Those who attended the Lone Ranger festivals in the past or who remember the Lone Ranger radio program will be familiar with the name Fred Foy. Foy was the announcer and Brace Beemer's understudy for the program for 15 years on the radio and went on to do the lead-in announcement when the radio program ended and the television show aired in the early 1950s with Clayton Moore as the show's star.
Foy was part of each of the Lone Ranger festivals in Mt. Carmel, IL and thrilled the audiences with his words "From out of the past come the thundering hoof beats of the great horse Silver. Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear. Hi-Yo Silver, Away". The festival was held in honor of Brace Beemer, born in Mt. Carmel, who was the star of the show which was broadcast from the studios of WXYZ in Detroit, MI during the glory years of radio.
Foy died in 2010 and his family is donating his collection of memorabilia, in entirety, to the Wabash County Museum. The collection includes photos, scripts, programs from various dinners and programs where he participated as Master of Ceremonies or was honored, his awards, video clips, audio clips, books and personal correspondence. The collection is set to be received sometime in 2018.
Plans are underway for a new larger exhibit to combine the Foy collection and the Brace Beemer collection on the lower level of the museum where extensive renovation will be needed. Foy had written his autobiography which includes many anecdotes about his time on The Lone Ranger program. He did not live long enough to see the publication of his story but his family is not publishing A Masked Man, An Indian and Me as a limited edition of 250 copies.
March 1, 2018 by Wendy Foy
