Submitted by Dennis and Kathie Frost - “Everyone was so gracious and wanted to show us what they had done for Wild West Weekend. They were excited and it was obvious they enjoyed doing the displays that were in place for the weekend."

The winners are:

WINNER: Blackwell Insurance
RUNNER UP: Country Charm
2ND RUNNER UP: Reny’s of Dexter

“This is what we saw:”
TILLSON TRUE VALUE
Their store front had a western saddle with a horse fishing from a saw horse. There was a camp fire with a boy cooking marshmallows. We did not see store staff dressed in western costumes. Ted Bryant was dressed in western gear and was out front of the store with the Kiwanis.

RENYS
Store wares were displayed in a neat, creative fashion. Some of the items were beautiful baskets, tin cups, wire wagon wheels, bales of hay, bandanas, blankets, plastic apples, firewood, whiskey jugs and jail bars made of crepe paper and a keyhole made of wood. The clerks were dressed in cowboy garb.

MR. PAPERBACK
One of their windows was decorated with a stuffed horse, many horse books, magazines, and puzzles. They were skillfully displayed with Native American jewelry and a bouquet of silk flowers.

COUNTRY CHARM
The store front was decorated very skillfully by Lynn McKusick. There was a western saddle, hanging stars, a wash tub, and a tree. There were many other western decorations. The owner was dressed in a beautiful, authentic western dress and there was western music playing in the store.

BANGOR SAVINGS BANK
Their display was inside the bank and much of the work was done by Marsha Wyman. A tree was decorated with flashing cowboy boots and cacti. There was a wooden replica of the "Rockin’ Pony Ranch", Bank Manager Marilyn Hartford was dressed in a great western outfit, there was a corral with a stuffed pony and there was a wild west picture on the wall. It was cool (the temperature) inside.

SPRING STREET GREENHOUSE
The window display had a bear dressed in a denim shirt with a pistol in hand. There were several cardboard cacti made by one of the employees. There were real cacti. There was a fire ring made of rocks with colored paper symbolizing flames. There was rope, a saddle, cowboy hats, bandanas, a pistol and rifle. There was a sunflower display and beautiful Wild West bouquets that sold for $10 each.

BLACKWELL INSURANCE
The entrance to the office had bales of hay, flowers, watering cans, pitch forks, an Indian dream catcher and a sign that said Blackwell Saloon. The staff was dressed in beautiful authentic dresses and the owner was wearing jeans and a shirt he bought in Texas. Inside, the bar was set up for serving drinks; we had root beer. There were real dried Saguaro Cacti and stuffed game on the walls that was brought in just for the weekend. There were authentic gold nuggets in a pouch worn around the neck of one of the female employees. The staff was very enthusiastic and said they changed their vacation this year so they could be in Dexter for the Wild West Weekend knowing it was the first weekend in August.

BUD'S SHOP 'N SAVE
Store personnel were dressed in Wild West outfits. The store had saddles, bridles, cowboy hats and bandanas displayed throughout the store. There were several tables set up with food; some food included chocolate milk and devil dogs and fresh melon pieces on toothpicks.

A.E. ROBINSON in Dexter
Their four store windows had beautifully painted wild west scenes. The painting was free-hand art work. One saying was "Howdy from A.E. Robinson" and another was "Tumble On In" with cactus painted underneath the words.

"We judged the displays on their creativity and the work that went into putting the displays together."

The Frost's also took pictures of the displays and they will be available on www.WildWestWeekend.com soon.