National Day of the Cowboy July 23

Cowboy music, re-enactments and gear are part of the 10th annual National Day of the Cowboy celebration Doug “Ranger Doug” Oliver plans at Mountain Valley Ranch, 842 state Route 78, from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday.

“The whole reason for doing this is because I’m a cowboy, and I want to do what I can to promote the cowboy heritage and cowboy culture, which was instrumental in developing the United States,” said Oliver, a retired police officer and owner of Ranger Doug’s Shootists’ Emporium in Ramona. “It’s also to promote Ramona and bring people to Ramona to see what a wonderful community we have.”

Admission is free. A range of vendors will participate, food and beverages will be available, and a drawing for a 45 caliber single action cowboy gun from EMF (Early Modern Firearms) Company will be held. Tickets for the drawing are $10 each and are available at Oliver’s store from noon to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. Only 200 tickets for the gun, valued at $500, will be sold.

Oliver plans to donate proceeds from the event to Ramona Town Hall.

Sunnyside Strings will provide the cowboy music, Steve Tellam of Ramona will talk about the modern-day cowboy, and Jim Cooper of Ramona will demonstrate leatherworking. Among vendors will be AB Hatters, Alpine Collectibles and saddlemaker Dave Morrison from Alpine. Other vendors will feature jewelry and other western-designed items. Ramona High Ag Boosters will man the food booth, and the San Diego County Cowbelles will represent the cattlewoman’s heritage.