MIDLAND, Texas — The home of two former presidents is having a busy couple of weeks coming up.
The Bush Family Home, former home of Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, is hosting several events, including one that really hits home for the younger George.
The 43rd President was a huge fan of Roy Rogers, a western actor at the time. Rogers had a TV show named “The Roy Rogers Show” as well as over 90 movies.
With his wife Dale Evans, a horse named Trigger and a dog named Bullet, Rogers was one rough cowboy.
But not rough enough to educate kids like George W. Bush with his Roy Rogers Fan Club.
It was a club George W. Bush was an avid member of, and a club that inspired him to try to be a cowboy himself before he became a president.
But to be a cowboy, there were rules to follow; the Roy Rogers Club Rules:
- Be neat and clean.
- Be courteous and polite.
- Always obey your parents.
- Protect the weak and help them.
- Be brave but never take chances.
- Study hard and learn all you can.
- Be kind to animals and take care of them.
- Eat all your food and never waste any.
- Love God and go to Sunday school.
- Always respect our flag and our country.
“When we opened the house in 2006, George W. Bush’s friends had said that they would keep the rules in their back pocket trying to follow [them] and these were just rules of living that Roy Rogers gave to the Fan Club. [...] So this was just Roy Rogers’ way of helping kids at that time. To have good lives and good models to follow," said Troy Gray, site manager for the Bush Home.
They were rules Bush tried to follow as much as he could when he was a kid. The Bush Home decided that they wanted to share these rules with kids, and adults, these days.
“So one of our educators has been putting together an online series related to the rules of the Roy Rogers Fan Club and relating those to what they would look like in the 1950s when the Bushes were living in the house,” Gray said. “And so she's been going very slowly, once a month to look at the different rules and what that would have looked like.”
About six or seven parts in total, the online series takes place on the last Thursday of every month on the Bush Family Home’s Facebook page.
The first part took place in March, where participants learned to be neat and clean, an underrated part of being a cowboy.
“And she went through the 1950s look at what it meant to be neat and clean on the different things that they had, different appliances and what that would have looked like compared to today,” Gray said. “There are some different thoughts about neatness and cleanness.”
This Thursday, get ready to learn all about rules #2 and #3: be courteous and polite and always obey your parents. Attendees will also explore 1950s etiquette, family dynamics and how to throw a great party.
To join the call, visit the Bush Home’s Facebook page Thursday at 6 p.m. or sign up for the zoom link that will be available that day.
The busy week for the home doesn’t end there. Saturday, April 27, is also National First Ladies Day.
“The First Lady Day was set by I believe the National First Ladies Museum up in Ohio,” Gray said. “But they wanted to put light on the very difficult position [of] a first lady because they don't get paid, and they're not elected. They're just kind of there because their husband was elected.”
But they’re more than just the spouse of the president.
“They all come in different colors and different characters just like the president did,” Gray said. “This is a very special day to put light on very special women.”
And Midland was home specifically to two of the 46 very special women: Barbara and Laura Bush.
“Both of them are looked on as very favorable First Ladies,” Gray said. “Both Barbara and Laura are looked at as some of their favorites around here [Midland].”
There will also be an exhibit on the major causes first ladies advocated for, games, crafts, as well as testing your knowledge with First Ladies Trivia.
The home will also be having a Midland Bush Tour Reveal on May 7 as well as George H.W. Bush’s 100th Birthday Celebration on June 13.
To learn more about these events, visit the Bush Family Home Facebook page.
