How One Horse Bought a Ranch

Sonna Warvell of the Warvell family soon to be inducted into the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame, and also Annie Oakley in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show (La Legende de Buffalo Bill) Disney Village, Disneyland Paris, France, recently emailed me a link to an article written about Jim and Jan Warvell, her parents. The article, "Great Horse: White Feather," is a touching account of an extraordinary horse whose talents were so remarkable the Warvells based their show around him for 12 years. According to Jan, the shows success, on the back of White Feather (literally) paid for their ranch. It's worth a read. Click on the title above to do so.

Sonna "Annie Oakley" Warvell Inductee to Hall of Fame

As reported recently in the Star Telegram, the latest class of inductees into the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame includes the Warvell Family: Jim, Jan, Toni and Sonna Warvell of Weatherford. The Warvell family performed trick riding, trick roping and comedy routines worldwide. Jim and Jan now own and train racehorses, Toni is active in judging horse events, cutting and training, and Sonna has starred as Annie Oakley at Disneyland Paris in its production of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show (La Legende de Buffalo Bill) since the park opened in 1992.

Also to be inducted are legendary baseball player Nolan Ryan, Olympic gold medal winner and Hollywood stuntman Dean Smith, and James Jennings, the voice of Mesquite rodeos. The Hall of Fame, in the Fort Worth Texas Stockyards, will introduce the class at a January 14, 2010 ceremony. The honorees were chosen because of their excellence in competition, business, and support of rodeo and the Western lifestyle in Texas.

Sonna shared this news with the Wild West Show cast last week, with much pride and to much applause. One of my favorite pictures of her is at age 4, laying down a horse in a Wild West Show. She and her family are now officially living legends. Congratulations to Sonna and the Warvell family for this much-deserved recognition.

Trent's Buffalo Bill Shows are "Electrifying"

The Artistic Coordinator, Artistic Director, and a returning principle actor each recently took time to pull me aside and tell me my performances have reached a level of excellence they describe as "electrifying," "amazing," and "unbelievable." They say I've attained a quality of performance that is now "untouchable," "in a league of it's own," and "beyond compare."

The level of their compliments caught me completely by surprise.

Despite my disgruntlement over the ridiculous idea of management asking us to deliver each show in 90 minutes, striving to keep a 90-minute pace has required that I intensify my energy and focus, which has apparently, unexpectedly, resulted in noticeable improvement to my already strong performances. I was tickled to watch the Artistic Team search for superlatives with which to laden their compliments. What an honor and surprise to have accidentally, even reluctantly, achieved something worthy of gushing approval. According to the Artistic Director, the new pace and intensity inspires other performers and the whole show is improved.

As a side benefit, I get home earlier to watch American Football!

So now you REALLY must come see us!