Legends & Legacy

Mustang Days begins Friday

By David Peck

The 2025 Lovell Mustang Days celebration is upon us, and there are some additions and deletions to the traditional schedule from recent years, along with some time and location changes.

Legends and Legacy is the theme of the ’25 celebration, based on the Follies theme of the same name, celebrating the 60^th anniversary of the Dollies of the Follies.

The fun begins this Friday, June 20, with the annual Drag Main moving car show. The event will begin at 6:30 p.m. this year rather than the former 8 p.m., in part to facilitate a Mustang Days fundraiser, a barbecue beef nachos sale at the Lovell High School faculty parking lot next to The Point youth house and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Seminary building.

Mustang Days chairman Kristine Henley said the fundraiser organizers are hoping to recreate the Save Way nachos of days gone by in order to raise enough money for a monster fireworks display next year in honor of the USA Semiquincentennial (250^th birthday). The event is sponsored by the North Big Horn Hospital District and the Lovell Recreation District. The nachos will cost $5 per “boat.”

The Buck Wyold Band will perform at KB Hardware and Lumber during the Drag Main event.

A new event will take place on Saturday, June 21, to replace the youth triathlon, which has been cancelled due to the lack of a swimming pool. The League of Sluggers superheroes softball tournament will be held at Armory Park starting at 8 a.m., sponsored by Lovell Rec.

The co-ed, double-elimination tournament will be limited to eight teams, Henley said, with a fee of $50 per team. Players must be 16 years old and up, and each team will be asked to choose a superhero and dress out in the costume of that hero. Prizes will be awarded for best costumes, plus the first and second finishers.

More teams are needed for the tournament to take place. Register at www.lovellrecandboces.com.

Next week

The Lovell Rod and Gun Club will hold a traditional trap shoot on Monday, June 23, and a Top Gun shoot Tuesday, June 24, at the trap range northeast of Lovell. Each shoot begins at 5:30 p.m., and the trap shoot carries a $30 registration fee, which includes a meal, and the Top Gun shoot is $20, also including a meal. Meals cost $3 for non-participants.

The annual cornhole tournament sponsored by KB Lumber on June 24 is moving to the Armory Park softball field to take advantage of field lights in case the tossing goes long. The tournament begins at 6 p.m., and registration is $20 per team. Contact Kade Baxendale at 307-272-5620 for information or to register.

With the time having moved up in recent years, the Mustang Follies will begin another half hour earlier this year with the curtain opening at 7 p.m. at the Hyart Theatre on Wednesday and Thursday, June 25-26. The Dollies of the Follies and the Mustang Band will play at 6 p.m. in front of the theater. Tickets may be purchased online at www.ticketor.com/LovellMustangDays starting at 6 p.m. on Friday, June 20. Those needing help can come to the Lovell Rec office at 5 p.m. to order tickets.

The annual car show sponsored by CARS Street Machines will run from 5 to 8 p.m. on June 26 on Oregon Avenue from Main to Fifth Street. Contact Les Files at 272-9354 to reserve a spot.

The annual Mustang Breakfast sponsored by North Big Horn Hospital will be held as usual Friday and Saturday morning at the Lovell Fire Hall from 6-10 a.m. Friday and 6-9 a.m. Saturday. Tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for children.

Family Fun Night

The annual Family Fun Night is moving to Armory Park this year, running from 6 to 8 p.m. on Friday, June 27, with check-in at 5 p.m. Games and booths will line the new walking path, and inflatables will be set up in the softball field outfield. Live entertainment will be featured throughout the evening at the new amphitheater.

Unlimited activity wristbands will cost $5 each, and individual game tickets are 25 cents each. There will be no food tickets sold this year, but food trucks will be on site.

Friday also includes the rodeo Calcutta at 8 p.m. at the Diamond J Bar and the teen dance from 9 to midnight at the Lovell Middle School gym.

There will be no street dance and ice cream social this year.

Saturday fun

 Most Saturday events are business as usual. The fun run, sponsored by Club Dauntless, begins at 7:30 a.m. at the Bank of Lovell ($10 entry fee) with registration beginning at 7 a.m. Both a 5K run and a mile run/walk will be held.

The Rose Parade, sponsored by Lovell Rec., begins at 10 a.m. with lineup in the high school parking lot starting at 9. Call or text Henley at 307-250-0892 to register.

This year’s grand marshals are all of the Dollies of the Follies, past and present, and anyone who danced with the group is encouraged to ride in the parade. Contact Jody Lynne Bassett at 307-921-8222 or Henley at 307-250-0892 to confirm.

Tri-Mountain View Masonic Lodge No. 35 will serve a hamburger/hot dog lunch at the chamber of commerce building starting at 11 a.m., with funds raised going to purchase bicycles for top readers at Lovell and Rocky Mountain elementary schools.

Afternoon activities include the co-ed volleyball tournament sponsored by Lovell Rec at 1 p.m. at the Armory Park softball field. There is a $60 entry fee for each team, and registration can be completed online at www.lovellrecandboces.com. Check-in begins at 12:30 p.m.

Also starting at 1 p.m. is the Mustang Days Golf Tournament, sponsored by Midway Construction and Dirt Work, at the Foster Gulch Golf Course. Register any time at the clubhouse.

The slack rodeo starts action at the Lovell Rodeo Grounds at 2 p.m., followed by the main event at 4 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for kids, and a concert featuring Justin Baxter follows the rodeo and is included in the price of admission.

A daylight fireworks show begins at the Lovell Middle School grass field at 9 p.m., and the Pyro Music Fireworks display begins at dusk. Box seats may be reserved at www.ticketor.com/LovellMustangDays.

Queen Bee will hold taste testing all week, and the Lovell Area Chamber of Commerce is holding a Mustang Days Downtown Roundup event from June 20-30 with three shoppers winning $100 each in chamber bucks. Register via cans placed in participating stores.