I fully support the idea of temporarily changing the name of Celebrate Oxford to Lone Ranger Days this year.
We’ve got a golden opportunity to hitch this town’s wagon to a $250 million blockbuster summer movie because the real Lone Ranger ? also known as Brace Beemer ? lived here for many years.
To me, that’s so much more important than the Celebrate Oxford name.
Frankly, the Lone Ranger has a much, much broader appeal as a pop culture icon since the radio program debuted way back in 1933. Celebrate Oxford has only been around since 1999.
The Lone Ranger has fan clubs, websites, radio and television shows, movies, books and legions of memorabilia collectors. The Lone Ranger is an American legend. He’s a heroic personification of the Old West.
Celebrate Oxford is a town festival virtually identical to so many others. Although it offers a good time to both residents and visitors alike, it’s nothing unique. It’s not some genius piece of marketing. It’s what everybody else does.
Millions upon millions of people know who the Lone Ranger is. Thousands know what Celebrate Oxford is.
There’s absolutely no comparison.
It just makes sense that more people will come out to celebrate the Lone Ranger ? especially in light of the new movie ? than the town of Oxford.
It’s something those who live outside of Oxford can readily identify with and easily connect to. It’s like the Dickens Festival held in Holly every December.
If it was just called something like the ‘Holly Jolly Christmas Festival,? I doubt as many folks would show up year after year. Let’s face it, Holly doesn’t have much to offer. It’s quaint, but it’s not exactly a hotspot or a tourist attraction.
But Holly was very, very smart.
It chose to latch on to famous English author Charles Dickens and his famous story ‘A Christmas Carol.?
Everybody knows who Ebenezer Scrooge is, so they love going to Holly to have an actor dressed up as the fictional miser yell ‘Bah! Humbug!? at them.
They know who Tiny Tim is so they go to see everybody’s favorite kid with a crutch say, ‘God bless us, every one!?
Neither Charles Dickens nor Ebenezer Scrooge ever lived in Holly , but the town’s definitely made them their own.
Brace Beemer and the Lone Ranger actually lived in Oxford. They’re part of our town history. We should claim that and celebrate that by temporarily renaming our festival as Lone Ranger Days.
It just makes sense.