On Thursday afternoon, Sept. 6 the Chaparral Wolverines arrived in Oakdale. They were here to take on the Oakdale Mustangs in a varsity football game on Friday, but got a little taste of the town before hitting the gridiron.

The out of town visitors boarded their flight from Denver, Colorado early Thursday morning and arrived in Sacramento that afternoon. When they arrived in the Cowboy Capital of the World they went straight to work and held practice Thursday night on one of the fields at Oakdale High School while the Oakdale freshman and junior varsity teams played in The Corral.

Friday afternoon, the travelers were treated to some Oakdale hospitality as Steve Medlen and the House of Beef staff pulled out the red carpet treatment and fed the entire team and their coaching staff.

“This is what Oakdale is all about, right? We are supposed to take care of our visitors;” said Medlen.

With nearly 50 players and a dozen staff members, the local establishment cooked up plenty of tri tip sandwiches, fries and stocked the salad bar.

The Oakdale High School cheerleaders also showed up to lend their support. The girls interacted with the out of state visitors and towards the end of the lunch, they presented the team members with Oakdale themed goodie bags that featured lassos, hats, shirts and more. These items were donated by several businesses and members of the Oakdale community.

“We cannot thank the people of Oakdale enough,” said Chaparral head coach Jeff Ketron. “The hospitality is overwhelming, it really is. The boys really enjoyed their gifts and meal. This is an experience that none of us will forget and we will take it back to Parker (Colorado) with us.”