Teamwork With a Capital T

Although the Saturday Night Dance at the Elko Convention Center is well underway by now, the best example of teamwork I've seen at the Gathering (not counting pulling off the entire Gathering) happened in the moments leading up to the Friday Night Dance with Geno Delafose and French Rockin' Boogie. Around 6:00 pm last night, I walked into the Turquoise Room to check on the Dance set up.  The sound guys were moving microphones, the lighting guys were focusing lights, Mike Polise was setting up the drum set and the Convention Center crew was screwing down the dance floor.  Everyone was working at their own tasks to prepare for the night.

Then I noticed that the other dance floor is in the back of the room.  Nervously, I asked Steve (of Convention Center helpfulness) if we can move the dance floor.  This mistake was completely my fault.  We have always refered to the room as the Silver Room, but it's actually the Silver and Gold Rooms combined.  So when I told him to set up in the Silver Room, meaning the Gold Room of course, that's just what they did.

With a gently disapproving nod, Steve told his staff to move the floor.  One of them suggested we just try to slide the 27' X 27' dance floor into the other room.  "Why not?" I agreed.  So the guys working on the second dance floor and I got down on our hands and knees (thank goodness I decided to wear jeans yesterday) and on cue, pushed.  Then Trent Thompson, who was setting lights, hopped in to help.  On the first couple of tries we moved the floor about one foot.  Tom and Carol Gamm walked by and jumped in to help.  Other people in the room rolled up their sleeves and pushed.  It was an impromptu dance of its own right.  At one point we realized that all the strong Convention Center guys were at one end and the weaker of us were at the other.  Someone shouted, "switch!" so I switched places with someone and Carol switched places with someone else.  It was seamless.  After a few heaves, we moved that dance floor 30 feet.  One of the Convention Center guys said it would have taken at least 40 minutes to rebuild the floor.  We scooted the floor in less than ten.

The Silver and Gold Rooms saw at least 400 people two-stepping across that dance floor, but only a few of us boogied the dance floor across the room just a couple hours before.

Why The Gathering?

Hi, my name is Kathi and I'm the program assistant and volunteer coordinator for the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering.  Every year you hear people ask and tell why they like to come to the Gathering.  I thought I would explain why I enjoy being part of this great event, too. I am fortunate enough to live and work on my family's ranch here in Elko Co.  Sometimes in the dust, dirt, snow and mud; the way too hot and the way too cold of ranch life it's easy to forget how fortunate I am.

That's what makes the Gathering special to me...every year when I sit in on a show, I'm reminded of how much I love branding calves, working cows and, yes, even putting up hay.  It's like a wake up call saying, "Yeah, life out here can be mean and hard when you're trying to work pairs and the wind is blowing a hundred miles an hour, but there are a lot of worse places you could be."

That's why I come to the Gathering.  Yes, there are friends and good times to be had, but there's also folks who understand how great it is to get up at 1am to check heifers in March or how fun it is to drag calves to the branding fire.  I guess to make a short story long, these performers put the romance back into a lifestyle that doesn't always seem so romantic.

Friday Night Dance, Roses, and Alligators!

One of the “the projects are done!” projects that Tamara (Gathering manager) gave me to work on was the schedule of events for the 26th Gathering.  The line item word processor document would be given to the Elko Daily Free Press for their articles. 

Line item document- picture cutting up your schedule and placing each show and event, line by line, into a document.

Also using that same document, Tamara had me make separate lists for each room at the convention center, the auditorium, the G Three Bar Theater, the school sites, and the WFC gallery and bar for each day of the gathering.  Those lists would be used to make the large foam board and paper schedule signs that you have read outside of doors at the different venues this week.  The first project was completed during the first or second week of January and the second one was completed over a week ago, but every time I would work with the Saturday schedule, I had the same feeling come over me- “Oh… its over.”   It is the same feeling I get on the last Saturday of each Gathering. 

 One way to explain the feeling would be lots of rain during the Gathering, then drought during the other 51 weeks of the year.  That is as close in words as I can get to explaining it now.

I had the same thing happen when I was in Nashville.  It took a few weeks for me to realize that when I woke up the next morning, Nashville would still be there, 52 weeks a year.  It was in Music City that I realized what would be “over” during the Gathering for me.  The writers and players went home, away from here.  I love being around writers and musicians.  My writing improves because I am around them, by learning from them, almost by osmosis.  Writers understand each other in ways that other people don’t.  And I will write to be around them.  I have written more this week than I have in a very long time.

