Butler County's first-ever West Fest celebrates those 'pretending to be cowboys for a day'

For Doug Sprankle, those familiar items that symbolize the American West — cowboy hats and leather boots, horses and quick-draw competitions — always have been loaded with deeper meaning.

“My dad always had horses, as did his father before him — we just enjoy that sense of freedom,” Sprankle said during a brief lull in West Fest, the Old West-themed gathering he threw this weekend for the first time at the 40-acre farm he bought last year. “We just love the culture and we thought we’d hold these events to celebrate agriculture in our area.”

“And,” he said, with a smile, “we really like the idea of pretending to be cowboys for a day.”

Scores of people braved the summer sun Sunday at Sprankle Woods Farm in Jefferson Township for the second half of the festival’s two-day weekend run, which revolved around horse-riding, gunslinging competitions and more than a little bit of barbecue.

Zachary King took it all in.

The teenager from the Cedar Rapids, Iowa, area said the .45-caliber pistol he was handed during a quick-draw competition was the first gun he ever had held.

Shooting was a little awkward and the gun kicked back more than King expected when it fired, he said.

But King was a quick study.

After a couple of rounds — $6 bought five shots each time — the 15-year-old boy chopped his quick-draw time down to just 1.03 seconds.

A day earlier, a 12-year-old boy, also firing a gun for the first time, drew and fired his pistol in .609 seconds — about three-fifths of one second, said “Dead-Eye Don” Myers, whose East Coast Glocks tent was offering the quick-draw and target-shooting competitions.

Those are almost pro-shooter numbers, Myers laughed.

“I enjoy seeing the smiles in all these faces — and teaching some of the good things about firearms,” Myers said. “These kids? They’re great — they’ve got such quick reflexes!”

In addition to horse-rides, a tractor show and performances from Wild West showman Loop Rawlins, the festival also was a thrill-ride for the stomach.

Several of the 40 vendors, most of them locally owned businesses, sold kettle corn, fresh-squeezed lemonade and barbecue. Hotel Saxonburg wowed the crowd with its bison chili and special bourbon flights.

La Vigneta Winery was on hand with glasses of Moscato and Farmer’s Market Sangria, as well as its popular Wyatt Earp Slushies. Those seeking something bubblier turned to themed beers — Grist House Craft Brewery sold one dubbed Space Cactus — or the Hofbrauhaus staples from Isartaler Bavarian Club.

Other offerings were a little less predictable.

One hot-food vendor specialized in lamb gyros. The Saxonburg “Korean comfort food” vendor Pocha by Kye-Won offered bingsu, or “milk snow,” for $10 — a mountain of mochi balls, ice cream, sweetened red beans and other mouth-watering ingredients topped with whipped cream.

For Phil “P.K.” Kelley, it all come down to beef.

Kelley’s “boutique cattle farm” in Saxonburg traces its family roots in the area deep — as far back as the 1830s. This weekend, though, was the first time Kelley Station Farms, under P.K.’s ownership, had set up a booth to sell everything from flank steak to T-bone cuts as a direct-to-consumer business.

Kelley enthusiastically chatted with event guests and reveled in the campiness of the afternoon, saying West Fest had “the right feel” — right down to the metal bull statue parked in front of Kelley’s booth whose snout spouted smoke.

“This is the culture and this event fits,” said Kelley, 46. “I think this is one event that will grow legs.”

“It just feels comfortable,” he added. “Everybody fits in.”

For Kelley, the event was less about lassos than fanning the flames on bonds between neighbors.

“I think we all look out for each other,” Kelley said. “It’s a lot of parenting-by-community here. And that’s the way I like it.”

Sprankle agreed.

“It’s not about profitability, about chasing the dollar,” he said. “This is about creating a community and celebrating it.”