Larry the Cable Guy named Stampede Parade grand marshal

POWELL (WNE) — Comedian, actor and former radio personality Larry the Cable Guy will be the star of the July 3-4 Cody Stampede Parades this year.

Nebraska native Daniel Lawrence Whitney, who has long gone by Larry the Cable Guy, his professional moniker first popularized as part of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, was announced as this year’s parade grand marshal by the Cody Stampede Parade Committee along with the Cody Stampede Board.

Parade committee President Debbie Herman credited Ed Bednarz, general manager of the Cody Stampede Board, with roping in Whitney to come back to Cody.

“He’s been here in Cody before and he loves Cody,” Herman said, adding that when Whitney last came, he attended a rodeo and struck up a friendship with Bednarz.

“He was excited to come and be the grand marshal,” she said.

In fitting fashion, this year’s Stampede Parade theme is “Git – R – Done, in Western Style.”

Herman said while Larry the Cable Guy will ride in a wagon from Paradise Carriages pulled by draft horses, committee members are working on finding a vehicle like the tow truck from Whitney’s character Tow Mater in the “Cars” movies for the Kiddie Parade.

The parades run during the five-day rodeo extravaganza at the Cody rodeo grounds that is the annual Xtreme Bulls June 30 and then the Cody Stampede Rodeo July 1-4.

This story was published on April 2, 2024.