Kraisingers to Recount Tales of the Old West Trails
2 – Buffalo Commons Festival Guide
Popular authors and historians Gary and Margaret Kraisinger will entertain Buffalo Commons crowds with stories of the famous Texas Cattle Trail that moved millions of longhorns from South Texas right through Southwest Nebraska and on north to Canada. Right after the Civil War, Texas cattlemen drove cattle north to feed the developing country and to stock the vast new ranches. In 12 seasons the trail carried over six million longhorns. It became known, for the most part, as the “Western”: The Greatest Texas Cattle Trail. Gary and Margaret research, discuss, and map the Texas cattle trails like many do their family genealogy. "It is an on-going endeavor and passion which seems to have no end," Margaret says. The Halstead, Kansas couple will relate accounts from people who were there – based on the memories of homesteaders and cowboys. Together they wrote “The Western: The Greatest Texas Cattle Trail 18741886.” Research began in the 1960s when Gary and Margaret lived near the site of the trail in Lane County, Kansas. The work was finally printed in 2004.
June 10-11, 2011
In October of 2010, they published a series of wall maps showing the four major cattle trail systems coming out of Texas from 1846 to 1897. Currently they are preparing to publish Volume II of “The Western,” which will be a companion to their first book. Even though the two concentrate on the Western Trail, they have studied the Shawnee, the Goodnight-Loving, and the Eastern/Chisholm trails, which prompted the series of maps. Gary is the cartographer and field researcher, and Margaret does the writing and book layout. In addition to their careers as historians, authors and storytellers, Margaret owns and operates The Old Hardware Store (built in 1878) in Halstead, and Gary spends time with various projects at home and at the farm. Among the couple’s other passions are the Nickel Railroad, Historic Preservation, the "Kansas Originals" market, and their Czech heritage. They are authors of “Our Family Czech Cookbook,” which contains recipes handed down through the Kraisinger family. Married for 47 years, they have three grown children and eight grandchildren.
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Historians and authors of "The Western: The Greatest Texas Cattle Trail 1874-1886," Margaret and Gary Kraisinger of Halstead, Kansas, will bring exciting tales of cowboys, cattle, saloons and watering holes to the Buffalo Commons Storytelling Festival.
For those who enjoy learning about the true Old West and the industry that introduced one of our country’s most beloved icons, the American cowboy, you will not want to miss hearing the
Kraisingers. They will be featured on Friday’s "Wild West Bus Tour” and Saturday’s “Tales and Trails” stories at the High Plains Museum.
Cowboy Poet to Head Up Some Home Grown Humor
Ride along with Nebraska Rancher, Humorist and Cowboy Poet R.P. Smith as he shakes off a little dust from the Pine Crest Ranch and heads down the entertainment trail at the 15th annual Buffalo Commons Storytelling Festival. He will keep things lively on the “Wild West Bus Tour” Friday morning, leaving McCook Community College at 10:00 a.m., and will be back in town in time to dazzle the audience during the Chuckwagon Jamboree at the Keystone Business Center Friday evening. On Saturday, R.P. will be inspiring faith through his experiences and poetry at the Methodist church on Saturday morning and kicking up his heels on stage at the Fox Saturday evening. R.P. is the fourth generation to raise cattle on the Pinecrest
Ranch in Custer County. While the ranch celebrated its centennial in 2006, R.P. says that it still isn’t a real big place, he just comes from a long line of stubborn and persistent people. For over a dozen years now, R.P. has been supplementing his ranching habit by entertaining folks throughout the country. He has performed hundreds of times, sharing the stage with some of the top names in Western and Country Western entertainment. His talents as a performer have taken him to 16 states and Canada and have earned him a featured performer slot at some of the biggest Cowboy Poetry confabs, including trips to the National Cowboy Poetry gathering in Elko, Nevada. R.P. is always glad to get back home, however, and wait for the next inspiration to come.
When he is stricken with a new idea he tries it out on his wife Beth, the dogs and replacement heifers, and when he wants a really tough audience, his six children. R.P.'s material is inspired by his family and what's going on at the ranch, giving his work an authenticity and down-to-earth quality that strikes a familiar chord with audiences, regardless of their occupation. He has found that humor and a firm faith that God is in control are mighty important tools to have when life takes an unexpected turn. One of those unexpected turns was an opportunity to host “Home Grown,” a weekly radio program that he puts together on the ranch, featuring his own commentary and poetry along with guest performers who were willing to swap CDs.
