MARIETTA, OK – It was a hot Friday afternoon in Marietta, but by no means did the heat scorch the fun. People young and those just young at heart were out enjoying the annual “Frontier Days.” It's a community wide celebration, that started in 1966 and more than 40 years later, it's still going strong.

The two words - “Frontier Days” - probably conjure up thoughts of the old Wild West. While this festival was founded to celebrate the history of Love County, Frontier Days is a modern day celebration complete with rides, food and lots of family fun.

"It's just a tradition in our family, every year we come and it's exciting for everyone to be here,” said Savannah Thompson.

The 14-year-old Love County native said Frontier Days is one of her favorite community events and something she always remember going to. Savannah said the shopping and new amusement rides are great, but her favorite thing is something a little sweeter.

"I would say the funnel cake,” Savannah said with a smile.

The specialty foods are a favorite among most people, but event organizers and participants like Mark Dillard, say the festival is about the heritage of the area.

"It's just important that we remember what our forefathers started,” Dillard explained.

Dillard said the downtown Marietta area that hosts the Frontier Days celebration used to be the wild frontier. As a member of the Love County Gunfighters, Dillard said he takes pride in educating people about the past.

"We bring back the old west as we think it would have been 200 years ago or 150 years ago,” Dillard said. “And we try to emphasize the importance of the weapons."

This year the festival also honored the area’s political past in a different way. The annual parade was turned in to a tribute of the late state politician Terry Hyman.

Hyman was originally from Love County and was a big supporter of the rural fire departments. In honor of his work, all 13 fire departments in Love County entered a fire truck in the parade. Savannah says that's just one other reason to keep her coming back to Frontier Days.

"The parade is always exciting,” Savannah said.