 Thank you, Dan Gudgel, for your Gathering blog posts; mine are better because of yours.

But, still …today is Saturday... that Saturday of the year... when it is over.

Friday Night Dance

I was right in my blog post yesterday; the people at the Friday Night Dance needed to take a nap before going.  I made it until 12:15 AM and all I did was spend the night listening to the music and practicing my waltz steps and the Zydeco two-step in the back. 

 Hum.… It seems Zydeco is not in this word processing program’s dictionary!  Maybe the programmers have never heard Geno Delafose and French Rockin’ Boogie play!

During the dance, I saw Tamara Kubacki and Dan Gudgel boppin’ and rockin’ to the Zydeco beat!  The staff works so hard all year to prepare for this week that it is good to see them out enjoying some of it, too.  I also saw many of the artists dancing and visiting.  It was great to see them partaking in some of the fun!

 There are two more dances tonight- the Saturday Night Dance with Wylie and the Wild West at the convention center starting at 9:30 PMand then the Midnight Dance with Corb Lund and The Hurtin’ Albertans in the G Three Bar Theater from Midnight to 2 AM.

Last night, the music and dancing was contagious and crazy.  I had the fun opportunity of showing Meg Glaser the Zydeco two-step dance that Geno taught the elementary students last week.  The dance floors were crowded with people!  I am still trying to figure out how the people in the front part of the room who were sitting in chairs didn’t get knocked over by the people on the dance floor.  Geno, Demetric, Kent, Popp, Germaine, and Dale Patrick were safe up on stage.  That might have been the safest place to be last night! 

At 12:15 AM, I decided that some rest would be a really good thing since I had an early start the next morning.  I went to my car, scraped my windshield, and headed home.  I didn’t want to get up this morning, but I did.  I can get dressed fast when I need to.  And I walked here.  It was faster than scraping my windshield again and warming the car.   

Alligators

What would a blog post from me be like without mentioning alligators?!  Kathi Wines said I might be visited by Iris Wall.  I told Kathi that was good because I needed to talk with Miss Iris about alligators.  Also, I may need to find some of the other Cracker cowhunters to talk about the animal, so if you see one, leave a comment telling me where the sighting occurred.  I better hurry up and make some peace with alligators, the Gathering ends tonight. 

Miss Wall walked in here.  I told her that I am familiar with fish being in ponds, not alligators.  How big, I asked?  She said 10 to 12 feet for alligators would be normal.   Normal.   She invited me to visit her sometime.  It might just take seeing one in person for me to make peace with an alligator. 

After Miss Iris left, I needed to find someone downstairs, so I headed to the gallery.  I didn't find the person I needed, but I did find Buddy Mills who is the Cracker whip maker that you might have talked with this week.  I asked him and he grabbed his whip.  Then, he cracked... his whip... in the gallery... twice!... for me!  The whip sounded like, but was a lot louder than, a cap gun.  If you asked me today, I'd probably say yes, that I believe that the word Cracker comes from the sound of the Cracker whip and relates to how the Cracker cowhunters use their whips to communicate over long distances and through cyprus groves and pine islands.  Mr. Buddy also told me the differences between a bull whip and a Cracker whip.  One difference is that there is more play at the handle of a Cracker whip. 

Miss Iris said 10-12 feet long was a normal length for a gator.  Mr. Buddy added they could be as long 12 to 14 feet.  That is almost three of me lined up head to foot!  He used the display case with the nylon rope in it in the WFC gallery to show me how big a gator's head can be.  Let's just say gigantic!  I also learned from Mr. Buddy that it is possible to keep a gator's mouth shut with just my pointer finger and thumb.  No kidding!  (No, I won't be trying that soon, but if I ever need to, thanks to Mr. Buddy, I'll have it in mind.)  When gators are moved, a person only needs to wrap black electrical tape around the gator's mouth.  That's it!  They don't have strong muscles to open them.  Mr. Buddy also told me about how, if a rider gets too close to a gator, the alligator will start rolling toward the horse and rider and try to roll up the horse! 

Miss Cynthia was just here.  She told me about how the alligators will just walk around, anywhere.  Cleo Hanson joined in the conversation and agreed with Miss Cynthia.  How does a person get used to that?!

I am still confused about what a hammock is , so I need to search out Mr. Doyle Rigdon to ask that follow-up question to yesterday's panel discussion.  And I'll also let him know that Florida now means more to me than Mickey Mouse, gators, and hurricanes.  Yes, there are (very friendly, engaging, down-to-earth) cowboys and cowgirls in Florida.  I've met enough this week to know that.

