BUCKINGHAM – Dust off the cowboy boots and square up that cowboy hat because it's almost time to celebrate the National Day of the American Cowboy, or as it's known in these parts-Cowboy Day.

This year's celebration, planned for July 27 through 29, offers a unique opportunity to experience the Old West while sharing in the grand opening of Lionheart Resort, a recreational resort now under development in Buckingham County.

Although the last three Cowboy Day celebrations were hosted at the Historic Village at Lee Wayside, this year, the Tom Mix Rangers, who introduced the idea of celebrating the American Cowboy to Buckingham, are partnering with the new resort, which agreed to host the event.

During its April 9 meeting, the Buckingham County Board of Supervisors approved the necessary music/entertainment festival permit for Lionheart to hold the three-day event.

At the public hearing for the permit, Theresa McManus, a participant in last year's Cowboy Day, encouraged supervisors to grant the festival permit.

McManus, sharing how much she enjoyed reliving her childhood at Cowboy Day, stated, “If Buckingham allows this to fall by the wayside because of a special use permit it would be a sin to the county.”

She added, “I think with the bigger venue, where it's going to be held, we could really put ourselves on the map with something that is really exciting.”

And, that is just what Lionheart and the Tom Mix Rangers hope to do.

Larry Storch, who portrayed Corporal Agarn on F-Troop and was the featured guest star at Buckingham's first Cowboy Day in 2009, will be back this year.

Diane Sowle, the actress who played Mrs. Buckett in the original Willy Wonka movie will also be on hand for both Saturday and Sunday.

Along with Sowle and Storch, there will be lots of cowboy look-a-likes including Lee Nolan as the Lone Ranger, John Phipps as Tonto, Bob Wallace as Lash LaRue, and actor Michael Lair, as the Hyco Kidd.

Of course, there will be plenty of cowboys and re-enactors, gunfights, Native American dancers, roping and branding, living history camps, and equine demonstrations. Additionally, the Old Dominion Fast Draw folks will be back again with their competitive fast draw shooting.

Throughout the weekend, there will be Old West activities and demonstrations for kids of all ages. On Sunday morning, Cowboy Church will feature the Circuit Rider Preacher and music by Roy “Spotted Eagle” Glass, a Grammy nominated Native American flutist.

This year's event will also offer lots of great music including a Sunday afternoon performance by Cowboy Troy.

The list of musical entertainment on Saturday and Sunday features regional favorites including Point Judith, Central Virginia Blue, Nick Smith, Tredegar Brass Band, and the Creigh Reipe Band.

Along with the great local talent, entertainment will also include Brooke Adams, the Heather Roberts Band, and the Full Throttle Band.

Other celebrities slated to attend are Jim Coates, former New York Yankee pitcher who will be signing his book Always a Yankee; and Hank Foiles, former Pittsburg Pirates catcher, who will be signing his book A Pirates Journey.

Festivities will begin on Friday, July 27 at 5 p.m., with a Karaoke Contest featuring contestants chosen in competitions at various local establishments. Part of Friday night's $10 admission fee will benefit Madeline's House, a non-profit organization providing comprehensive services for individuals and families experiencing domestic and sexual abuse.

Why Celebrate the Cowboy?

In 2004, after the magazine American Cowboy launched a campaign for a national day celebrating the American Cowboy, the idea of honoring and preserving America's cowboy heritage corralled enthusiastic response from across the nation.

Subsequently, the magazine's staff drafted a resolution calling for the National Day of the American Cowboy. The resolution, which was adopted by the U. S. Senate in 2005, encouraged people to recognize the cowboy and the cowgirl “for their enduring contribution to the courageous pioneering spirit of America.”

Now, the fourth Saturday in July is not only a fixture on the national calendar but also here in Buckingham.

Mitch Toney, of the Tom Mix Rangers, is credited with the idea of a Cowboy Day celebration in Buckingham.

After he and his dad, Bob Toney, founder of the Tom Mix Rangers, and other members of the group went to Pennsylvania to participate in one of the first National Day of the American Cowboy celebrations, he pitched the idea of having a Cowboy Day at the Historic Village.

Subsequently, in July 2009, Historic Buckingham, Incorporated, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Tom Mix Rangers hosted Buckingham's first cowboy day celebration.

Noting that his part in this year's event focuses on the cowboys and horses, Mitch pointed out that the new venue will offer three different areas-the main stage for musical entertainment, the Old West area and the horse arena.

He emphasized that the Old West area and the horse arena/equine area will be “very family friendly.”

Sharing his philosophy on the importance of honoring the American Cowboy, Mitch said, “That pioneering spirit is the moral backbone of what this country was built on.”

Continuing, he stated, “When you watch these old Westerns on TV or any of the old television shows, they seem to have a moral code-it's easy to know who the good guy is.”

Mitch offered, “In times like these when everything is grayed-up and people are trying to blur the line between right and wrong and good and bad, I think it is important that we have some kind of basis to go by for our kids and future generations-this is right and this is wrong,”

He added, “The cowboys weren't scared to stand for what was right.”

Mitch shared that oftentimes when the Tom Mix Rangers are with children, some of the kids have never seen or been on a horse before or never watched a Western.

“They see us and want to go watch a cowboy movie,” he stated. “We need that Leave It to Beaver mentality of innocence and letting kids be kids and play.” He concluded, “We need John Wayne.”

About the Resort

Located on approximately 380 acres off Route 628, High Rock Road, Lionheart Resort is being developed on land that was home to the New Dominion School for Boys, a therapeutic wilderness school, and an adjacent farm. The properties were purchased by Richard and Christina Kingswell, owners of LINK, LLC, Learning Independence and Necessary Knowledge, the parent company of Lionheart Resorts, LLC.

