A 60-year ride: Handley's celebrates milestone anniversary

As the Folsom Pro Rodeo celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, one Folsom business that has continued right alongside it is celebrating the same milestone. Saturday morning, the community came out in force to celebrate Handley's Western Wear becoming a six-decade staple in the community. As they enjoyed complimentary refreshments, live music, food and games, Folsom residents and others who traveled from outside of the city showed their support Sunday as the family-owned business hosted a celebration. Complete with western flair and bannered as a "hoedown," the celebration was a way to give back to the community in thanks for their patronage through the years. Operated by family from generation to generation, Handley's Western Wear is an icon in Folsom. Today, the business is currently owned and operated by cousins Grace Rittenhouse and Julie Spitler, who offer the same honest customer service and hospitality that began the day the doors opened in 1961. Handley's was founded by family patriarchs Donella and Chet Handley. Rittenhouse and Spitler are two of five grandchildren and are proud of their family legacy. The western store appropriately opened its doors the same year the Folsom Pro Rodeo saw its first cowboys in competition in the city. "Our grandfather was in World War II and our grandmother was a bookkeeper," Rittenhouse shared in an earlier Folsom Telegraph interview. "Between the two of them, they knew the shoe business and Folsom seemed like a good place to be. So grandma and grandpa opened a mercantile to sort of fit the needs of the working man, which sort of goes with the whole western thing." Back in the day, Handley's was a working man's store, but they have honed it into a western store, Rittenhouse said. Today, the store is half men's and half women's apparel. Not only does the western store sell clothing but they also sell boots and hats, and they will fit the items right to your foot and head size. "We haven't really changed anything about the store," Rittenhouse said. "We hand write here. Grandma taught us to count back change and we still do that." Everything in the store is a little piece of history, Spitler said."There are little notes on the walls and signs around the store that we have never taken down. The Folsom Pro Rodeo has been entertaining spectators from Folsom and afar in the popular Dan Russell Arena at Rodeo Park, in the heart of Folsom, for 60 years now. Entering its 60th year, the 2021 Folsom Pro Rodeo returns July 2, 3 and 4 this year after cancellation last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Handley's is always a popular location to purchase tickets for the event as shoppers get their cowboy attire to attend the affair in style. To learn more about Handley's Western Wear, check out their website at www.handleysworkandwesternwear.com or just visit them at 314 East Bidwell St. in Folsom seven days a week. To keep up with news on the upcoming Folsom Pro Rodeo, check in with the Folsom Chamber of Commerce or visit www.folsomprorodeo.com.