 Side Note

One dozen long stem red roses were sitting on my desk for most of this morning.  No, not for me, but I did get to enjoy them until the owner found them.  Happy Anniversary, Lucy!  

What a way to send off our Florida guests and all of you- It is snowing in Elko!   I offer thoughts of safe travel for all who are leaving Elko today, tomorrow, and next week.

See you next year for the 27th National Cowboy Poetry Gathering.

 Rabbitbrush Marie      

Food, Alligators, and G Three Bar Jam Sessions!

In his blog about the Gathering, Dan Gudgel talks about how hard it is to sleep during the Gathering.  My trouble is eating enough food. 

Yesterday, I had a great breakfast while the artists were meeting- scrambled eggs with cheese, O’Brien potatoes, a biscuit, and some sort of strawberry pastry that had cottage cheese (I think) in it.  Yum!  My eating for the day started good, but then ....

 For the past four Gatherings, I have helped out at the Thursday morning meeting and I love it.  It is a great way to see the Gathering performers together in one room, visiting and getting acquainted.  It is not about performing on Thursday morning.  It is about people being people.   

Over the past five weeks, I’ve been making participant packets, name badges, working on a few of the schedules, making phone cards, and working on other projects that had deadlines prior to this week.  The work had to get done, so eating (and shopping for food) over the past week has been crazy. 

Today is a different day.  The projects are done.  All of you (poets, musicians, workshop people, panelist, filmmakers, stage crews, audience members, etc.) have taken over.  I actually had the day off from my two jobs, so I didn't set my alarm last night and I slept in until 10:30 AM this morning.  Then I went to the Are there Cowboys in Florida? discussion and learned more about Cracker cowhunters, and for lunch I had a jack cheese/green chili/red onion quesadilla with a two bean salad on the side and I drank a pomegranate and blueberry juice drink.  As I said at the beginning of this paragraph, the projects are done (and my eating reflects that).  

Yes, there are cowboys in Florida, but I’m still having trouble visualizing ¼ of a mile of open land between swamps and trees.  Oh, that would be like putting swamps and trees around my parent's 40 acre ranch ...  I get it now.  I wonder what our Florida guests thought about the open space of the Nevada desert when they went on their ranch tour this past Wednesday? 

I also learned this morning that calling a Cracker cowhunter a cowboy is a more modern way to describe them.  Also, (I learned lots!), they talked about five foot long alligators.  Hum, I'm 5' 8"....  I'm not sure about those odds!  And, if you want a great description of what it means to be a Cracker, ask Iris Wall. 

During the discussion, Iris Wall told all of us how to catch an alligator, not that I plan on doing that real soon, but who knows!  It involved my toes (I pictured them bare when she explained it, but I'm thinking steel toe boots would be a better idea) in the water with a submerged  gator.  Picturing me in the water with an alligator is shocking enough... putting my toes near him...!  I need to work on this alligator thing some more. 

G Three Bar Jam Sessions

So what else have I seen during my “the projects are done!” time?  The Thursday Night Jam Session in the G Three Bar here at the Western Folklife Center (WFC) was hopping.  Charlie Seemann (WFC Executive Director) was playing guitar in the middle of the musicians’ circle.  Standing and sitting around him were Stephanie Davis, Danny Wheetman, Miss V The Gypsy Cowbelle, Richard Chon, and a bunch of other players whose names I don’t know, but whose music I enjoyed.  There were 6 fiddles, 3 guitars, 2 banjos, a piano player, and I did my best to add percussion with my improvised drum.  Christina Barr and Craig Miller were dancing elegantly just outside of the fireplace nook.  I think they were dancing a waltz, but I didn’t start counting (1,2,3  4,5,6) to figure it out.  Part of the time I practiced my waltz stepping behind the piano while the music played. 

I've practiced my waltz steps since before Christmas and I'm getting to where I don't have to count.  Of course, my counting might come back (quickly) if I get the chance to add a dance partner to the mix.

In addition to playing in the circle or listening to the music, the G Three Bar is a great place to just visit with people.  While standing outside of the circle last night, I had seperate conversations with Geno Delafose and Demetric Thomas about a local school assembly they performed at this week.  I had heard that they got the students and teachers dancing while they played!  (See Devon's post Kid Rockin' Boogie for pictures and the details!)

I hope the people who are going to the Friday Night Dance took a nap sometime today.  They’re going to need the extra energy to keep up with Geno and French Rockin' Boogie!   

