A Personal Note

            This has been a very difficult year for me personally.   Two days before the Film Festival, on Thursday, February 15, I was diagnosed with a brain tumor.   My primary care doctor referred me to a pair of specialists who scheduled brain surgery for March 14.   After a seven hour surgical procedure and eight days in the hospital, six of those days in the intensive care unit, I was sent home to recuperate and have been recovering since that time.   As this is being written (on November 1) I still have not returned to work at the foundation.

            The tumor was not malignant and the doctors were able to remove all but a tiny portion that was attached to the brain stem.  Both doctors told me that it was a very large tumor that had been growing for 10 years or more.   It would have been fatal had it not been removed when it was.   I feel that I have been blessed in so many ways; that the tumor was discovered, with good doctors, good hospital care, a wonderful family, dedicated staff and great friends.   As my friend Will Ghormley said, “You are now on bonus time.”

I still have several health issues that I am dealing with such as the total loss of hearing in my right ear and the loss of the nerves that affect my balance and equilibrium.   I have numbness in the right side of my face, nose, mouth and tongue, which causes a slight speech impediment.  I have a tightness or bound feeling on my left side from my shoulder to my foot.   My doctors have told me that it takes a lot of time for the nerves to heal, possibly up to a year, and some of these issues may never go away. 

I have truly enjoyed my work at Happy Trails Children’s Foundation through the years and feel grateful to be able to carry on the work with abused children that were so important to Roy and Dale.   I deeply appreciate the support of the Board of Directors of the foundation during this difficult time.

I want to thank everyone for all the prayers, cards, letters and emails that have been sent to me.   Each and every one is very special and I deeply appreciate each one.   I look forward to returning to work full-time in the near future.

Change…

            One thing in life is certain – things will change.  Sometimes they change for the better, sometimes for worse.   For years, the Happy Trails Children’s Foundation and Cooper Home for abused children sat virtually isolated in the pristine High Desert of Apple Valley near the banks of the (mostly dry) Mojave River.   Our nearest neighbor was the Jess Ranch Golf Course, more than a half mile away.   Then in 2004, things started to change.  The land around our 40 acres was purchased and development began.  The huge earth moving machines came in and worked for months, clearing and leveling the land, building roads, streets and infrastructure.   Soon, rooftops began to appear and now we are surrounded on three sides by hundreds of new homes and soon, the fourth side will have more rooftops.

            What does all this mean for the Happy Trails Children’s Foundation? At this point the answer is not clear.  Many rumors have been flying around and there has been much talk among our friends and supporters about the future of the foundation.   My illness and absence this year has not helped to dissuade the rumors.   For more than 10 years now I have been the face and driving force behind the foundation.  Margaret Netcell, Operations Manager has done an outstanding job carrying on the operations of the foundation in my absence; with the assistance of Debbie Percival, Data Entry Clerk.   Their dedicated efforts are greatly appreciated.  The foundation has hardly missed a beat.

            When changes come, we hope they will be for the better.   It could be that the foundation will sell the property and buildings as there is now apparently demand for other uses on the property.  If this happens, the foundation will continue, perhaps as a fund raising and grant making organization in support of other child abuse programs.   There is no plan whatsoever to dissolve the foundation.  The foundation will continue in the future to carry out our mission in support of abused children as long as there are abused children who need our help.   

            One change that will be noticed immediately is there will not be a Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Film Festival in 2008.   This is bound to disappoint some fans.   The Film Festival has had a great 10 year run.   I have many fond memories of producing the festival through the years.   One of the best memories and proudest moments in my career was at the very first festival when both Roy and Dale were present, a few short months before Roy passed away.   Another fond memory was the last festival we held before the Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Museum moved to Branson, MO.   On the Monday after the festival, we organized a tour of the High Desert to many of the places that were special to Roy and Dale.   It took five big tour buses loaded to the max to transport everyone who went on the tour.   The many guest stars, celebrities and musical performers who enhanced our festivals through the years bring back more fond memories.

            Since the Museum moved to Branson, attendance at the festival has declined.  The festival is a very expensive event to produce.   The object of the festival since the beginning was to raise funds for the foundation while providing an enjoyable time for the fans, of which I am one too.  We have been successful in reaching this goal each and every year.  However, in recent years the profits have declined with the attendance.  It requires a major investment of time, effort and money to produce the festival and the small financial return no longer justifies the expenditure.

            Now we have a new plan.  The foundation owns about 70 of the 81 16mm feature films that Roy made for Republic.  It does no good to have those great films sitting on the shelf in the vault at the foundation when there are fans who want to come together and see them.   Starting in February 2008, we will hold the first HAPPY TRAILS BREAKFAST CLUB.  Fans may remember a scene from Roy’s movie Home in Oklahoma where Gabby is hosting a breakfast club meeting on the patio with all the ranchers in the area.  Well, Happy Trails Children’s Foundation is going to host a Breakfast Club for all the Roy Rogers and Dale Evans fans.  The first meeting will be on Saturday, February 9, 2008, at the Ambassador Hotel located at the I-15 exit at Palmdale Road in Victorville.  A breakfast buffet will be served at 9 a.m.  followed by a very informal program featuring a surprise guest celebrity, questions and answers with the celebrity, and two of Roy’s movies including Home in Oklahoma.   We are going to have a grand time.  Tell your friends and family and bring your kids and grandkids.  We need a good turnout at this first event to determine if there is interest in continuing the series either monthly or quarterly.  This is going to be a fun time for all! Watch for more information coming soon.

The Happy Trails Children's Foundation built the Cooper Home in Apple Valley, CA to provide a safe haven for children at-risk, who have been severely abused and/or neglected.   The foundation in partnership with Trinity Youth Services continually operates the Cooper Home at current maximum capacity with 44 boys between the ages of 10 and 15, plus we have a lengthy waiting list! These are boys that have been so severely abused, Child Protective Services has removed them from their homes and the courts send them to us.  Their individual case histories are heart breaking.  Since the Cooper Home opened in 1997, more than 450 children have received shelter, care and treatment services.