Submitted by: Rose Kovachik, Picutres by: Tina Copeland

The Cowan Trail Celebration once again occurred on the fourth Saturday of August, being August 27, 2022 this year, after a two year hiatus.

On Friday night, as usual, the Cowan Hall parking lot slowly filled with trailers, horses, and campsites. By Saturday morning, everyone was eager to get the day started with a hearty breakfast that started at 8:30 a.m. Breakfast included a lineup of pancakes, sausages, hashrowns, eggs, etc. and of course, coffee.

By 10:30 a.m., after horse registration, the horse ride entourage began on the journey beneath partly cloudy skies for a ride across the Cowan bridge, first heading North and then swinging West into the wondrous backwoods around Cowan. There were many individual horse riders but also the welcome site of some wagons could be seen.

Once again there were some new faces, which is always great to see. As the sun shown brightly, the tour of the backwood areas, bubbling creeks and grassy meadows were a joy to the horse and riders alike. A hotdog lunch was served on the trail and provided a good opportunity for everyone to take a break and enjoy their surroundings with some coffee and a quick story or two before moving on to finish the trail ride in the afternoon. We heard many compliments from the horse riders on the great trail we had and the great trail organizers like Ashley and Rita. Some even enjoyed the trail so much that they ventured out again on Sunday under Ashley Beal’s lead down another trail.

Unfortunately due to time constraints and damage done by the weather/flooding over the spring, the ATV derby did not occur this year. The hope is that this part of the celebration can be incorporated once again next year.

There were door prizes for the trail riders and silent auction prizes were also available to test the luck of anyone interested. These items were made available by many local business sponsors which are part of our successful event.

Upon return, for those that wished and any others that cared to join, there was a hearty beef supper waiting which included perogies and cabbage rolls prepared by the Cowan Community Ladies Group. The supper, which started at 5 p.m., wound up at approximately 7 p.m..

After supper, with the help from visitors, the hall was quickly transformed for the dance that began shortly thereafter. With Midnite Run playing, the dance floor was full most of the night. Many shouts and hollers could be heard as their dance of choice was played.

A full lunch was served to allow a bit of a break. However, break was short and once again the dance floor was filled as the band played into the early hours.

We had many compliments on the good trails, the food and the great family friendly event. We hope all that attended enjoyed their day and will be enticed to return again. It was wonderful to see everyone. It seems to have been so long, since the hall was filled with chatter and laughter.

A very big thank you to:
· the many volunteers that put ample hours into prepping, organizing, cleaning and working at this event;
· the local and distant sponsors that provide all of the silent auction, door prizes, event prizes and
· the participants for their interest and loyalty to this event.

All of the above are a requirement to make such an event successful and available for years to come.

See ya all next year