Volunteer Mary Matza scrapes paint in Old Frontier Town on June 25, 2022, at Frontier Park in Cheyenne, while other volunteers work near her. Michael Smith/For the Wyoming Tribune Eagle
Volunteers move a carriage into the Marietta Dinneen Barn on June 25, 2022, at Frontier Park in Cheyenne. The barn houses some of the 65 carriages and wagons used in the Cheyenne Frontier Days parades. Michael Smith/For the Wyoming Tribune Eagle
Volunteers work on the construction of a new Grounds and Security Committee Building building on June 25, 2022, at Frontier Park in Cheyenne. Michael Smith/For the Wyoming Tribune Eagle
Volunteers move wagons and carriages into the Marietta Dinneen Barn on June 25, 2022, at Frontier Park in Cheyenne. The barn houses some of the 65 carriages and wagons used in the Cheyenne Frontier Days parades. Michael Smith/For the Wyoming Tribune Eagle
Volunteer Mary Matza scrapes paint in Old Frontier Town on June 25, 2022, at Frontier Park in Cheyenne. Michael Smith/For the Wyoming Tribune Eagle
Youth volunteers rake out a picnic area on June 25, 2022, at Frontier Park in Cheyenne. The Cheyenne Frontier Days Youth Volunteer Program is open to youth between the ages of 13 and 18, and they participate in scheduled Saturday work days and a workshop guided by mentors from each CFD committee. Michael Smith/For the Wyoming Tribune Eagle
Youth volunteers rake out a picnic area on June 25, 2022, at Frontier Park in Cheyenne. The Cheyenne Frontier Days Youth Volunteer Program is open to youth between the ages of 13 and 18, and the youth participate in scheduled Saturday workdays and a workshop guided by mentors from each CFD committee. Michael Smith/For the Wyoming Tribune Eagle
Volunteers work on the construction of a new media building on June 25, 2022, at Frontier Park in Cheyenne. Michael Smith/For the Wyoming Tribune Eagle
Volunteer Mary Matza scrapes paint in Old Frontier Town on June 25, 2022, at Frontier Park in Cheyenne, while other volunteers work near her. Michael Smith/For the Wyoming Tribune Eagle
Volunteers move a carriage into the Marietta Dinneen Barn on June 25, 2022, at Frontier Park in Cheyenne. The barn houses some of the 65 carriages and wagons used in the Cheyenne Frontier Days parades. Michael Smith/For the Wyoming Tribune Eagle
Volunteers work on the construction of a new Grounds and Security Committee Building building on June 25, 2022, at Frontier Park in Cheyenne. Michael Smith/For the Wyoming Tribune Eagle
Volunteers move wagons and carriages into the Marietta Dinneen Barn on June 25, 2022, at Frontier Park in Cheyenne. The barn houses some of the 65 carriages and wagons used in the Cheyenne Frontier Days parades. Michael Smith/For the Wyoming Tribune Eagle
Volunteer Mary Matza scrapes paint in Old Frontier Town on June 25, 2022, at Frontier Park in Cheyenne. Michael Smith/For the Wyoming Tribune Eagle
Youth volunteers rake out a picnic area on June 25, 2022, at Frontier Park in Cheyenne. The Cheyenne Frontier Days Youth Volunteer Program is open to youth between the ages of 13 and 18, and they participate in scheduled Saturday work days and a workshop guided by mentors from each CFD committee. Michael Smith/For the Wyoming Tribune Eagle
Youth volunteers rake out a picnic area on June 25, 2022, at Frontier Park in Cheyenne. The Cheyenne Frontier Days Youth Volunteer Program is open to youth between the ages of 13 and 18, and the youth participate in scheduled Saturday workdays and a workshop guided by mentors from each CFD committee. Michael Smith/For the Wyoming Tribune Eagle
Volunteers work on the construction of a new media building on June 25, 2022, at Frontier Park in Cheyenne. Michael Smith/For the Wyoming Tribune Eagle
CHEYENNE – Before the visiting masses converge on Frontier Park, thousands of volunteers put in countless hours to prepare for Cheyenne Frontier Days.
