Moooving Day in Elko

Every year we send a fair share of merchandise, workshop supplies and other items over to our outpost at the Elko Convention Center, but this may be the first time we've shipped livestock.

Mad Cow!

Well, OK, she isn't "live," but she is a full-size genuine Cracker Cow, and she came to us all the way from Florida.

A beautiful artifact in our featured exhibit, Florida Cattle Ranching: Five Centuries of Tradition -- produced by the Florida Folklife Program, Florida Department of State, and Florida Cultural Resources -- there just wasn't a good place for her in the Wiegand Gallery, so we put her in the cozy Fireplace Nook... right next to the leather furniture.

Although we'll miss her staring at us from across the room and startling all who enter the bar, we think she'll enjoy her new job greeting guests at the Convention Center.

We just hope that all this moooving around won't make this cow a "mad" one...

Mad Cow

Har Har,

Devon the Intern

Moving Day in Elko

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Today is "Moving Day" as the City of Elko assists the Western Folklife Center Gift Shop with moving to the Elko Convention Center as we start setting up our second Gift Shop, full of good things. Last week, there were boxes everywhere, so that is our first photo, although the pile has shrunk considerably. I was lucky enough to get a shot of the first truck as it pulled out from the alley today on its way to the Convention Center. We have an occasional snowflake drifting by this morning so the boxes are covered with blue tarps.

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And since I had the camera in hand: here are some of our wonderful Elko volunteers assisting with getting the beverage storeroom filled, so that we'll have plenty of libations on hand for the Gathering.

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Krys Munzing, Web Content Coordinator (and occasional very-non-professional photographer)

Cowboy Sing Along

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For the second year we are inviting folks at the Elko Gathering to make a CD with us of memorable cowboy songs. You too can be part of an OK Choral singing along with Liz Masterson, R.W. Hampton, Dave Bourne, Andy Willkinson and Andy Hedges. We will record this Thursday session in the G3 Theater then go back to our cave and make the CD so we can deliver them to you on Saturday so you can sing-along on your long drive back home. So that's the idea.

Behind the scenes I've been collecting songs from these wonderful performers. They all have to be original songs or public domain songs so we don't get balled up in rights issues. Also, we can't tax the audience too much with unfamiliar and complex songs. Next step is to make a slide show of the words to the songs which will be projected on a screen during the singing so we can all sound like we did this on purpose.

I believe there are still tickets available if you've always had that secret wish to be cowboy singing star. We are all getting very excited to see all of you in Elko next week.

Hal Cannon, Founding Director

Behind the scenes at the Western Folklife Center

Scheduling for the 2010 Gathering

As the Artistic Director for the Western Folklife Center, I have the pleasure of working with Programs Coordinator Tamara Kubacki on the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering.   One of our big jobs of the year involves retreating to the penthouse of the Western Folklife Center (with lots of M & Ms) to create the master schedule for the Gathering.

We remain forever grateful to the person who invented Post-its as we embarked on creating the schedule for the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering this Fall.   We have been fine tuning our process for scheduling artists and sessions over the 26 years of the Gathering and this highly sophisticated approach seems to work the best for us so far.  Our friends at the Northwest Folklife Festival turned us on to this method – their schedule grids cover multiple walls of their offices - and Tamara has come up with a color-coding system that is truly brilliant.  Those Post-its get moved around a fair amount before all is said and done, but in the end we hope that everyone is satisfied.  We find that in the process of doing this that we get more and more excited about seeing what is on paper come to fruition.

To see the final version of the schedule (which is truly never final until the Gathering happens) visit our website.  Or, better yet, just make your way to Elko and experience it in person.  We're looking forward to the poetry, the stories, the music, the dancing, the workshops, and good company beginning this Saturday!

See you soon!

Meg Glaser

Conversation and Dinner

Tom Gamm by Chris Simon

Today we have a special guest blogger.  Tom Gamm is the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering Logistics Manager.  He hangs all the banners, moves chairs and stages, sets up for the workshops and special events, and makes all of our lives easier.  Today he's talking about one of his favorite events, the Conversation and Dinner series started by Baxter Black, and featuring Red Steagall.  Welcome to the Western Folklife Center.

