Willis family celebrates nearly 30 years operating CW Tack

WASILLA — Charlie and Nancy Willis have owned and operated CW Tack and Western Wear in the Mat-Su for nearly 30 years.

As its name implies, the shop sells boots, spurs, hats, shirts and tack cowboys and cowgirls need for working livestock and competing in a rodeo. But step inside and it’s clear it offers more.

The store’s interior is decorated with family photos, championship belt buckles and a collection of spurs that hint at the real treasures here.

“We’d still be cowboys without the shop,” Charlie said Thursday during an interview at their recently expanded store at 991 S. Hermon Road in Wasilla. “Myself and my family, we all rodeo. We use the stuff. We wear the stuff. This is what we love to do.”

Before Charlie and Nancy met at the Matador Lounge in Anchorage, she’d never ridden a horse.

Charlie’s grandfather worked on a ranch in Texas and moved to California in 1917 with the Santa Fe Railroad. Charlie got his start working with cattle and horses on Lee Berry’s Slash X Ranch in Barstow, Calif.

When he moved to Alaska in 1974, he continued working with livestock, showing animals competitively and competing in the rodeo.

Among the mementos on display at CW Tack are two All-Around Cowboy belt buckles Charlie Willis earned one in 2005 and his son Garrett earned the other in 2000.

Charlie grew up in California, but had relatives who moved up in the 1950s. He moved to Alaska in 1974. Nancy and her family came to Alaska in 1970.

The two met after a man walked over one night at the Matador and said, “Hey Charlie, that girl over there wants to dance with you.”

Now the two head three generations of a cowboy family. And Nancy retied last year as one of the top female ropers in Alaska.

“This is what we like to do. It’s what our kids grew up doing,” Charlie said.

Both Callie and Garrett rope competitively, he said. Charlie said they were 5 or 6 years old when they roped their first steers.

“That’s why they are good at it now,” he said. Charlie said his son and daughter are both the in high demand as roping partners.

In 2006, daughter Callie moved to the tri-cities area of Washington state to have increased access to rope, ride and compete year-round.

A way of life

What attracts people isn’t the distinctive Western hats and boots as much as the lifestyle the fashion denotes, Charlie said.

“People want that way of life,” he said.

Roping, riding and rodeo are things the Willis family loves and loves doing together, Nancy said.

Before retiring, Nancy was a top ladies roping champion for many years. Her daughter Callie is following that same path. She works in a doctor’s office by day and ropes and rides at night and on the weekends.

Son Garrett is an Alaska State Trooper and continues to compete in rodeo events. His sons are 4 and 2, and look to be the third generation of cowboys in the Willis family.

Nancy said the boys don’t go anywhere without their hats, boots and ropes.

When it’s time to put them in their car seats, she said it’s also a bit of a struggle to get them to put their ropes down long enough to fasten their seat belts.

“We can’t hardly get them off the horse,” Nancy said.

The Willis’ circle of influence extends beyond their own family, like niece Tarah Willis Alden, who works at the shop and is learning to rope and ride.

CW Tack opened in April 1984 after the Willises turned their Fairview Loop barn into a store. For much of the shop’s existence, Kathleen Brown has been there serving customers, Charlie said.

“She helps us out a bunch,” he said.

While folks may find the notion of being a cowboy or cowgirl attractive, Charlie said the expense of getting into the sport keeps many away. He said he tells people considering getting into the sport to expect to spend $250,000 to earn their first buckle.

“Horses, trailer, tack, hospital bills — it’s expensive,” Charlie said. “But when you win your first buckle you are hooked for life.”

Actually, the two say for some the hook is set when they rope their first steer.

“Money can’t buy that,” Charlie said of that feeling of satisfaction.

‘We’ve helped a lot of people’

Lots of Alaskans have learned to rope and ride at the Willis’ arena where they have weekly practices for roping, riding and throwing steers.

Mike Irvine is one of dozens of CW Tack customers who was lucky enough to be invited out to their house.

Charlie said Irvine watched for a while, but when he asked him if he wanted to try it, he jumped right in.

“He’s got heart,” Nancy said of Irvine.

Irvine said he’s competed in one rodeo thus far, and mostly goes to the Willis’ place for fun.

“They made me better,” he said.

Some folks who end up at the Willis’ house have a history with rodeo and miss the sport, like a cowboy soldier who lost an eye serving in the war the family befriended.

“It was medicinal for him to be back around the rodeo,” Charlie said.

He said he’s cooked a lot of barbecue in the effort to help cowboy soldiers mend their war-weary souls.

For a number of years, the Alaska State Fair Rodeo has been another of the Willis family’s labors of love. This year’s rodeo was the largest ever — 85 contestants — and performed for a sold-out crowd, Charlie said.

He said producing the rodeo is a big job; just teaching the stock how to exit the arena takes hours of working the animals in the arena. They hire the same group of 30 to 40 people each year to run the rodeo, Nancy said. Most are local folks, though Charlie said they bring up a clown, announcer and a judge from Outside to make sure people get a high-caliber show.

“People don’t know what it takes to put on the rodeo,” Charlie said.

The Western English Sales Association honored Charlie and Nancy Willis in 2012 with its “Top Hand Award” for their outstanding contribution to the Western lifestyle.

He thought they were pulling his leg when he received the certified letter in the mail announcing the award.

“We’ve helped a lot of people and we like it,” Charlie said.

CW Tack and Western Wear is at 991 S. Hermon Rd., Wasilla. Contact the business at 376-2668.