Each year, the park comes alive after the Fourth of July as volunteers and the CFD General Committee bring in everything needed to put on the “Daddy of ‘em All.”
“As you can imagine, things are pretty chaotic around here right now,” Public Relations Committee Chairman Mike Smith said in a Friday interview. “It looks like a bit of a large construction zone.”
Frontier Days is possible thanks to the work of 10 volunteer-led committees, a board of directors and a small paid CFD staff. Committees include Concessions, Operations, Parades, Rodeo and more. Everyone works together to get each area ready for the big show and to make sure things run smoothly.
“It appears that it could be (overwhelming), but we have such a strong and good volunteer force, and we have a very incredible staff out here,” General Committee Chairman Jimmy Dean Siler said Friday. “Everything just seems to flow, and it’s like clockwork with these people.”
Siler said volunteers take a lot of pride in putting on Frontier Days, and while it may seem chaotic, everything always works out.
To set it all up, vendors have to bring in everything that makes CFD shine. Nearly three weeks before the show, the carnival rides start to arrive at Frontier Park, followed by food vendors, exhibitors and, of course, the rodeo stock and competitors.
The week leading up to Frontier Days is particularly busy at Frontier Park, because the qualifying rounds of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association rodeos happen before the official start of CFD. Exhibitors and vendors getting their own spots ready have an up-close look at the sights and sounds of the rodeo. In Old Frontier Town, vendors work on hanging their signs and preparing their booths while horses rest by their trailers just a few yards away.
Smith said the rodeo committee does a “big changeover” before Saturday as they move out the qualifying round contestants and bring in the competitors for the nine-day “Daddy of ‘em All.”
“This place becomes a little bit of a small city within the city out here, and we’ve got to have sanitation vehicles, police and fire … in addition to all the guests we have arriving,” Smith said. “It’s a huge operational puzzle that we’re putting in place right now in anticipation for the arrival of all the contests and animals and fans.”
Preparation for Frontier Days never really stops the rest of the year, but there are some things that just can’t happen until the sun is beating down on the park grounds and the anticipation is high.
Siler said the volunteers have to wait until Friday to bring out the stage for the night shows, because they can’t set that up until everything else in the arena is ready to go.
They also work on putting together sponsor areas, hanging signs and preparing for traffic control in the days leading up to CFD. The normally quiet neighborhood surrounding Frontier Park will be filled with vehicle and pedestrian traffic come Friday, and the CFD volunteers want to make sure they get people to where they need to go safely.
The Operations Committee, which is a new committee made from combining the former Tickets and Security committees, coordinates the traffic and works with the Cheyenne Police Department and city planners to ensure everything is correct and safe, Operations Committee Chairman Brian Rico said Tuesday.
Rico said his committee will also prepare the Park ‘n Ride area near Happy Jack Road, set up the golf carts the volunteers use to get around the park and prepare all of the radios volunteers use to communicate with each other.
The Operations Committee also oversees the security fence around the park, which is new this year. The fence will encircle the entire park, so visitors only have to go through security once to access everything that Frontier Park has to offer. Rico said this was “no easy feat” to put together, but he hopes this will make it much easier for visitors to move between areas.
“Now, once the show is beginning to start, we have a security contractor that will take care of all of the access to all of the security gates, and then we take care of all of the portals and the gates on the interior of the park,” Rico said.
Although a lot of sweat goes into CFD preparation before the fun begins, the volunteers are dedicated and truly love contributing to Cheyenne’s iconic event.
Even with a lot of work to do, the feeling in the air around Frontier Park leading up to CFD is one of excitement, anticipation and joy.
“The feeling is ecstatic,” Siler said. “I think everybody is excited and ready to get this show kicked off.”
Serena Bettis is a senior journalism major at Colorado State University who is interning this summer at the Wyoming Tribune Eagle. She can be reached by email at sbettis@wyomingnews.com. Follow her on Twitter at @serenaroseb.
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