Uncle Buck’s celebrates decade of riding and music with bands, BBQ
By Stephanie Laird
May 22, 2008
Uncle Buck’s Riding Stable and Dance Barn is celebrating its 10th anniversary this Saturday with a bluegrass and BBQ bash featuring The Red Brush Band.
David and Becki McPherson, who own and operate Uncle Buck’s, said they purchased the business because of their daughter, Cassidy, who also helps manage the family business with her husband, Tim Jones.
“She was really into horses and we thought it might be a good thing for her to do,” said David McPherson. “It went so well we decided to move down here and do it full time.”
Uncle Buck’s, which is located off of Ohio Rt. 356 near the Athens-Vinton county line, was originally named Robinette’s Dance Barn when it was built in the 1970s. At the time, McPherson, a high-school student in Athens, was playing in a band that reputedly blew the roof off the venue in the summers of 1972 and ‘73. When the initial owner leased the property several years later, the riding stable was added and the name was changed to Uncle Buck’s.
When the first owner retired, he sold all the horses and equipment and closed the place down, said McPherson. Several years after his retirement, the McPhersons decided to purchase the property and breathe life back into the Uncle Buck’s tradition.
Since Uncle Buck’s renaissance, the McPhersons have made several improvements including adding a saloon, a beer garden and a new horse barn.
For several years after Uncle Buck’s reopened, all the facility offered was scenic guided trail rides. Today, horses still trot along two regular paths – the Coal Bucket Trail, a one-hour ride, and the Lookout Rock Trail, a two-hour ride. According to McPherson, they also offer private rides along the bridle trails of surrounding Zaleski State Forest at the behest of patrons looking to delve into the region’s rolling forests for a more extensive trip.
About four years ago Uncle Buck’s began hosting weddings, one of the first of which was the union of McPherson’s daughter Cassidy. At this time, they obtained a license to serve beer and wine and opened Baby Buck’s Beer Garden – an outdoor area for patrons to enjoy a cool beverage while sitting around the campfire.
Uncle Buck’s also began offering smoked BBQ around the same time they began hosting weddings. They now have an industrial smoker and grill in the screened-in area known as Uncle Buck’s BBQ Pit, said McPherson, who said they’ve mastered the art of smoked BBQ over the years. They began a cooperative venture with King Farms this year.
On a typical day, patrons can enjoy their succulent smoked meal in the Lady Buck Saloon, a charming and rustic bar located in the Dance Barn. According to McPherson, what is now the saloon was previously a junk building they gutted and renovated three years ago.
“The saloon makes it more attractive for people to drive down here,” said McPherson. “(Uncle Buck’s) is becoming more of a destination in itself instead of just something people check out when they’re down here.”
By diversifying the facility’s offerings, Uncle Buck’s is now welcoming many visitors from the Hocking Hills and Columbus areas. Additionally, McPherson plans on renovating the rest of the Dance Barn, since they’re only using two-thirds of the available 12,000-square-foot space. The remaining third of the barn is where the horses used to be housed, but they have a new stable to call home across the parking lot from the Dance Barn.
McPherson said he wants to convert this vacant space to create a more private place for people to have parties. He also eventually plans on putting in a concrete floor in the Dance Barn during the next round of renovations.
Uncle Buck’s hopes to start offering horse-drawn hay rides by next year, said McPherson, adding that horses are currently in training to make this possible.
“We’re establishing Uncle Buck’s as a family business,” said McPherson, whose daughter is just as into this venture as he is. “She just had a baby, so who knows, she may take it over someday herself.”
THE RED BRUSH BAND IS joining the 10th anniversary celebration this weekend with eclectic bluegrass music. Dwight Daugherty, on guitar, dobro and mandolin, and his brother, Allen, playing the banjo, mandolin and guitar, along with bassist and lead singer Harry Kuhn, comprise this traditional down-home-style collaboration.
Dwight and Allen, career musicians and longtime friends of Kuhn, began jamming together in the mid-1970s. Their band, the Stoned Mountain Boys, played a lot in the Tri-State area in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Then the brothers took some time to score ballets and theater pieces before reuniting with their fellow Jackson, Ohio, friend to form The Red Brush Band.
While all the members have played with different people over the years, this trio is continuing to give live performances and stomp out new tunes.
According to Daugherty, The Red Brush Band writes some of its own music and performs adaptations of music from all different genres.
This free-spirited, eclectic bluegrass group has played at Uncle Buck’s since the venue opened, said Daugherty, who has been friends with McPherson since meeting him through the Jackson music scene when it was in its heyday in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
“I cannot tell you how long Dave (McPherson) and I have played music back and forth over the years,” said Daugherty.
The music kicks off at 8 p.m. Saturday in the Dance Barn. For additional information on Uncle Buck’s, visit www.unclebucksstable.com.
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