The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON - Already known on the West Coast for All Wheels, there is a good chance that by next year Dayton will become known far and wide for a brand new summer event: Mule Mania.

Get ready for mule barrel racing, mule wagon pulling, mule pole bending, mule team penning, mule team roping, "Pony Express" re­lays and perhaps even some serious chuck wagon cook offs. Dayton will be "All Mules" on the weekend of July 15 - 17, 2011.

The Chamber of Com­merce and the Columbia County Fairgrounds are ne­gotiating

with an Idaho-based company to bring a mule festival to town that is expected to draw hundreds of visitors and possibly include a regional chuck wagon com­petition

as a qualifying event for national cookoffs.

"They have a huge fol­lowing," Dayton Chamber of Commerce Director Lisa Ronnberg said about Mule Mania organizers Coyote Mule Company of Cotton­wood,

Idaho. "They were impressed with our com­munity." Coyote co-owner Bobbi Jo Chambers said a contract to use the fairgrounds is all that's left before her compa­ny makes a lasting commit­ment to revive an event that drew more than 500 visitors to Coleville, Wash., the last time Mule Mania was held in 2003.

"I want to build this show so that 10 years from now it's a national event," she said. "Dayton's been the first town that's said 'We want you to come.' We're not a cowboy show, but we hold on to the past, and Dayton has that flavor."

Credit for connecting Mule Mania organizers to Columbia County should go to Daytonite Doug Krueger, who owns several mules and travels to mule shows throughout the West.

"I've dealt with this or­ganization for five years," he said. "They feel they draw people from California, Arizona, Montana, Wyoming and the Northwest. These games are a lot of fun."

Coyote, one of the na­tion's largest mule traders, has a mailing list of 850 mule owners and enthusiasts to which it will reach out for the event. Plus, Chambers and her husband Barney will pro­mote

Mule Mania in Western Mule and Mules More magazines that dominate their market segment. One of the biggest regional mule-related events is Bishop Mule Days in Bishop, Ca­lif., which draws 700 mules competing in 181 events and 10,000 owners and visitors. Closer to home, Enterprise, Ore., hosts its annual Hell's Canyon Mule Days in Sep­tember,

but Mule Mania is expected to be much bigger and more authentic than that event, Chambers said. Local officials said Mule Mania will coincide with the town's annual alumni week­end, but said the mule event will complement rather than compete with that focus on the third weekend in July.

The mules and possi­bly the chuckwagons could participate in the parade, while visiting alumni could enjoy Mule Mania activities. Many mule owners camp out, so with access to RV hookups and tent sites at the fairgrounds, there should be enough lodging for everyone. Mule Mania began in Springdale, north of Spo­kane, in 1998 and lasted three years there before the Cham­bers moved it to Coleville. They later moved to Idaho. Since then, they have wanted to revive the show because there's so much interest from mule enthusiasts.

The event focuses exclu­sively on mules, Chambers said.

"No horses are allowed to compete in this show - they have their own games to play," she said. Though mules have a reputation as stubborn, bone­headed animals - reinforced by half a century of Hol­lywood movies stereotyping the otherwise loveable mix between a donkey and a horse - they are known to their owners and users as possibly more productive and hardworking than their equine counterparts. "The mule has had such a black eye, always put down in favor of the more glamor­ous

horse," Chambers said. "But they're stronger and healthier and live a third longer."

Because donkeys can be paired with different horse breeds, the resulting mules have the attributes of quarter horses, thoroughbreds and workhorses, displaying them just as easily in games and competitions. Chambers does admit that they generally require a bit more patience, which means people who own or use them tend to be more humble.

"They are amazing ani­mals, but if you're a jerk you won't get along with them," she said. "Mule people are fantastic people. They are honest, helpful, happy and positive."

And, they'll spend their money in Dayton because "they're on vacation and will want to eat and drink," she said. At a budget of about $200 per family, the event is expected to lead to more than $10,000 in retail sales from the travelers themselves, let alone local visitors who come to see the events.

As with All Wheels, Mule Mania will be a good oppor­tunity for Dayton-based com­munity groups and service clubs to raise money through stand sales, Ronnberg said. Several vendors selling tack, saddles and photos have al­ready

expressed an interest in setting up for the event.

Mule Mania organizers are exploring the possibility of incorporating the chuck­wagon event through a new chuckwagon association be­ing formed in the Tri-Cities, which needs a qualifying event for national cookoffs.

The cookoffs in this no-trace, outdoor cowboy cui­sine event would be on dis­play for the public during the Mule Mania weekend.

For more information about Mule Mania plans, contact Lisa Ronnberg at the Dayton Chamber of Com­merce: 509-382-4825.