Local News - December 2003

Cowboys take kids shopping

By ALICE SMITH, Staff Writer

————————————

Seven-year-old Megan Franz was in Wal-Mart Saturday on a mission — Christmas presents.

“For my mama, me, maw-maw, my aunt, Kimmy and the cats,” she said after dropping a small container of kitty treats into the shopping cart.

“Tom likes snacks and the kitten likes toys,” Megan said of her pets.

Megan was one of 23 kids who got to go shopping with the Silver Screen Saddle Pals — a group that dresses up like Wild West heroes — as part of their Cowboys for Kids program.

The program provided each child with about $100 to do Christmas shopping, whether it be for family or friends or just themselves.

The Saddle Pals started planning the event during the summer and aimed to take disadvantaged or less fortunate kids shopping.

“Most of the kids don’t have anything,” said Larry Mull, a Saddle Pal who dresses like cowboy Hoss Cartwright. “We just want to make their Christmas a little better.”

Mull followed Megan around the store, weaving in and out of crowded aisles.

Megan, her short brown hair tucked under a pink Tweetsie Railroad hat, marched from section to section, stopping to touch or smell different items. She wore blue jeans, a gray sweatshirt and boots and didn’t have time to mess around.

She stopped on the candle aisle, intently inspecting several before finding what she wanted.

“Mama said she wanted the kind that are big and round,” she said.

Only after mentally crossing her family members off the list did she turn to shopping for herself.

“She’s as cute as she can be,” Mull said. “She makes sure she gets something for everyone before she gets hers.”

Ken Eckhart, the Lone Ranger, walked with 11-year-old Ryan Johnston, who said getting to shop with the cowboys was “cool.” One DVD was plopped in his cart.

Eckhart said Saddle Pals came from five different states for the event.

The Rev. Franklin Lowery, who also works with the Lincolnton Housing Authority, helped Eckhart find kids to take part in the program. Tweetsie Railroad supplied pink and blue cowboy hats while Turn-4 Pizza gave the kids lunch and Food Lion donated Christmas stockings. The kids and cowboys road to Wal-Mart together thanks to New Hope Bus Lines.

Eckhart hopes to make the shopping trip a yearly event, and said it was satisfying to see the kids do something they might otherwise not have accomplished.

“If we can put a little smile on their faces for a while, that’s why we’ve done it,” Eckhart said.

————

Staff Writer Alice Smith can be reached at 704-735-3031 or alicesmith@ltnews.com

© 2001 Lincoln Times-News  

Terms and Conditions