Western Heritage Day by: Brett Briggeman

On Thursday, April 24 from 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., Hardin-Simmons University will host the 43rd Annual Western Heritage Day. The event will be on Anderson Lawn, and pre-registration is now open. 

Walk-in registration will be available at the event on Anderson Lawn and at Mabee Gymnasium. For more information about registration, check out the official HSU Western Heritage Day info-page: https://www.hsutx.edu/info-for/community/western-heritage-day/

Cassie Mattern, director of events at HSU, oversees the planning and implementation of Western Heritage Day from start to finish. 

“As Director of Events, I help with various campus events including University Christmas Party and Western Heritage Day,” Mattern said. “I run the campus reservation system, oversee summer camps, and provide support for any campus entity hosting an event on campus.”

Mattern’s favorite part about her role is being able to experience different things everyday, with each day bringing its own interesting aspects. 

“I love the variety of things I get to do,” Mattern said. “No two days are exactly the same, I have the ability to be creative and think critically daily.”

Mattern’s team started working on Western Heritage Day 2025 at the end of Western Heritage Day 2024.

“My office starts working on this event the day after the conclusion of the previous year’s,” Mattern said. “We select a date based on the state testing schedule, and go from there. This year the Abilene Zoo is coming to talk about bison in the west and how vital they were to this area. They are not bringing a bison, but we will have a cutout of one for scale. We have also added a few other surprises this year.”

Mattern’s favorite part about the event is closely knit to her family and getting to share her work with them.

“I am a mom to two small girls,” Mattern said. “They have grown up on the campus. I love getting to see them experience something that I have put so much time and effort into. It makes it super special to share that with them.”

Mattern also enjoys getting to be part of the long-lasting legacy and impact of Western Heritage Day. 

“I love our groups that come back year after year,” Mattern said. “Some of the teachers who are coming now, came when they were in elementary school. There is a lot of history about the event on the website. It really is an awesome event for HSU to share with our extended community.”

For more information about the event, check out the official HSU website info-page for Western Heritage Day: https://www.hsutx.edu/info-for/community/western-heritage-day/.