Gritapalooza events begin today

story info submitted by the Fort Smith Convention & Visitors Bureau

We are Rooster.

That’s one of the themes behind True Gritapalooza, a grassroots campaign celebrating the Fort Smith connection to True Grit. The bestselling novel by Arkansas author Charles Portis was the basis for a 1969 Western starring John Wayne and a new film adaptation released nationwide Dec. 22, 2010 starring Jeff Bridges, Hailee Steinfeld, Matt Damon, and Josh Brolin, and directed by Oscar-winning filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen.

Real Fort Smith history inspired Portis’ novel, and True Grit is set in Fort Smith and Eastern Oklahoma. The area, portrayed as late 1870s Fort Smith and Indian Territory, is featured prominently throughout the new film even though actual filming was in Texas and New Mexico.
 
Gritapalooza is being spearheaded by the Fort Smith Convention & Visitors Bureau, working with dozens of entities and hundreds of True Grit enthusiasts throughout the city. Convention & Visitors Bureau Communications Manager Jennifer Boulden is coordinating activities and spreading the word about local True Grit events, contests, news and True Grit enthusiasm through this special Facebook page.

“True Grit has been beloved around the world for more than 40 years,” Boulden said. “For most of that time, it has been one of the primary drivers of tourism to Fort Smith. Our whole city is tremendously proud of Fort Smith as the setting and inspiration for True Grit. We are hoping that the new film, which is getting major awards buzz, will bring this material to a new generation and bring more attention to the just as fascinating true stories of the Deputy U.S. Marshals who, like the fictional Rooster Cogburn, served the court in Fort Smith.”

Rooster Cogburn is the famous fictional Deputy U.S. Marshal from True Grit made popular by John Wayne, who won his only Oscar for the role, and now by Oscar winner Jeff Bridges. The story involves Cogburn being hired by Mattie Ross, a 14-year-old girl from Dardanelle, Ark., to track down her father’s killer and return him to Fort Smith to be hanged by Judge Parker.

“Rooster and Mattie are both incredible characters that have captured the public’s imagination for decades. They have both have spirit, courage and true grit in spades, and we feel that they together perfectly illustrate the same qualities that have made Fort Smith great, both in the 1870s and today,” Boulden said.

Several official Gritapalooza events are scheduled in the next week, including a True Grit Opening Night Event at the Malco Cinema 12 in Fort Smith; a Gritapalooza Night in downtown Fort Smith on the eve of the opening; a Question & Answer time with Candyce Hinkle, a Fort Smith native who has a role in the new film; and perhaps the wildest event of all, Roosters by the Dozen, which will involve hundreds of people of all ages and genders wearing Marshals badges and eye patches at the Fort Smith National Historic Site’s Gallows.
 
The crowd of “Roosters” will be led by Fort Smith Mayor-Elect Sandy Sanders to challenge Rooster’s enemy Lucky Ned Pepper by shouting out several famous lines from the film, en masse. Boulden said the event will be documented and submitted to the Guinness Book of World Records for possible acceptance as the World’s Largest Gathering of Rooster Cogburns.
 
“People are really excited about the chance to stop by on their lunch hour, turn into Rooster Cogburn for a few minutes, and be a part of a little whimsical Fort Smith history,” Boulden said, adding that men, women and children can all be part of the free event that does contain PG-13 language featured in the film. For all Gritapalooza events, costumes are encouraged but optional.
 
Besides official events, Gritapalooza organizers are encouraging people to generate their own ideas for expressing their True Grit love. “We have people working on short True Grit-themed YouTube videos, talking about True Grit flash mobs, doing all sorts of silly stunts to show their support,” Boulden said. “It doesn’t matter to us if they’ve connected to the book, the John Wayne film, or the new film or all three—anyone who is proud of Fort Smith being the setting and inspiration for True Grit is welcome to join in the fun.”
 
