The Rustico Cowboy rides again

OSOYOOS — Bruce Fuller, the former founding proprietor and owner of Rustico Farm & Cellars Estate Winery, has a new place to hang his hat — he was elected president of the Osoyoos-based Desert Park Exhibition Society on March 8.

Elected along with Fuller was an enthusiastic posse of deputies who aim to make the most of what its new president calls ìa jewel in the community of Osoyoos.”

“It is a jewel,” he said after his election. “It’s a green oasis in our desert community that we just don’t use enough.”

The Desert Park facilities include a full-feature racetrack and grandstand, barns and RV park. The racetrack’s grassed interior supports community athletics — such as youth soccer and baseball — and is the perfect space for festival events as well.

“I love the horses and maintaining the western way will always be at the center of the societyís purpose, but we can do other things as well,” Fuller said.

That includes setting up a medieval village and providing a glimpse into that lifestyle with a weekend of jousting, swordplay and feasting the May long weekend.

Other plans for the facility include an outdoor music festival and sporting events. The society is also contemplating unique shoulderand winter-season events for the Osoyoos community.

And, or course, horseracing is always a frontrunner with the society. Desert Park’s executive will be working hard to bring horseracing to the Osoyoos community this summer.

The 10-person Desert Park society board elected March 8 includes: Fuller, Dr. Henry Kleinhofmeyer, Paddy Head, Carol Youngberg, Jeri Falk, Dawn McCrae, Diana Anderson, Torsten Huebach, Andrew Stuckey, and Sarren Wolfe