According to Liz Brand, office manager for Lionheart, the owners, who both have experience in the field of social work with adolescents, initially planned on establishing a summer camp for boys.

As plans for the camp progressed, Richard Kingswell, a native of England, realized with the help of his longtime friend Wade Brand, who is also English, that the site had much more to offer.

Liz, who is now married to Wade, explained that after the Kingswells purchased the property, Richard asked Wade, who was living in England at the time, to come look at the property.

While discussing the attributes of the property and the area, the two starting mapping out plans for an activity resort, shared Liz, leading to Wade agreeing to stay in the United States and becoming the resort's project manager.

Thus, the evolution began for the development of a resort that upon completion will include two upscale restaurants, a zip line course, golf driving range, four lodging cabins, horse arena and stables, 100 RV sites, 100 staged camping sites, and a storage area for RVs.

Oh, and by the way, Liz not only found a challenging job she enjoys but also the man who she describes as her “lifelong mate” and “truest and dearest friend.”

Liz and Wade's wedding was the first held at the resort and prompted the realization that Lionheart's picturesque location offers the perfect venue not only for weddings but other special occasions.

“We really want to cater to weddings,” said Liz. However, she explained that it would more than likely be next summer before all of the landscaping is completed to provide the perfect setting for such events.

Although the resort's phased development is expected to take approximately five years, the first phase includes having 50 of the RV sites ready by the fall or at least by the end of the year.

By the end of the year, Lionheart also hopes to have 50 permanently staged tent sites ready. Those tent sites, explained Liz, will include beds and air-conditioning.

Phase one also includes the two restaurants, a new entrance off Route 628, the golf driving range, the horse arena and stables, the four lodging cabins, which are small buildings that were on site and are now being completely transformed into comfortable accommodations, and the zip line course.

According to Liz, the zip line course, which is under construction, will be 3,000 to 5,000 feet long and approximately 60-feet at its highest point.

Eventually, in phase two or three, Lionheart hopes to add earth-bag homes. “We want to have them basically for their uniqueness,” she stated, explaining that the homes, which are said to last for up to 500 years, are constructed with bags of earth.

She said they are hoping the earth-bag home project will include workshops for disaster relief organizations that want to learn to build inexpensive but durable structures.

Wade, describing the earth bag homes as one of his passions, said that one of the homes could be constructed for about $2,000.

The resort's property also includes three ponds. One of the ponds, which was used by the school for swimming, will eventually be refurbished with sandy beaches and a tiki hut. A pool is also in the future plans. However, Wade stressed that those plans have not been finalized and at this point are only plans.

Although Wade has never been in the resort business, he shared, “I've been in the building business most of my life. Near ten years ago, I changed track and went into bed and breakfast.” His experience also includes fast food and fine-dining restaurants. “So from that side, the entertainment and hospitality has been there for quite some time,” he stated.

Although they anticipated both restaurants would be opened by the end of the month, complications, such as last week's storm, may hamper those plans, explained Liz in an email. With downed trees, debris, and no power, workers have been focusing on clean up rather than construction.

“We are striving and working around the clock to hopefully have the restaurants open by or before Grand Opening/Cowboy Day,” she wrote in that email. “Truly, it is our goal to move as fast and furious as possible.”

The restaurants will be located in two existing buildings on the property that are in the process of being completely renovated and transformed with a distinct European flair and a great deal of craftsmanship.

“Our ala carte restaurant will be called Embers,” shared Liz. Initially, the Embers will be opened for breakfast and lunch on the weekends with plans for adding dinner later.

“We are looking for chefs with lots of culinary experience,” she stated.

The other restaurant will be called On the Rocks. “It is going to be a very unique way of cooking your food,” said Liz.

Wade, asking Liz to pull up the Rok website, explained that the food is seared, placed on the heated rock, and brought to the table where diners are able to cook it to their specific taste.

“The menu is going to feature filet, lobster, salmon,” added Liz.

“I promise you, you won't get a bad steak. We don't know what it does to the meat but it tenderizes it as it's cooking. It's fantastic,” shared Wade.

Touring the property and stopping at the huge area being prepared for the RV sites demonstrates the vast amount of infrastructure required.

Another large area is being readied for the driving range; and, a stop at the four buildings being remodeled into lodging cabins again highlight the skills of the construction crew.

Recently acquired horses seek shade and hay in their new stable area and several llamas seem to be studying the heavy machinery working on the other side of their fenced area.

Talking about the phased construction, Wade said it provides an opportunity to see what is working and what isn't.

“We want to do a bit and see how it goes and if we are going in the right direction,” shared Wade.

“We want to put things in so that when you go camping you are not just in a field or at a place just for camping. We want to provide entertainment and activities,” he added. “We want this to be a destination.”

Liz shared, “To me, it is important that we are also improving the area. We will be providing an option for people right here in Buckingham. They will be able to go out to dinner or take the kids on an outing for the day.”

Lionheart, prided Liz, is also providing jobs for local residents. “As of today, we have 22 employees,” she shared, noting that these are full-time employees including heavy equipment operators, plumbers, electricians, painters and carpenters.

“We plan on extending the staff to probably about 40 by September because the restaurants will be opening,” stated Liz.

Wade stressed that the resort will be gated and include 24-hour security, offering people a place where they are safe and can enjoy themselves responsibly.

He offered, “I think at the end of the day, as long as we can provide what people want, they will keep coming back.”

For tickets and/or more information about Cowboy Day and Lionheart's grand opening, visit www.lionheartresort.com.