January 05, 2012 05:38 PM UTC

January 5th is Officially "Dress Western Day"

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• by: Colorado Pols

If you’re reading this, we suspect you’ve long since suited up for the day already. If you haven’t, however, you’ve got a better reason than usual to don a 10 gallon hat and bolo tie.

From Denver Mayor Michael Hancock:

Mayor Michael B. Hancock today declared Thursday, Jan. 5 “Dress Western Day” in celebration of the 106th National Western Stock Show and its annual parade in downtown Denver.

“The Stock Show is a time-honored tradition for our city, region and state,” Mayor Hancock said. “We are excited to kick-off its 106th year here in Denver. We encourage our employees, residents and visitors to get into the “steer-wranglin'” spirit and join us in donning our Western wear in celebration of this cherished institution.”

The National Western Stock Show parade features a Texas Longhorn cattle drive, marching bands, floats, horseback riders and performing cowboys and cowgirls. It begins at Denver Union Station at high noon on Thursday and heads southeast on 17th St. The parade is preceded by the 4-H Barbecue starting at 11:30 a.m. in the atrium of the Wells Fargo Building and open to the public.

Hancock clearly has a political motivation to greet the Stock Show with as much pomp and circumstance as he can muster – he’s got to prove that Denver is proud to be the home of such a “cherished institution.” Still, this is probably the first time we’ve ever seen “steer-wrangling spirit” in a press release.

Of course, this is the same Michael Hancock who greets visitors at DIA with an uncharacteristically western drawl. Maybe he really does feel strongly about wranglin’ steers, or, at the very least, wranglin’ lost baggage.