Julie Ann Ream knelt beside a bronze medallion, studying the inscription as a small boy stood beside her. As she gazed at the medallion, she ran one hand over it to feel the inscription.
The medallion on Gunsmoke Street bore the name of Ream's late uncle, actor Glenn Strange. Snippets of biographical information, including the fact that Strange played bartender Sam Noonan on the TV show "Gunsmoke," were inscribed on the medallion.
After inspecting the medallion, Ream said she was pleased that the Dodge City Trail of Fame had honored her uncle's work on "Gunsmoke."
"I'm tickled pink over this because it is the first opportunity I've had to accept an honor on behalf of one of my family members," she said. "I have been lucky enough to have gotten some of my own for preserving Western heritage, but the fact that this is for my uncle Glenn means the world to me."
Earlier that afternoon, Ream joined at least 40 people for the dedication of her uncle's medallion Saturday afternoon in downtown Dodge. The ceremony was part of a weekend-long celebration of "Gunsmoke's" 55th anniversary, sponsored by the Trail of Fame.
Ream told the crowd she loved growing up in a family of cowboys and entertainers, including her grandfather Taylor "Cactus Mack" McPeters and Strange's cousin Rex Allen.
McPeters was a stunt man who appeared in more than 300 films and TV shows, and Allen was the last of the singing cowboys.
"I loved them dearly. They would have loved you all dearly," Ream said. "And I appreciate so much what you've done, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart."
Remembering 'Gunsmoke'
The ceremony also honored "Gunsmoke" actors James Nusser, who played town drunk Louie Pheeter on the show, and Burt Reynolds, who played Quint Asper.
"Gunsmoke" writer Jim Byrnes, who dedicated the Nusser medallion, said Pheeter appeared in Byrnes' first script for the show.
"It captured a character I'd seen before," Byrnes said. "I ran two or three films before he was in 'Gunsmoke' to capture him."
He said his script included a scene in which Pheeter sought shelter on a cold, windy night. But the hotel was full, so Pheeter asked Marshal Matt Dillon if he could stay in the jail.
"That was my first one," Byrnes said. "And he (Nusser) was a terrific actor and quite a character. So I'm very proud to be here today and dedicate this to a great actor: Louie Pheeter/James Nusser."
Dodge City resident Kent Stehlik dedicated a medallion for Reynolds, who was unable to attend the celebration.
Stehlik said Reynolds had told an interviewer that "Gunsmoke" was a great place for young actors, partly because veterans like Milburn Stone and James Arness taught them to take their work seriously.
"He had almost a father/son relationship with Milburn Stone and James Arness, and that helped him in his younger years," Stehlik said. "He also said the years on 'Gunsmoke' were some of the happiest he ever had in his life, and he wished he could have been a better actor then — a young actor — because he could have done a better job on the parts later on in his career if he would have done them then."
