Will Rogers State Historic Park to Celebrate 80 Years With Free Event

By LILY TINOCO | Assistant Editor

The Will Rogers Ranch Foundation will host a free public event on Sunday, August 11, beginning at 12 p.m. to celebrate 80 years of Will Rogers State Historic Park.

Festivities are set to include a polo match, tours of the historic house, and children’s games and activities, “saluting the 1940s,” according to the event flyer. The Children’s Booth will have “Will Rogers for President” pin-making, a scavenger hunt, sack races and photo opportunities with a pony. The House Tour will feature a “rare” look at Betty Rogers’ sunroom-office.

The Los Angeles Jitterbugs are set to join the festivities at 1:15 p.m., offering swing music demonstrations and dance lessons until 3:15 p.m. The dancing will be followed by a visit from actress Deborah Moore, “as she portrays Betty’s signing of the park deed hosted by historian Randy Young,” the event flyer read.

The event will conclude around 4:30 p.m. with cake and singing happy birthday.

“Come in your best 1940s attire and help us celebrate on Sunday, August 11,” according to the Will Rogers Ranch Foundation.

By the 1930s, the park’s namesake, Will Rogers, became known as one of Hollywood’s most popular and highest paid actors—and “America’s most beloved citizen,” according to the California Department of Parks and Recreation website.

“From his start in vaudeville theater with a trick roping act, he rose to world-wide fame as a columnist, ‘cowboy philosopher,’ aviation enthusiast, philanthropist, radio personality and movie star,” according to the website. “During the 1920s, he bought land in Santa Monica, where he developed a ranch. Eventually, Will Rogers owned about 359 acres overlooking the Pacific Ocean, in what is now known as … Pacific Palisades.”

The ranch became a space for Rogers, his family and friends to enjoy. His 31-room ranch house still holds his memorabilia and things he owned up until his death in 1935.

The house has a corresponding neighboring guest house, stable, corrals, riding ring, roping arena, polo field, golf course and riding trails. His wife, Betty, donated the ranch to California State Parks in 1944, and it became a state historic park.

Attendees are asked to pay for parking, but entry to the event is free. The event will take place at Will Rogers State Historic Park, located at 1501 Will Rogers State Park Road.

For more information, visit willrogersranchfoundation.org.