A couple that worked most of the past two decades promoting Deadwood and the Days of '76 will be honored as Grand Marshals this year.

Vince and Joanne Coyle will ride in two Days of '76 parades and make other public appearances in connection with the annual PRCA rodeo and Old West pageantry in Deadwood.

Vince Coyle remembers attending the celebration in the 1940s and 1950s as a young man growing up on the Frawley Ranch in Centennial Valley, about five miles north of the Days of '76 arena.

Vince Coyle recalls helping his Uncle Henry prepare 20 white face Hereford calves for the annual 4-H calf-catching contest at the Days of '76. "They were very peppy and enthusiastic," he said.

About 40 4-H members, mostly teenagers, would grab a piece of rope, fashion it into a halter and attempt to catch one of the calves. The boys and girls generally had to be as rough and ready as the calves. "It was not for the faint-hearted," he said.

It was a Sunday event, after the main rodeo, and it highlighted the day.

The prize of a free calf brought with it responsibility. The proud winners were required to raise it, halter break it, keep records, and then bring it back to the calf sale at the Days of '76 the following year.

Local merchants would bid on the calves, some at surprisingly high and wonderful prices.

"Many kids would use the cash for their first semester in college," Coyle said.

During those formative years, Coyle also got to know the camaraderie that developed among the Days of '76 faithful.

"All of us knew each other, and we always had a lot of fun," he said. "There were a lot of local people that came in and participated."

Each year before the Days of '76, the towns of Belle Fourche, St. Onge and Rapid City had annual rodeos. Deadwood's event was always "the big show," Coyle said. "The Belle Fourche Cowboy Band was young then, and they didn't have to ride on a flatbed. The governor of South Dakota and numerous dignitaries usually came to the Governor's Luncheon."

Vince and Joanne Coyle married in 1961 and will mark 47 years of marriage this year.

They lived in Colorado and Iowa for the next several years as Vince worked in college public relations work, recruiting and coaching football and girls' softball players on the college level, as well as being active as a radio and TV sports and special-events broadcaster. Joanne worked as a commercial writer in a large radio station in Colorado where they met. They raised three children and have six grandchildren - and a set of twins is expected to add to the bevy of grandchildren in October.

During that time away from Deadwood, the Days of '76 remained constant. "It's kind of like a homecoming for a lot of these cowboys," Vince Coyle said. "If you run into people from South Dakota and you ask them if they are going back for the 'Days', they know what you mean. I saw it on both coasts."

"It's a converging of the long and the short and the tall," he said.

The Coyles returned to Deadwood with legalized gaming in early 1990, when Vince Cole became director of the Deadwood Chamber of Commerce.

This was a colorful time, he said, because there was only legal gambling in Nevada, New Jersey and Deadwood. This caused a lot of attention in the national media, and calls from New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and Dallas became a regular event.

It also caused well-known entertainers to want to come to Deadwood. As Michael Martin Murphey said on many occasions during his two visits to the historic old city, "If you have not been to Deadwood, you have not really been to the Old West."

The Coyles also worked as publishers of the Lawrence County Centennial (now the Lawrence County Journal). The roles at the chamber and the newspaper gave the Coyles the unique opportunity to meet with and work with the Days of '76 committee and the many returning dignitaries to the celebration.

He remarked about how the event has changed - and how it has stayed the same. "Since gaming came back, it has gotten to be an international promotion," Coyle said. "There's many more people coming. There is still a good, solid local base of second and third generations involved."

Coyle credits the behind-the-scenes work of his wife, Joanne, in helping during those years in the 1990s. Vince, Joanne and their staff used to put out a dozen special newspaper sections a year, plus the usual bi-weekly newspapers. Joanne Coyle also worked closely with her husband on brochures, keeping records, typesetting, office management and filing photos.

"We've been as active as we could in every phase of it," Joanne Coyle said. She has also come in handy during the years that Vince announced the Days of '76 parade. "The roster and background are provided but are sometimes out of order. One year, no list was provided, so we had to wing it."

Since they both knew most of the riders and dignitaries, Vince Coyle was able to tell the audience who was coming up Main Street right on cue.

"After the parade, someone came up and asked me, 'Vince, who gave you that great script?'" he recalled.

If you go

What: Days of '76 Parade

When: 1:30 p.m. Friday, July 25, and 10 a.m. Saturday, July 26

Where: Deadwood Main Street