Dumas Noon Lions Club
Dumas, Texas

The Dumas Noon Lions Club recently put on its 78th annual Dogie Days celebration in McDade Park. Held every second weekend in June, the event is the largest community festivity and the Lions’ biggest fundraiser, generating more than $100,000 each year to support a wide variety of local non-profit organizations, charities, and causes.

A “Dogie” — pronounced with a long o sound — is a motherless calf. Some people call it Doggie Days but now you are in the know!

The four-day event begins on Wednesday evening with the opening of the midway, where visitors can enjoy carnival rides, games, food, drinks, and music. It picks up speed on Thursday with a massive lunch-time barbecue where the Lions, with help from their Sunray and Amarillo College counterparts, as well as with students from the Dumas High School Leo Club, serve around 5 thousand traditional brisket meals in the park. Saturday is the last and biggest day. It begins in the morning with a parade of well over 100 entrants and ends late Saturday night with a car or truck awarded to one lucky winner who purchased a five-dollar raffle ticket for a chance to win. The Dumas Noon Lions Sweetheart, reaches her hand into the hopper and pulls out the winning ticket to see who will take home the brand-new vehicle. Over the years the Lions have raffled off pickups, sports cars, utility vehicles and family sedans. The raffle is a big moneymaker for the club and popular with the public. Lions sell tickets up to the time of the drawing.

Every year at Dogie Days the Lions introduce their new sweetheart for the upcoming year and honor a local Old Timer. Both have a place of honor near the head of the parade on Saturday. The Old Timer and his or her family are set up in a special, covered cabana Thursday at the barbecue so friends and others can stop by for a chat.

Dogie Days is a time of joyful reunions and reconnections. Families or parts of families who have moved away from Dumas often make a point of returning for Dogie Days. Multiple classes of Dumas High School graduates schedule their reunions to coincide with the event. They often create a float and ride together throwing candy in the parade.

Dogie Days doesn’t happen on the spur of the moment. Lions under the direction of the club’s 1st Vice President, or “Head Wrangler,” begin preparing for the event months in advance. This year’s head wrangler was Lion Jill Williams. In July each year after Dogie Days, the Head Wrangler becomes president, or “Boss Lion,” for the next year.

There are a lot of things that have to be arranged and ordered, and the head wrangler is there to help, support and guide all the people in the various activities. Members of the community often step up with donated time, money, and goods. Volunteers help the Lions and Leos man booths, cook and sell food and drinks, operate games, and work behind the scenes to keep the four-day event on track to ensure visitors have a good time.