Every night the jam sessions are different.  One never knows who will show up.  No matter what, there is music being played and conversations waiting to be started.  Tonight and tomorrow night the G Three Bar Jam Sessions start at 10:00 PM.  If you’re looking for something to do, come join the fun.  And Saturday night, stay for Corb Lund and The Hurtin’ Albertans who are playing the Midnight to 2 AM dance in the G Three Theater.  That will be a late night!

I'm off to see what is happening at the convention center. 

My projects are done and it is Friday night!!!!!

Rabbitbrush Marie

Kid Rockin' Boogie

This year, as the de facto education sort-of coordinator guy, it was my job to call up a handful of artists and ask them how they’d feel about us tossing them in front of several hundred rambunctious school kids and telling them to be entertaining.  And, as with every year we did find a brave handful willing – and even excited – to go along with it.   So on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday the vans rolled out delivering various combinations of Diane Tribitt, Dave Stamey, Janice Gilbertson, Mike Beck, Dave Bourne, Jerry Brooks, Florida poet Doyle Rigdon and Louisiana zydeco masters Geno Delafose and French Rockin’ Boogie to serve up some kid-sized cowboy poetry and music around Elko, Wells, Carlin and even Eureka.  Twice on Wednesday, for the Cowkids Stampede, we packed 900 local kids into the Convention Center auditorium to see Riders In The Sky.  And today Corb Lund performed and talked music with the band and choral students at Elko High School.

Kid Rockin' Boogie 1 (with Geno Delafose & French Rockin' Boogie)

On Tuesday I got a break from intern duty and snuck over to Elko Grammar School #2 to check out some of the fun.  I pulled up, parked, followed the sounds of accordion and rubboard into the gym and caught Geno and the guys rockin’, and our Zydeco Dance Workshop instructors boogyin’, before a bunch of grade-schoolers, seated cross-legged on the floor.   

 But the real fun started when Geno took questions.  Things like “Are you famous?” and “Have you ever played music in Missouri?” and the two-parter “Do you have your own CD? ‘Cause I wanna buy it.”  

Kid Rockin' Boogie 2

Then one boy stood up and asked, “So why didn’t you teach US how to dance?” Some kids laughed, and some teachers frowned in the boy’s general direction.  Geno paused.  He glanced at his band, turned back to the mic and said, “Tell you what I’m gonna do.  Everybody stand up.  I want you to take two steps to the left, now two steps to the right.  Good.  That’s the two-step.  Alright, let’s go!”

With that, upper-octave cheers filled the room, and the gymful of kids made that simplified two-step last almost all the way through “Move It On Over” before the whole room erupted into an all-out freestyle dance-party.  During the next few songs the chaos included conga lines, spinning kid circles, a mohawked would-be breakdancer, and just about every student – and more than a few teachers – flailing their limbs about, running around, pitching their cowboy hats in the air and expending their post-lunch sugar high to the lively sounds of zydeco right here in Elko. 

Kid Rockin' Boogie 4

Kid Rockin' Boogie 3

.   

Overall, I thought it was an appropriate answer to a fair question.   

Seeing all this, I realized I still remember the assemblies I saw as a kid, and these kids probably will remember this one for a long time.  It’s an important side of the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, and one most folks never see.  I’m glad that on Tuesday afternoon, thanks to my job, I got to.   

 I just wish I’d arrived in time to hear Diane Tribitt’s response to the question “What’s manure?”   

-- Devon the Intern

The Gathering Press Corps

Lora Minter and Darcy Minter

Each year thousands of diverse people descend on Elko for the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering. Amongst the talented performers, the excited audience members and the frantic volunteers are a chosen few members of the nation’s and the world’s press corps -- all in town to capture the unique stories that are part of this annual event.  Hidden away in an upstairs room at the Convention Center -- pseudo-sister’s Darcy and Lora Minter (no we’re not related -- just one of those weird coincidences) -- work with newspaper and magazine journalists, film makers, radio show hosts, television crews and photographers who come to town in search of hidden insights into cowboy poets and musicians.

Our job is to overview for reporters all the opportunities the Gathering brings for education, entertainment and collaboration. We arrange interviews, provide background information, guide reporters to unique stories and solve a lot of problems behind the scenes. That job takes us to some interesting places. We might huddle on top of the Western Folklife Center in the snow while a photographer aims a long lens off the roof. We might track down a sound man for an odd metal fitting to connect a National Public Radio reporter into a sound board. We might carry a camera for a NBC crew. The job is varied, sometimes stressful and ALWAYS interesting! Along the way we encounter some great people who are deeply interested in learning about Western life and who wonder about the future of the culture in a rapidly changing, modern world.

