Saturday, July 26th, 2008 marks the 9th Annual Dwight Boeckman Festival at the Okeene Baseball Field in Okeene, OK. The festival is an all-day, all-ages event featuring performances by Red-dirt rockers and Oklahoma natives including No Justice, Johnny Cooper, Bart Crow, Clint Osmus & The Bushmills, Mama Sweet, and many more.

The event is held every year in honor of Dwight Boeckman who, in July 2000 at just 22 years old, suffered a spinal cord injury in a diving accident which resulted in paralysis from the chest down. The festival was originally created to help Dwight and his family with medical expenses, but by 2005 had surpassed Dwight’s needs and thus shifted its focus towards helping others. Tragically, Dwight was killed in an automobile accident in fall 2005, but the festival continues to honor his legacy and his dream to raise funds which will assist with research on spinal cord injury paralysis.

Proceeds from this year's benefit will go to The Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation and The Miami Project – a paralysis research facility in Florida that Dwight attended. The hope is to eventually find a cure.

Dwight Boeckman was born and raised in and around the community of Okeene, OK where the festival is still held today. Thanks to the endless support of family and friends, Dwight was able to give back to the community who had been so very generous to him during the most challenging years of his life. Before he passed, Dwight was able to help leave his mark by establishing the "Challenge of Life" scholarship, which is awarded to a student graduating with high honors who has found time to make a difference while making the grade.