BLYTHEWOOD – Josie Jennings Atkinson, the daughter of the late Jimmy and Sybil Jennings, owners of the JJ Ranch in Blythewood in the late 1950’s and early 60’s, will be in town Friday, Sept. 6 for a special event – Remembering JJ Ranch.
The program, hosted by the Historical Society at the Langford Nord House, will be a time for the community and Atkinson to remember when her parents, Jimmy and Sybil Jennings, built a 27-acre dude ranch in the middle of town, turning Blythewood into authentic horse country.
It will also be a time for Atkinson to visit and catch up with old friends, many of whom were once JJ Ranch trail riders. Sixty years ago, that was most of the town’s residents.
Former JJ Ranch trail rider Jim McLean will talk about the ranch’s glory days in Blythewood and the impact the ranch had on Blythewood and how it changed the culture of the town forever.
Bob Wood will talk about how the Jennings happened to land in Blythewood – who they were and where they came from.
Boo Major, the retired Head Coach of the National Champion USC Equestrian Team will share her memories of learning to ride and living the fairytale that was the JJ Ranch.
It was in 1958 that the Jennings rode into town with a trailer full of horses and, over the next six years, turned Blythewood into a western movie. During those years, under Jimmy Jennings’ influence, almost everyone in town came to emulate the western lifestyle – riding horses, wearing western clothes, going on week-long trail rides, traveling to camp sites in covered wagons, sleeping on bedrolls under the stars and eating grub prepared on a chuck wagon.
But unlike most western movies, this one had a heartbreaking ending. In 1964, the Jennings, who the community had come to love, even idolize, died tragically in a plane crash as they were returning home from a trip to Arkansas to buy horses. The town fell into collective mourning over the loss of the Jennings and of a much-loved western way of life.
Not long after the Jennings’ deaths, the ranch and horses had to be sold to pay bills, and the Jennings’ children left Blythewood to live with relatives and friends who subsequently raised them. Many in the town say the Jennings’ deaths left them with a feeling of emptiness they still feel today.
“It was all so much fun,” said Bobbie Stevens, one of the trail riders. “And then it was over.”
Atkinson is now grown and married and her husband Mickey is the Sheriff’s Chief Deputy in McCaskill, Arkansas. They raised their children much like Atkinson was raised – on a farm, riding horses. Their grandchildren grew up to be rodeo queens and barrel racers.
Atkinson said she still treasures her formative years in Blythewood where, she said, “sometimes there were hundreds of us going on week-long trail rides to Elgin and other places. It was a world I will always remember. When I look through my scrapbook of Blythewood and the ranch, it seems like yesterday.”
Atkinson said she has stayed in touch with many of her Blythewood friends, including Martha Trapp and her late husband Joe and Muff Hagood, on Facebook over the years.
“I’m looking forward to seeing everyone again,” Atkinson said.
The Remembering JJ Ranch event will be held Friday, Sept. 6, at 7 p.m. at the Langford-Nord House, 100 McNulty St. in downtown Blythewood. The presentation is free and the public is invited.