Silver Dollar City -- Where Cowboys, Crafts and Christmas Fill the Calendar
by Randall Murphree
October 12, 2006
(AgapePress) - - For two more weeks, the cowboy is king in the streets of Silver Dollar City, premiere family theme park in Branson, Missouri. Silver Dollar City's "Salute to the Great American Cowboy" is just one component of the park's annual six-week Festival of American Music and Crafts. The crafts and cowboy special events will hold the spotlight until October 28, then make way for the November 4 kickoff of An Old Time Christmas, the park's Christmas extravaganza. "Silver Dollar City is a remarkable success story," said Don Wildmon, chairman of American Family Association. "What Jack and Pete Herschend have done proves that a business can grow and flourish and provide family entertainment, but stick to Christian principles. Our nation needs more businesses that operate like Silver Dollar City, according to Christian moral standards."
Throughout the year, the Ozark mountain park is the scene of countless comic portrayals of train robberies, Hatfield and McCoy family feuds, and gunfights in the streets where authentic log cabins and reconstructions reflect the Ozarks of the 1880s.
Just a few paces away from the historical Ozark village are numerous state-of-the-art rides and attractions for all ages. Earlier this year, the park's Grand Exposition opened with 10 new rides including the Electro Spin, the Magnificent Wave Carousel and the Racing Regatta.
In the current festival, crafts are still in abundant supply, with wares from 125 visiting artists/craftsmen. And many of the hundreds of music artists who have been performing since mid-September are still on hand to entertain for the next two weeks.
At the same time, Silver Dollar City staffers are busily preparing for the park's spectacular Christmas displays and special events, November 4-December 30. It promises to be a site to behold, with more than four million lights and a thousand decorated Christmas trees, including the five-story model in the town square.
It includes special events, parades and a musical production of the classic "A Dickens' Christmas Carol." And Silver Dollar City personnel are quick to point out that it is a Christmas celebration, not a holiday event.
"We will make a point in our marketing and our message to say 'Merry Christmas,'" said Pete Herschend. "It's just flat-out wrong to say only 'Have a nice holiday.'" Pete is the younger son of the late Hugh Herschend, who began Silver Dollar City in the 1950s. Pete and his brother Jack are still active in the operation of the family park.
The Christian faith of the Herschend family is reflected in the corporate mission statement to operate "... in a manner consistent with Christian values and ethics." Those values are also reflected in the streets of the theme park.
"During Christmas, we have three or four different presentations of the Nativity of our Lord," Pete said. "Some will be reading right out of Scripture, and others will be down where the train gets robbed. Instead of robbing the train, we'll have an old man sitting out in a rocking chair telling the Nativity story in the words of a mountain man."
The Old Time Christmas has been called one of the nation's top Christmas celebrations by USA Today and People Magazine. For two years in a row, America's Best Online has recognized it as the USA's Best Holiday Light Show.
The unique Branson park is quite a contrast to many of the secular venues that compete for the family vacation dollar. For example, in what other theme park can you ask to see the pastor? And Jack Herschend said the park's Wilderness Chapel is the site where two or three couples a day renew their wedding vows.
"Sort of a reverse Los Vegas," observed a guest earlier this fall.
"You know, they use the saying, 'What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas,'" Pete Herschend said. "We hope what happens at Silver Dollar City goes everywhere!"
Randall Murphree, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is editor of AFA Journal, a monthly publication of the American Family Association. He visited Silver Dollar City near Branson, Missouri, over Labor Day weekend. This is the second in a five-part series of stories about the people behind Silver Dollar City. For more information on events, schedules and days of operation during the theme park's Christmas festival and other special events, call 800-831-4FUN or visit SilverDollarCity.com.
