REX TRAILER NOW RIDING THE HEAVENLY TRAIL

"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints." (Psalm 116:15)

Yesterday morning, my daughter Amy from Springfield, Missouri, phoned me. She opened sounding solemn and definite:

"Have you heard the news?" she asked.

I was quite puzzled about what she was talking about. Of course, I asked, "What news?"

She immediately said, "Rex Trailer died. Rachel [my other daughter] just called and she's upset because now she'll never get to meet him."

I had heard recently on a radio broadcast that Rex Trailer was visiting in Florida and while there had been taken ill and was hospitalized. It was sad to learn of his passing.

It probably sounds strange that to two young ladies under the age of 30 Rex Trailer's death would be such a big deal. Well, Rex Trailer was featured every year in the Natick, MA Fourth of July Parade. Several years ago, my daughters were quite surprised when I smiled, waved, and yelled out, "Howdy, Rex!" to this elderly cowboy on horseback, as did several other "fifty-somethings". I later explained to them who Rex Trailer was and what a huge part of the childhood of all Boston area baby-boomers he was. The girls learned a lot about Rex on-line, and Rachel became determined to meet him one day. For years he rode his horse in the parade, but about four years ago, he was no longer on horseback, but rather sitting on a float, playing his guitar and singing. Last July, he looked pretty feeble and elderly to me, although he still had a big smile and played and sang with all his heart. I wondered if that would be his last 4th of July Parade, and of course, it was.

Rex Trailer sounds like a made up cowboy name, but it wasn't. Well, Rex did change the spelling of his last name. His original birth name was Rexford Traylor, and he grew up in Fort Worth, Texas. He was a real cowboy. If you do an on-line search you can learn a lot about Rex Trailer. His "Boomtown" children's television show ran on Boston's WBZ-TV channel 4 from 1956 until 1974. On each show, there were about forty or fifty kids in the audience. Several were picked to have parts in the show. For each show, there was a sheriff, deputy, and outlaw. I think there were other parts, as well.

I was on Boomtown along with my brother and sister in December of 1960 when I was a 6-year-old. My father had a good friend, Bill Schimmel, whose Dad was a WBZ-TV executive. Through the Schimmels, Dad got tickets for us to go on the show. Each kid normally had to be at least age 6 to go on. Eddie and Dianne were under 6 but I guess they made a special exception. At that age, I thought Boomtown was a real town and the "bunkhouse" was a real bunkhouse. I did not realize that when Rex and his sidekick Pablo rode their animals from the bunkhouse to Boomtown each Saturday morning that was just a film that WBZ ran. I was very surprised that the bunkhouse was a room at channel 4 with contact paper on the walls! When Rex and Pablo "rode to Boomtown" the studio assistants had all of us kids walk from that room to the main studio where the Boomtown set was. Then we all cheered Rex and Pablo as they arrived, and Rex led us in singing his famous, "Boomtown" song.

I was also very surprised that Boomtown was not a real town, but it was all fascinating to me. During commercial breaks, we kids got to meet "Big Brother Bob Emery" who had a kids' show on during the week. When you were on Boomtown, you were facing legendary Boston weatherman Don Kent's weatherboard. Thee were no computers in those days! Don drew a weather map on a chalkboard each day! I remember that after the show, each child got to sit on Rex's horse "Goldrush". Rex and Pablo lifted you on and off the horse- I forget which did which. As with so many Boston area kids, Boomtown was a huge part of my chldhood!

For our family, another special Boomtown memory was that my cousin Bobby Littlefield's dog "Rip" was prominently featured in a special "Paul Revere's Ride" episode of Boomtown. Kids were invited to write to the show and explain why their dog was talented enough to play that role. Rip was chosen and at the end of the special show, Rex introduced Bobby and thanked him for sharing Rip for that special day. Our household watched and was very proud of Bobby Littlefield and Rip. (Many years later, Bob Littlefield was honored to be chosen as Massachusetts Teacher of the Year. Sadly, he passed away a couple of years ago.)

My title says Rex is now riding the Heavenly trail. That's because he was a highly committed Christian. Not only did Rex run Popeye cartoons on the show, but he also ran the claymation series "Davey and Goliath" put out by the Lutheran Church. I actually remember Rex once telling the Noah's ark story on the show and explaining that God would never again destroy the world by a flood because the Bible says next time it will be by fire. Well, that was in the very early 1960s. I wonder if a children's show could get away with putting on a Bible presentation like that today- probably not!

Amy and my little grandson Ben will be visiting in Massacusetts for next 4th of July. Sadly, they won't get to see Rex Trailer. I wonder if they will still have a Rex Trailer float with a band playin his songs? Maybe. Rex also sang a song called, "Litterbug, Shame on You!" which taught children to dispose of trash properly, and my favorite was his cowboy song, "Hoofbeats!"

Rex, have fun riding that Heavenly trail, and from all of us, thanks for the memories!