Story and photos by Cary Griffin, Forney Messenger

Bucky the Cowgirl made an appearance Tuesday morning at the Ellen Brooks West Memorial Library as part of the special program fare of the library’s 2009 Summer Reading Club.

Beginning at 10:30 a. m., Bucky (Margaret Clauder) provided approximately 45 minutes of imaginative, comic entertainment with a Wild West theme in her persona as a Western-style clown. But her act had a message at the end.

Bucky, who’s also a ventriloquist, began by introducing some of her puppet friends, all from Western lore—from her dog, “Get-A-Long” and her horse, “Getty-Up” to “Kermit the Sheriff”, who figured in the final third of the program. She had some of the puppet characters clown around and do tricks.

Next, Bucky taught Summer Reading Club members and guests the song A Cowboy Needs a Horse”, which has a number of verses, all describing what a cowboy (or cowgirl) needs to keep riding along: a horse, a rope, a song, a hat, a pair of fancy boots, and a pair of shiny spurs.

Shortly after Bucky introduced “Kermit the Sheriff”, she discussed what it would take to be good deputies—chief among these a good, fast horse and a good strong rope. A lively song, “Let’s Go to the Pony Fair”, punctuated this portion of the program, and at the end of the song, Bucky introduced “Buttercup”, the perfect horse for a good Western lawman.

Then Bucky called on an older child in the audience, Bella, to help catch a thief. Bella became the sheriff’s deputy cowgirl as Bucky played the bad guy, “Hound Dog”, who had taken books from the library without permission and had been spied reading one. Bella roped her outlaw and a few minutes later everyone knew that the culprit had been taken to jail. Unfortunately, Kermit admitted that “Hound Dog” had escaped hard time—but the news wasn’t all bad. Kermit had retrieved the “loot”—all the books “Hound Dog” had taken.

“Do you know what these are?“ Bucky asked her young listeners, holding up a book. “Books you can check out!” To the song “Jailhouse Rock”, she passed out the books to some of the children, urging them to check the books out before going home.

“I think ‘Hound Dog’ has learned his lesson,” Bucky said. “Crime doesn’t pay.”

The moral? “Visit your local library.”

The program ended with a final song, “Happy Trails to You”. Afterwards, Bucky handed out a deputy sheriff’s badge and a photo of herself to each child.

The Summer Reading Club had a second special program Tuesday at 2:30 p. m. featuring representatives of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Two more special programs are scheduled—“David Wonders—Comedy & Magic, featuring David Gish, at 10:30 a. m. Wednesday, June 24; and “Texas Magic Tricks and Tomfoolery” with Brett Roberts, at 10:30 a. m. Wednesday, July 8.

This story and any accompanying photo(s) were originally published in the Forney Messenger and are Copyright © 2009, Forney Messenger, Inc. and have been used by permission. The Forney Messenger is the publisher of Kaufman County’s oldest newspaper and may be found online at www.ForneyMessengerInc.com.

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