In the years that I've been helping to stage the Gathering, I've especially enjoyed working on the dinner at the Basque Hall because it is an intimate venue away from thesometimes overwhelming frenzy of the Gatheirng.  Individuals can experience, in a relaxed environment, one of the more iconic figures at the center of our culture.  I don't think we replicate that experience as well anywhere else.

One of the things I've experienced as staff here is how deeply appreciative Baxter, Murphey, and now Red, are of the opportunity they have to engage us, and the passion and clarity with which they embrace their roles.  If you have ever had a chance to work with or be with them when the bright lights aren't on, as I have over the years, you would truly experience that passion.  You would gain an even greater appreciation of their efforts and integrity. 

Please don't miss this opportunity--I've heard there is space at the dinner and I take it on as a mission to urge people to attend.  You will not regret it.

Thanks,

Tom Gamm

Red Steagall

"A Conversation and Dinner with Red Stegall" is on Friday, January 29, at 5:00 pm in the Basque Club House.  To purchase tickets for "A Conversation and Dinner with Red Steagall"  go to the Western Folklife Center's website or call 888-880-5885 (toll free) or 775-738-7508 (in Elko or outside the U.S.).

Curveballs

Welcome to the Western Folklife Center.  Let me introduce myself.  I'm Tamara.  I've been in Elko and at the Western Folklore Center for two-and-a-half years now.  This will be my third Gathering as manager. So it's seven o'clock and I'm still at my desk.  This time of year you can find 90% of the Elko office staff still at their desks after five o'clock, either on the phone or typing away in front of their computers.  We have so much to do still to make the 26th National Cowboy Poetry Gathering the best Gathering yet.  Surprisingly (or maybe not so surprising if you've met any of us), we all are still smiling and making jokes.

Photo Op with the Ringling 5

During the first Gathering that I managed, everyone from WFC staff to artists to audience members would stop me to comment on how calm I seemed.  Truth is, I was calm.  I still am.  Throw me a curve ball, I'll swing.  Set a fire, I'll put it out.  That's what I do.  That's what we all do here.  That same Gathering, I was amazed at how things just got done.  I'd be on my way to the Convention Center to settle a problem when I'd get a call saying it was already solved.  Presto!  I'd think of something I forgot to do when Kathi (the NCPG programs assistant and volunteer coordinator) would call to remind me of the same thing.  It's almost as if we develop telepathy for a few days in January.

We have had a few last-minutes changes to the schedule. Ramblin' Jack Elliott's latest release was nominated for a Grammy award, so he has to leave Elko a little bit early. I'm excited to hear him play some songs from the nominated album A Stranger Here, and can't wait to congratulate him in person.  Check the schedule for other changes and to see who we've got filling in for Ramblin' Jack on "The Long Ride" with Dick Gibford and Corb Lund & the Hurtin' Albertans. There are still tickets available for "The Long Ride."  You can get them on our website, of course.

Everything we're doing for the next two weeks is part of the time-crunch that keeps this job interesting.  One minute I'm talking to an artist, the next I'm sending an email.  The minute after that I'm ordering food for the greenrooms or proofreading the education guide.  Everything we do is varied and important.  Everything we do is leading up to the best week of the year.  I hope to see you then.  I'll be the blur running by with a smile on her face.

-Tamara

It's time for the 26th National Cowboy Poetry Gathering

The staff of the Western Folklife Center is hard at work preparing for the big event. After 25 cowboy poetry gatherings, you would think we would have this down to a science. Unfortunately, we don't. It's a moving target. But it's never dull and we thought you might enjoy reading about what happens behind the scenes leading up to the Gathering, and during the week of the event. The Western Folklife Center staff will be sharing our experiences, our excitement and possibly our nervous breakdowns with you as we get closer to January 23rd. During the week of the Gathering, we hope to be joined by other bloggers who will be sharing their thoughts and impressions about performances that touched them and those that didn't, and about the interstitial moments that are sometimes the most meaningful and memorable for Gathering fans and friends. Please join us on our journey to the 26th National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, January 23-30 in Elko, Nevada.