Benton ? There’s already a Hopalong Cassidy Museum in the Ohio hometown of the actor who portrayed the pleasant cowboy on television and in movies, but for Hoppy’s devoted fans there can never be too much of a wonderful thing.

Nearly 200 fans from around the country came for the grand opening Friday of the national Hopalong Cassidy Cowboy Museum at the Prairie Rose Chuckwagon Supper, an Old West theme park about 15 miles east of Wichita near the old Chisholm Trail.

The 10,000-square-foot museum holds several thousand items of Hopalong memorabilia and includes the 250-seat Bar-20 Theatre that will play Hopalong Cassidy movies.

Actor William Lawrence Boyd, a native of Cambridge, Ohio, portrayed Hopalong Cassidy in dozens of movies and more than 50 television episodes between 1935 and 1951. A museum dedicated to Boyd and Hoppy is located in an antiques mall in the Ohio city.

But the setting of the new Kansas museum is a bit closer in style to a Hopalong movie set. Besides the chuckwagon dinners, attractions at the Prairie Rose include an Old West opera house, wagon rides and nightly shows at the Happy Trails Theatre.

Wichita resident Betty Kelly attended Friday’s opening because she feels a special connection to Hopalong. Her son, Larry Kelly, won a contest in 1953 that resulted in a trip for two to California to watch Boyd film part of a movie.

“It was just really something for a boy of 8 back then,” Kelly said.

Janet Holderman, of Augusta, remembers watching Hopalong Cassidy when she was a child, so she brought her 6-year-old grandson Treven Holderman to see the museum.

“I was probably around 6 when I was watching Hoppy,” Holderman said as Treven peeked from beneath his black cowboy hat at a display of Hopalong toys. “I remember being upset when he was no longer on TV.”

Co-owner Cheryl Etheredge said adults wanted their children to learn about the Hopalong Cassidy they enjoyed as a child.

“I really think there are a lot of people who still love Hoppy and can’t wait to visit here,” she said.

Myron Voth, of Hesston, looks over a wall display at the Hopalong Cassidy Cowboy Museum near Benton. The museum, which opened to the public Friday, boasts the largest collection of Hopalong Cassidy memorabilia in the world.