Lonesome Dove Photos

Kerns: John Wayne Film Festival continues 72 hours non-stop in Snyder

Snyder native and professional actor and director Barry Tubb never acted in a John Wayne movie, but he was introduced to the Duke’s pictures at a very early age.

Tubb’s father was an oil field worker, a former Marine and veteran of the Korean War. “His view of Hollywood was just Gary Cooper and John Wayne,” said Barry, who added that his dad would stay up and watch Wayne’s movies on television, no matter the hour.

Tubb still recalls, “When I left to pursue an acting career in Hollywood, my dad told me, ‘Go out there and become the next John Wayne.’”

Wayne, though, became nothing short of a cinematic icon.

There will never be another John Wayne.

More than 30 years after Wayne lost his battle with cancer, the first John Wayne Film Festival — co-produced by Tubb (Pilgrim) and Texas Tech graduate Leslie Light (Top Hand) — will be held on Labor Day weekend, Sept. 2-5, in Snyder, 85 miles south of Lubbock.

All proceeds benefit the John Wayne Cancer Foundation.

Three generations of the Wayne family will be present.

Author Larry McMurtry will introduce an outdoor screening of “The Searchers” on the festival’s opening night on the Alamo Drafthouse’s traveling screen.

Off-screen events include a trap shoot (four-man squads), open barrel race, John Wayne impersonation contest (junior and senior divisions) and even a cowboy church service (horseback optional).

Jody Nix and the Texas Cowboys will provide the Texas swing music.

Three movies will be shown outdoors in a nearby pasture owned by Tubb’s family. The remaining 32 films will be screened indoors at the refurbished, retro Ritz Theater on the town square.

That’s right: 35 movies — 72 consecutive hours of John Wayne movies, all day and all night, beginning with “Stagecoach” at noon on Friday, Sept. 2, and winding up with the closing credits for “The Alamo” around noon on Monday Sept. 5.

The Waynes have, for many years, traveled to Snyder for dove-hunting season on Tubb’s family’s property. Tubb, 48, met the Wayne family more than a decade ago. Barry dated Wayne’s youngest daughter, Marisa, for about a year, and they remained good friends after she married and had children of her own.

Tubb first approached Marisa with the idea of a Wayne tribute in Snyder. She encouraged him to travel to Huntington Beach, Calif., and discuss his ideas with other family members.

Wildcatter Ranch Offers Lonesome Dove Weekend Package ...

Weekend, taking place September 23 – 25, 2011.

Bathed in the glow of a Texas sunset, the Western-style retreat– located near Graham– will be a sepia-toned portrait of the past as guests return from days which begin with a Cowboy Breakfast at the barn, followed by a ride on horseback along the Brazos River and a guided bus tour of Lonesome Dove locations such as Box Canyon near Possum Kingdom Lake in Palo Pinto County, where the cattle were held until the trail drive started; the actual trailhead near Fort Belknap in Young County; Loving Ranch in Loving, Texas; and Greenwood Cemetery in Weatherford (Parker County), where Charles Goodnight (Woodrow Call), Oliver Loving (Augustus McCrae), and Bose Ikard (Deets) rest in peace.