Pandemic forces Cowgirl Museum to postpone its induction ceremony until October
The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame is postponing its induction ceremony and luncheon until this fall because of the pandemic.
The 45th annual induction ceremony, originally scheduled for April, will now take place Oct. 26 at Dickies Arena.
“As difficult as the decision was to move this very special event, our main concern is people’s health and safety. Being able to get together with the new inductees and old friends in the fall gives us something to look forward to,” said the museum’s Executive Director Patricia Riley in an emailed statement.
The five 2021 inductees are country music star Miranda Lambert; late artist Pop Chalee; female roper Lari Dee Guy; American equestrian and Olympic medalist Kathryn Kusner, and renowned cowboy hat designer Lavonna “Shorty” Koger.
Lambert got her start in bars throughout Texas and released her self-titled debut album independently in 2001. Later she was signed by Sony Music and has since released seven albums as well as three albums with her trio, Pistol Annies. Lambert received two Grammy awards and 14 awards from the Country Music Association.
Chalee, who was born in 1906 and died in 1993, was known for her two dimensional traditional Native American paintings of forest scenes and wildlife. She painted murals for the Albuquerque airport, and her work is found in museums throughout the country.
Eight-time Women’s Professional Rodeo Association Lari Guy is the “winningest” female roping champion in the world with over 35 championships and $1.5 million in earnings. In 2013, Guy launched the “Rope Like A Girl” campaign to help motivate young girls and women in roping and has traveled the globe teaching. She is also an expert horse trainer and a renowned clinician.
Kusner is an American equestrian and Olympic medalist in show jumping. She was one of the first women who rode for the United States Equestrian Team (USET) and the first American woman to win an Olympic medal in equestrian competition. She also became the first licensed female jockey in the United States in 1968.
Koger, an Oklahoma native, has over 40 years of restoration fitting, designing and sewing cowboy hats. In 1990, she started Shorty’s Caboy Hattery in the historic Stockyards City, OK, one of the few entirely woman-owned and operated custom hatteries in the United States and one of today’s leading industry hatters. She also helped found Rein in Cancer, a nonprofit that raises money to fund cancer treatments and care for patients.