy c/o The Hereafter Dear Mr. Devine: I knew your crackly high-pitched voice long before I knew your name.

I can remember spending lazy Sunday afternoons lying on the living-room carpet watching old Westerns when I was supposed to be doing my algebra homework or cleaning my room. It's probably not your fault that I never did get the hang of advanced math or proper ironing.

Instead, I watched you elevate the stature of cowboy sidekick to an art: when a pretty lady sidled into the frame, you'd slide your dusty, rum-pled cowboy hat off your head and into your fidgeting hands, bow your head, and don a shy, toothy smile. "Aw, shucks, ma'am," your whole body said without you having to.

When John Wayne or another leading man chose to face danger rather than retreat which always sounded like the more reasonable option to a thinkin' man like yourself your voice would crack as you pleaded always unsuccessfully for caution.

Your character's good-natured prudence provided the contrast necessary to make the Duke or Jimmy Stewart look bigger and braver than life. So what if you never got the girl in any of those classic John Ford Westerns? You got the laughs.

You may have driven that pearly stagecoach into your last sun-set 15 years ago, but folks in the town where you grew up haven't forgotten you. Every September Kingman honors you with Andy Devine Days, a down-home celebration that encompasses two days of rodeoing, a parade, softball and tennis tour-neys, and an awards dinner.

Because it falls near the end of the season, the rodeo draws a number of national contenders. Held at the Mohave County Fairgrounds, the contests offer riders a chance to earn the points they'll need for the National Finals Rodeo.

But it's the parade that, for me, embodies what this annual event is about. Young riders in their finest satin shirts wait patiently in the shade of large trees for their turn to ride their freshly brushed ponies past their friends. The grown-ups, whether on horseback or pressed into service as chauffeurs, yell "Hi! How are yous?" to the folks they know in the crowd.

The more than 2,000 participants in the parade one in every six Kingman residents by my calculations ride everything from midget cars to Model Ts, from jalopies to a jet. (Okay, so the jet is actually a fiberglass replica. Tell that to the pigtailed girl who sits in the cockpit and is pitched back a few inches by a mini G force each time the tractor pulling her jet starts up again.) Between you and me, Andy, I'm a big-city gal. But watching

Event of the Month UNDISPUTED KING OF COWBOY SIDEKICKS GETS HIS DUE IN KINGMAN

kids dash for the candy the Little League teams pitch from the beds of brightly decorated pickup trucks makes me wonder what other delicious pleasures I might be missing by not living in a town like Kingman.

But you'd know all about those, wouldn't you? I sauntered into the Hotel Beale, where you grew up, on what was Front Street. You must have felt grand when, decades later, they renamed it Andy Devine Avenue, giving you your very own patch of U.S. Route 66.

What fun it must have been for you to run up and down the sweeping wooden stair-case that was the focal point of your parents' hotel, while tourists, railroad men, and salesmen swapped stories of their travels in the street-front bar. Like the people who passed through it, the hotel eventually died a natural death. It was most recently a flophouse and a favorite haunt of the town's undesirable ele-ment, according to the current owner, who has begun re-storing the hotel to its early grandeur.

Within walking distance of the hotel is the Mohave Museum of History and Art, whose main attraction, as you know, is the Andy Devine room. Images from your many motion pictures and television shows are illuminated by props and your personal memorabilia.

That craggy voice, a result of injuries suffered in a childhood accident while playing with a curtain rod, earned you a role in cinema history. And never forgetting the town where you grew up earned you a place in the hearts of the folks in Kingman, who still share in and celebrate your success.

Best wishes from a would-be Kingman cowgirl.

Melanie

WHEN YOU GO

Andy Devine Days will be held September 25-26, but there are special events leading up to the celebration. Softball and tennis tourneys are planned for September 19-20; there's the Andy Awards dinner, September 20; then there are afternoon and evening rodeo performances at the Mohave County Fairgrounds, September 25-26; and the big parade, September 26. The schedule is subject to change, so call ahead to confirm.

Getting there: Kingman, situated on Interstate Route 40 and U.S. 93, is about 185 miles northwest of Phoenix.

Accommodations and restaurants: Most of Kingman's services are on East Andy Devine Avenue and West Beale Street; RV sites and campgrounds also are available.

For more information, call the Kingman Area Chamber of Commerce at (602) 753-6106.