Trick or Trot night this year offers not only horses dressed in Halloween costumes but also a show by the only British member of the National Professional Cowboys Association.

The National Barrel Horse Association on Friday brings Vince Bruce, of Cheltenham, England, to James Brown Arena with his rodeo act of rope and whip tricks, double horse (Roman) astride riding and trained dogs.

He will be joined by his wife, Annie Dubats, a country music singer from Wisconsin whom he met on a blind date in New York City.

For two years, Mr. Bruce portrayed The Roper role on Broadway in The Will Rogers Follies .

He was intrigued when I told him about Augusta's rich history of playing host to visiting cowboy stars, including whip master Alfred "Lash" LaRue, Johnny Mack Brown, The Lone Ranger (Clayton Moore), George "Gabby" Hayes, Tom Mix, Don "Red Ryder" Barry, Lester Alvin "Smiley" Burnette, Woodward Maurice "Tex" Ritter, Walter "Dub" Taylor, Sky King (Kirby Grant), Gene Autry and the legendary William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody and Annie Oakley.

"One of the regrets of my life is that I never got to meet Lash LaRue, Roy Rogers, Guy Williams (who played whip master Zorro on TV) and some others," Mr. Bruce said. "When you're young, you don't realize things are finite and have a limit. You think they will last forever."

It was Alexander "Tex" McLeod, from Luling, Texas, who influenced Mr. Bruce.

McLeod, who made silent-era Westerns in America and toured Australia in a Wild West show with film star Hoot Gibson, became a rodeo star with his own variety and cabaret act. He died Jan. 31, 1973, in Birmingham, England.

"He was pretty much retired and was about 74 when I met him," Mr. Bruce said. "He was performing at American Army bases in the early '60s and was like the Will Rogers of England.

"My father had been in Canada in the '30s before World War II and had become interested in roping. He met Tex in the '50s backstage at a theater in England, and they became friends. My father learned to do quite a few rope tricks himself."

By the age of 12, Mr. Bruce was performing in a popular nightspot near his home and by 16 was traveling with circuses in England and France. He left circus life at 19 and spent eight years performing at cabarets and nightclubs around the world.

He was doing shows at Lincoln Center in New York City when he read in Variety magazine about a new musical being based on the life of the late stage and movie star Will Rogers.

Mr. Bruce thought he could teach the show's star, Keith Carradine, some rope tricks, so he offered tickets twice for the show's organizers to come see him in person.

"They didn't take me up on my offer, and I gave up on them," Mr. Bruce said. "But eventually they did show up and were so impressed they offered to create the role of The Roper just for me. I ended up doing The Will Rogers Follies for two years."

During that time, he met Annie Dubats, a singer for various bands in the Big Apple. They married in City Hall on April Fools' Day 1992 before one of Mr. Bruce's matinees with The Will Rogers Follies .

Mr. Bruce recalled, "We ended up hooking up with eight strangers and all of us went to a celebration late morning breakfast. You know, if you plan too much for something to happen, it doesn't work out. But if you don't plan it, sometimes it becomes a great party."

CELEBRATING 38 YEARS: Dear readers, thank you for making this column last an amazing 38 years. This weekly column first appeared in the Savannah Evening Press on Oct. 31, 1970. It moved with me to Augusta in late 1971, appearing at first in the Augusta Herald and then a year later in the combined Sunday issue of the Herald and The Augusta Chronicle before moving into the Applause section.

The Nashville Tennessean newspaper in 1982 declared it to be the "longest-running country music column in America." Thank you very much for your support and kind words.