National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum

Winter events are heating up at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, with holiday happenings taking place all month long for cowboys and cowgirls of any age.

For starters, the popular “A Date with the Duke” movie series that features beloved American actor John Wayne gets the holiday treatment. The event, which takes place from 5-8 p.m. Dec. 6, spotlights the 1948 classic “3 Godfathers,” which tells the redemptive story of three on-the-run outlaws who do a good deed on Christmas Eve.

The for-adults event features a cash bar and feast catered by the Petroleum Club of Oklahoma City. Guests are treated to salmon with lemon caper sauce on a bed of spinach, balsamic glazed chicken with all the trappings and a dessert bar. The event is $40 per person, or $35 for museum members.

“The movie series is just a really fun time for folks,” said Tara Carr, the museum’s interim Senior Marketing Manager. “It has sold out every single time we do one.” Also in the holiday lineup is the Dec. 21-31 winter break all-day drop-in activities for kids, free with museum admission. Activities include exploration in Prosperity Junction, the museum’s turn-of-the-century frontier town, and a scavenger hunt that takes children throughout the museum to learn about Western history, art and culture.

“We’ll have those family-friendly museum scavenger hunts in the galleries featuring our little cowboy elves named Howe and Dee,” Carr said. “Kids have a great time finding them and also learning while they search throughout the museum.”

And throughout 2018 the museum will continue with its summertime Saloon Series, a lineup of weekly happy hour events for young adults in the Silver Dollar Saloon and Prosperity Junction, as well as Saturdays for Kids in which all children can enjoy free admission on the first Saturday of every month. “With programs for everyone from kids to young adults and seniors, the museum has a little something for anyone to enjoy.” Carr said.

“The West is for everybody,” she said. “It means something different to each person. When people come here for the first time, we want them to explore, and learn and have fun and ultimately figure out what the West means to them.”

The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum is located at 1700 NE 63rd St. in Oklahoma City. Visit nationalcowboymuseum.org for more event details or call (405) 478-2250.