Last Updated on June 4, 2021 – 6:28 PM CDT
Dumas Dogie Days is back this year after being cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic. Dogie Days is the annual town celebration and a Dumas tradition that includes a carnival, food booths, a parade, and the world famous Dumas Dogie Days barbecue. The climax of Dogie Days is the raffling of a new vehicle on the midway at McDade Park on Saturday night.
Dumas residents have most likely seen, and encountered, the Dumas Noon Lions Club members around town selling tickets for several weeks now. They are the people wearing the golden-yellow shirts! Buying a ticket from a Lion this year gets you a chance at winning a brand new 2021 Chevrolet Silverado pickup. You can buy as many tickets as you want to increase your chances of winning and when you purchase a ticket for the Dogie Days BBQ, which is held on Thursday, that will also assure you get a shot at winning. You can also purchase tickets on the Dogie Days ticket website.
Head Wrangler this year is Kirk Welch. He was recently on an episode of the Dumas Chamber Chat with Carl Watson to talk about this years events. Welch discussed the history of Dogie Days, the schedule of events, and how the proceeds from the events are used to support charities and non-profits.
On Thursday local volunteers, including several student groups, joined the Lions Club to wrap the meat for next Thursdays BBQ. The group wrapped 9000 pounds of meat in just 25 minutes. The previous record was 28 minutes. The meat will be cooked in a pit and served with the traditional Dogie Days BBQ fixins on Thursday June 10th beginning at 11:00 A.M.
It wouldn’t be Dogie Days without a little history lesson from the locals… The name Dogie comes from a motherless calf, pronounced “Dough-gie,” as in the cowboy phrase “get along little Dogie.” Even though many locals pronounce it doggy, like what a little child calls their puppy, a true Dumas native knows their history and knows how to pronounce it correctly.
The event began in 1946 as a fundraiser to help support area boy scouting and has grown in size and popularity over the years. Now the event raises funds to not only help scouting programs but also supports the local food pantry, eyeglasses for the blind, Leader Dogs for the blind, Texas Lions Camp for handicap kids, and many other programs. Non-profit groups can even apply for assistance by contacting the Dumas Noon Lions Club. All of the proceeds from the Dogie Days Events will go toward assisting several charities and non-profit organizations.
This year will be the 74th Dogie Days event and is expected to be one of the largest attended since the event began in 1946. The Lions Club is also preparing for a large crowd at the BBQ on Thursday June 10th where they traditionally feed around 6000 people, roughly half of the population of Dumas, in just a couple hours time.