Often the working journalists that hail from big cities arrive with preconceptions about small town citizens and rural inconveniences. The majority leave at the end of a hectic several days, amazed at what they have heard and seen, exhausted from way-too-late nights and many early mornings, and more knowledgeable of a lifestyle they’ve come to respect. Almost always they remark on how friendly everyone was. The Gathering provides an opportunity to educate the world about cowboy culture, the West, and a little town called Elko -- all through the stories these working professionals release out into the wide world. We’re happy to be a small part of spreading the word. We couldn’t do it without our media guests who come to learn -- or the wonderful local newspaper, television and radio reporters who share their stories with all of us.

Darcy Minter and Lora Minter (from the press office)

Cracker Cowboy Questions (Now that's alliteration!) and Exhibit Opening

Photo by Jessica Brandi Lifland

This afternoon inside the Western Folklife Center in the Wiegand Gallery, a gallery opening will be held for the Florida Cattle Ranching: Five Generations of Tradition exhibit.  If you are a Western Folklife Center member or a stakeholder, the opening begins at 3:30 PM.  The general public is invited to attend the opening at 4:15 PM. 

 If you attend the gallery opening or if see the Cracker cowboys and our Florida guests walking around town this week, here are some questions that you might consider asking them.

• Seriously, how big are the alligators?

• Is the word Cracker from the word Quaker or is it from the sound the Cracker whip makes?

• Have you ever been bitten by an alligator?

• How do the cattle behave when there is a hurricane? What do you do?

• What does swamp cabbage taste like? To get the cabbage, do you have to get into the swamp… with the alligators?

• Do you bale hay in Florida or do you have lots of permanent pasture and lots of water? Can you use swamp water for irrigation?

• The Cracker cow, what breed is it and how is it related to the Texas Longhorn?

• What does alligator taste like? Chicken?

• How is a Cracker whip different from a bull whip?

• Is it true that the Florida State University Seminoles were almost called the Florida State University Crackers?

• Are you enjoying your time here in Elko? You know, we don’t have alligators or hurricanes here, but you might want to watch out for badgers and wait five minutes for the weather to change.

 If you have the opportunity, please be sure to welcome all of our Florida guests.  I’ve personally met most, if not all of them.  They are all very kind and very friendly.

Rabbitbrush Marie

P.S.  Yep, I"m thinking about those alligators!  Maybe by the end of this week, with the help of our Floirda guests, Florida will mean more to me than Mickey Mouse, alligators, and hurricanes.  :--)

The Artists Have Arrived

The artists have arrived.  Well, most of the artists have arrived.  Weather is often not our friend the week of the Gathering.  Right now, Elko is beautiful--clear skies, a dusting of snow on the lawns, dry streets and warm temperatures.  But it's been snowing in North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Utah, Colorado and just about every other place where the artists are traveling from.  DW Groethe decided to fly in to Elko since the roads out to Rodney Nelson's place (where they were meeting so neither would have to drive the 1,200 miles to Elko alone) were all closed.  Rodney wasn't sure he'd get out because the power kept going out. Elizabeth Ebert decided the trek was too risky through storms and snow to make the journey. There have been other troubles getting the artists here, too.  Some of Corb Lund's band, The Hurtin' Albertans, had their flights rerouted.  We were missing Corb's drummer for a while, but he showed up just in time to catch the shuttle from Salt Lake City to Elko.  Dennis Gaines was almost left in Salt Lake because I forgot to tell him how to get from SLC to Elko (thanks to Chris Simon for picking him up).  Nick Spitzer had some flight delays, but Andy Wilkinson and Andy Hedges were kind enough to squeeze him into their car.  They left Salt Lake City just before midnight, arrived in Elko early in the morning, then Andy and Andy had a show at 9:30 am.  Troopers, all of them.

Rodney Nelson and Chris Simon by Sue Rosoff

Thank goodness we work with the artists we do.  Rodney called me every couple of hours to update his status.  He drove from North Dakota last night, with only three hours of sleep (in the car, no less), just so he wouldn't miss his first show, "Punny Poets."  Yvonne Hollenbeck, Andy Nelson and Pat Richardson had found someone (rather, something) to fill in for Rodney if he didn't make it.  Lucky for Rodney, he didn't have to be represented by a very accurate drawing Pat Richardson sketched and then placed atop a toilet plunger.  Lucky for me, everyone who performs at the Gathering looks out for each other. and they do it with good humor.

