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In 1926 Willits Frontier Days didn’t have a Sweetheart but the year after the event formed it did–Marie Schloegel.

• 1929 –  Lola Butts was Sweetheart. Ladies in hoop skirts and gentlemen with whiskers danced at the Wild West Frontier Days Dance.
• 1935 – There were two parades and dancing in the park but no one could forget the The Jumping Steer — Monte H. Rigar on a Texas longhorn leaped over an automobile!
• 1938 – World Champion Trick Roper Sam Garrett performed, just like he had done for four U.S. presidents.
• 1943 – The Frontier Days committee received permission from the State of California and Western Defense Command to host the festival but with dim-out the carnival was not lit. Because of rationing food was a problem.
• 1944 – Dim-out was lifted.
• 1966 – Frontier Days committee discussed the possibility of the Willits Rotary Club taking over and not having a parade but neither one came about.
• 1971 – Mike Desiano added a Spanish flavor to the parade riding his Palomino in his beautiful silver attire as Don Gaspar de Portola.

There are so many great memories that have been documented in 89 years of Frontier Days, the longest continuous rodeo in California. The festival goes from June 25 to July 5, 2015