Hayden Foundation benefit set for July 7

PIONEERTOWN – A western movie set at the Hayden Ranch Will be the deciding for the ninth annual Sandra Hayden Memorial foundation benefit schedules from noon to 6 PM July 7.

Attractions will include A sky-diving exhibition and performance by the U.S. Marine Drum and Bugle Corp.

Entertainment, A carnival midway, art show, stunt performances, auction, and a turn-of-the-century luxury railroad car display also will be featured.

Admission is free. Steak and hamburger dinners will be available, said Gayle Anderson, a spokesman for the event.

Billed as “A free-spirited, free-wheeling celebration of the wild west,” the benefit is expected to draw thousands of visitors to Pioneertown, 40 miles north of Palm Springs near Yucca Valley.

The ranch, atop a rugged range of sawtooth mountains, was built as a movie set by the late actor, director and producer Russell Hayden in the 1950s to film his “Judge Roy Bean”  television series.

The movie set still holds Hayden’s lifelong collection of movie memorabilia and artifacts of the old west.

It now forms the backdrop for the Sandra Hayden Memorial Foundation annual barbecue, which benefits the community resident suffering hardship because of a catastrophic illness or accident, Anderson said.

An art show will feature western crafts, and new and collector’s items will be offered for sale in the benefit auction.

Entertainment will include country music, Dixieland jazz, and big band sounds, Anderson said.

The ranch can be reached by route 62 from Yucca Valley north 4 1/2 miles on Pioneertown Road.