SCHEDULED GRITAPALOOZA EVENTS
• Roosters by the Dozen

12:15 p.m., with filming at 12:25 p.m.
Dec. 21, 2010
Fort Smith National Historic Site Gallows, 301 Parker Ave., Downtown Fort Smith
Dozens, possibly hundreds, of Fort Smith and True Grit enthusiasts will gather at noon at the Fort Smith National Historic Site’s Gallows for this fun, once-in-a-lifetime event. The Fort Smith Convention & Visitors Bureau will provide the first 500+ fans with black eye patches and “Marshals badges” to turn everyone, regardless of age or gender, into instant Rooster Cogburns. The event is free, and costumes are optional. The crowd of Roosters, led by our Chief Rooster, Mayor-Elect Sandy Sanders, will be taunted by “Lucky Ned Pepper” on horseback. The Roosters will then en masse have this famous exchange with Lucky Ned:
ROOSTER COGBURN (CROWD): I mean to see you killed in one minute, Ned, or see you hanged in Fort Smith at Judge Parker’s convenience! Which will you have?
LUCKY NED PEPPER: I call that bold talk for a one-eyed fat man!
ROOSTER COGBURN (CROWD): Fill your hand, you son of a bitch!

The event will be filmed for social media purposes, and will have video and photo opportunities for the media to capture this event as well. Following the event, the Fort Smith C&VB will submit an application to the Guinness Book of World Records for the official world record for the World’s Largest Gathering of Rooster Cogburns; there is no guarantee the application will be accepted, but the application will be made.

The schedule for Roosters by the Dozen is:
12:00-12:15 – Crowd gathers, gets eye patches and badges, gets into places.
12:15-12:25 – Introductions/instructions and practice lines as a crowd.
12:25 – Perform the lines as a crowd, to be filmed. May do a couple of takes.
12:35-12:40 – Event disperses, except for those attending the Q&A with Candyce Hinkle inside the Fort Smith National Historic Site Visitors Center
Note: No firearms or alcohol are allowed on the federal grounds. Guns and replica guns must be checked by Park Rangers before event.
 
• Q&A about filming True Grit with Candyce Hinkle

1:00-1:30 p.m.
Dec. 21, 2010
Fort Smith National Historic Site Visitors Center
Come inside the Visitors Center for a chance to hear from actress and Fort Smith native Candyce Hinkle about working on the new True Grit film with the Coen Brothers and the cast and crew. Hinkle plays the landlady of the Monarch Boarding House where Mattie stays in Fort Smith. She has a speaking role in several scenes. She now lives in Little Rock, but was born and raised in Fort Smith and is known locally for the grandmother character she portrayed on Harp’s commercials for many years.

• Gritapalooza Night

9 p.m.
Dec. 21
Rooster’s on Garrison, and possibly additional downtown venues. Wear your eye patch and Marshal’s badge to Rooster’s club on historic Garrison Avenue in downtown Fort Smith. Enjoy True Grit-themed drink specials, performances, giveaways and other fun on the eve of the new film’s nationwide opening. Other downtown venues may be having True Grit themed nights then as well.
 
• True Grit Opening Night

5:30 p.m.
Dec. 22
Malco Cinema 12
Fort Smith’s True Grit enthusiasts will descend on the Malco Cinema 12 lobby to celebrate the new film’s opening night. Come in costume or as you are to join in the hoopla. Starting at 6 p.m. a Mattie Ross Lookalike Contest will be held and then a Rooster Cogburn Lookalike Contest; both open to anyone, any age, with no entry fee. Winners will receive a $50 gift certificate to Bedford’s Camera and Video in Fort Smith and other prizes. The True Grit Opening Night event will also include live entertainment, dozens of re-enactors and enthusiasts in costume, drawings for prizes, promotional True Grit-themed giveaways, donations taken for/ information given about the U.S. Marshals Museum project; and other fun. The event is free, regardless of whether you are attending the film or not; tickets to the film will be general admission and are subject to availability. The event will run from 5:30 until the showing during the 7 p.m. hour begins (exact showtimes not yet known).