Almost everyone is here and it's like being home again.

-Tamara

Video Artistry in Elko

Taki_CU

This is a special invitation for you to come and experience one of the most unusual programs at the Cowboy Poetry Gathering…the 2010 Deep West Videos.  These are short videos and slide shows made by ranchers and other folks living in America’s outback.  These shows have heart, they have humor, and they have spirit.  They give the rest of us a window into the personal lives of folks living in the most remote corners of the West. As WFC’s Media Producer, I’ve been involved in this program since it began 10 years ago, and some 58 films have been produced since then.  What was originally a one-year project to encourage ranchers in the Elko area to tell their stories is now attracting videomakers from half a dozen states.  And Deep West Videos have come to represent many facets of life in the rural West…not just on the ranch.   It’s been interesting for me to see how this program has evolved over the years.  The original group from Elko county were all ranching women.  I think the men were afraid of computers.  After a few years though, the guys began to trickle into the program, giving it a different flavor. Then we started hearing from ranching folks outside Nevada.  Most recently, the program has evolved to include people who live in rural places, but not necessarily as ranchers.  The program is attracting younger folks, such as Kristin Windbigler and Kier Atherton…people with one foot planted in the traditions of the rural West…and the other walking in the 21st century, iPods in hand.  Their films show us how they artfully combine the old and the new in their day-to-day lives…creating a new West.

My hope for you is two-fold.  First…that you’ll come see this year’s films, and spread the word to those you know.  They’re screening at the Convention Center in the Turquoise Room on Thursday and Friday at 11AM.  They’ll also be on our website and on WFC’s YouTube page…plus they’re available on DVD.  Second…that you’ll pitch us a story for next year.  Contact me or my media colleague Hal Cannon (1).We want Deep West Videos to reflect rural living in the West in all its variety.

Taki Telonidis

(1) Editor's note: Please send emails about Deep West Videos to wfc@westernfolklife.org.

New Hats in Elko

Hi, I’m Devon the intern. I’m not from around here.  You might not guess it from my Taft-esque moustache and brass Wild Turkey belt buckle, but if you ask me, sure, I’ll admit it: I’m from California. San Francisco even. I’m no gold miner, buckaroo or anything close to a cowboy poet. But I am a fan of interesting slices of American culture and a pretty adaptable dude. Maybe that’s why I finished college, packed up and moved to Elko, Nevada for an AmeriCorps internship with the Western Folklife Center.

I’ve only been here since August, and I’ve never even been to a Gathering, but – from the WFC to the NCPG, the poetry to the music, my coworkers to the townsfolk, and the nearby ghost towns to the all-night local karaoke dives – this place has made me into something of an Elkoholic.

I’m here thanks to the gov’ment. When the economy went south, Nevada’s Great Basin Institute harnessed some AmeriCorps coin, teamed up with the WFC and rescued me from a post-graduate life of Segway tour guiding and Awful-Awful gobbling in Reno.

Dudein' It Up

Since arriving, I’ve tried on quite a few new hats. Working mostly alongside Meg and Tamara on our programming, I’ve had tasks as diverse as working on contracts and grants, organizing an Energy Symposium, selecting photos for the NCPG program book and packing saddles (well, to be shipped).  Whatever needs to be done, really.

It’s been nice acquiring new real-jobbish-type skills, as well as being around people who like to work good, long and hard every day of the week. Consequently, it’s also been nice having a bar downstairs.

Best of all so far, though, has been all the great people I’ve met here. Or at least talked to on the phone. With many of the artists, I expect no shortage of shaking hands and hearing “Ohhh! So YOU’RE that guy!” And now, after reading this, I guess you can do that, too.

For the Gathering, when it comes to education, I’m your man. If you’ve received an email about a workshop you’re attending, probably one with – to Tamara’s chagrin – a handful of exclamation points and lame jokes, it probably had my name at the bottom. And if you’re a local student yodeling with Riders in the Sky at the Cowkids Stampede or discussing songwriting with Corb Lund in your school’s band room next week, I’ll be the scrawny moustachioed dude running around making sure everything works.

In fact, I’ll probably be that dude all over town this Gathering. So if you see me, feel free to flag me down and remind me that I’m the intern and make me do something for you. Or to say hello and sneak me a quick nip of Wild Turkey. You know, whatever you prefer.

Either way, I’ll see you at the Gathering – my first, as I already can tell, of many.

-- Devon Blunden, The Intern aka Programs Assistant aka AmeriCorps/GBI Volunteer

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.).

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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.