Odessa’s goodwill ambassadors, the Chuck Wagon Gang, will be making their way to Ruidoso this week to show some West Texas support to the victims and Village of Ruidoso in the wake of this summer’s devastating wildfires.
The lunch is scheduled for noon (Mountain time) Saturday at Wingfield Park in Ruidoso. Along with the food, there will be entertainment.
Gang Boss Robert Rogers said the group goes where it is asked, plus there were some Odessa connections with this gig. The mayor, Lynn Crawford, is a former Odessan and Chuck Wagon Gang member, and the police chief in Ruidoso Downs is Joe Commander. Crawford requested the Chuck Wagon Gang’s help.
Rogers said they will be cooking for 3,500 people. About 30 people are going to help with serving and cooking. They will have brisket, pulled pork, pinto beans, potato salad and iced tea.
“This particular event is going to operate a little differently than we normally do. Normally, when we go out to serve food at an event, we know exactly how many plates of food and how many people we’re cooking for, and it’s all prepaid,” Rogers said.
But for this, they will be raising funds and it’s free of charge to anybody that shows up.
“They don’t have to pay for a plate of food. Just come get a good meal is basically what we’re there for,” Rogers said.
“We are fundraising to cover our expenses to get there. We have had some amazing donations come in. United Supermarkets has helped us quite a bit with the cost of the food,” Rogers said.
They would normally haul a lot of the food from Odessa to Ruidoso, but United will have a refrigerated trailer waiting for them at the supermarket in Ruidoso that they can pick up when they get there with their 18-wheeler.
“Any additional monies we raise will be donated directly back to the city of Ruidoso,” Rogers said.
He noted that many of the Chuck Wagon Gang members have fond memories of vacations in Ruidoso.
“That’s what hooked us is that’s a vacation spot. If you’re not going to the lake, you’re going to Ruidoso. That’s exactly why, when we started hearing about fires” they decided to figure out a way to help the people there, he said.
“It’s hard to find anybody from this end of the world that hasn’t vacationed up there at some level,” Rogers added.
The nonprofit has 88 to 90 members, but not all of them are active.
“Like every volunteer organization, we struggle to bring new folks in the door. We’ve got a great crew this year. We’ve got 10 new guys who came in this year. We haven’t seen a group of 10 new rookies in a long time,” he said.
Chuck Wagon Gang, which is all volunteer, averages about 60 events a year and has traveled to 26 states and nine foreign countries.
When people come through the line to get a plate of food, Rogers said you don’t know what kind of day, week or month they’ve had.
“If we can give them a big old West Texas grin and cut up with them and greet them and hand them a plate of good food, that’s the payoff, right there. That’s why we go do it,” Rogers said.
If people would like to contribute, they can visit www.chuckwagoncommunityfund.org or mail checks to CWCF, P.O. Box 7103, Odessa, Texas 79760.