“Home Grown” is aired Sunday mornings on several Nebraska stations. "’Home Grown’ gives me a chance to run by some of my newest efforts and an opportunity to share the poetic and musical talents of some of the folks I have worked with,” R.P. says. “It is great stuff, and not something you will hear anywhere else." The commentary and poetry that R.P. shares are a by-product of the beef industry, and as he says, “have been processed by reciting for ruminates, relatives, and ranchers.” R.P. has written one book, “A Ride Through Rhyme and other cowboy poems,” and produced three CDs, “It's Only FAIR,” “Stage Of Life,” and “Early Riser.” It’s hard to step off of a fast moving horse so he is just trying
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Cowboy poet R.P. Smith will touch your heart and your funny bone at festival events.
to keep a deep seat and enjoy the ride. Judging from the opportunities that he is given to perform, generated almost entirely by word of mouth, it is obvious that many folks are getting a kick out of riding along. Don’t miss a single opportunity to hoist yourself up into the saddle.
Awele Makeba – Teller of All Tales Buffalo Commons Festival Guide
Everybody has a story, but no one can tell a story like Awele Makeba. With unbelievable skill, Awele uses her theatrical training in voice and dance to transport her audiences to warm, often funny settings populated by nosy possums, wily snakes and wise fathers. She also captures historic moments and brings them to life before your very eyes. Delighting audiences at the Buffalo Commons Storytelling Festival in 2000 and 2001, the award winning and internationally known storyteller, recording artist, actress and educator is returning to McCook. “Awele paints pictures with words, breathes life into characters, teaches, and inspires through the power of story-personal tales, history, folklore and children’s literature,” one reviewer writes. For the past decade she has mesmerized audiences around the world including the
Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria; the Suriname and Costa Rican rainforest; and Tsinchu Teacher’s College in Taiwan. As a 2011 Buffalo Commons headliner, Awele will relate a special tale of the Old West Friday night at the Chuckwagon Jamboree and will be the featured teller at the “Happy Tales to You” show at the Historic Fox Theatre Saturday night. Awele will demonstrate storytelling skills at a special workshop on Friday, 1:30 p.m. at the McCook Public Library. Children will have the thrill of experiencing Awele’s stories up close and personal, while teachers, librarians and parents can enjoy and learn from Awele’s unique style and incredible talent. “This is one of those oncein-a-lifetime opportunities that no one should miss,” Festival committee member Linda Crandall said. “Awele is the single most captivating storyteller
I’ve ever heard. You never forget her.” Awele will also be at the High Plains Museum Saturday morning at 10 to share her skills as a “Teller of all Tales,” and at the Norris Park Kids Fest in the afternoon at 2:30. She may even be persuaded to join in the Ghost Stories at the Bieroc Café after the Chuckwagon Jamboree. Awele has made it her life’s work to tell history through the words of its oftforgotten witnesses. She has written two one-woman shows, Rage Is Not A OneDay Thing! and I’m Not Getting Up Until Jim Crow Gets Off, in which Awele tells the story of the 1955-56 Montgomery bus boycott through the eyes of four women, Claudette Colvin, Mary Louise Smith, Rosa Parks and JoAnn Robinson. Her award winning CDs include Tell That Tale Again, Trailblazers: African Americans in
June 10-11, 2011 – 3
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Recipient of the 2001 Buffalo Commons Master Storyteller Award in 2001, Awele Makeba returns to the festival with captivating stories for all ages.
the California Gold Rush, This Land Is Your Land (Music for Little People) and The Undiscovered Explorer: Imagining York.
Film credits include Supervisor Ella Hill Hutch in the Oscar award winning film, MILK directed by Gus Van Sant and starring Sean Penn.
Chuckwagon Jamboree All Fired Up and Fixin’ for Fun
It’s time for all you range riders to get yer duds on and get ready to cut a swell at the first ever Buffalo Commons Chuckwagon Jamboree. Just dally up yer horse in front of the ol’ Keystone Hotel and get ready for an evenin’ chock-full a eatin’, jawin’, toe tappin’ and dancin’. And you can cool yer heels ‘cause it’s downright dog cheap. Ol’ Matt Sehnert, one of McCook’s favorite cookies, will be servin’ up some mighty good grub at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, June 10. It’s a full out barbecue that’ll fill yer plate and tickle yer taste buds. If you want to settle the dust in yer craw ahead of time, the cash saloon will open up for all thirsty wranglers at 6:00. You can sit a spell and eat with yer fingers cause the food is clean, but don’t jaw too long ‘cause food left on the plate is an insult to the cook. The world famous Diamond W Wranglers are a itchin’ to take up their fiddles and git to playin’ for you , so don’t be dawdlin’ too long. Them cowpokes know how to conger up some good trail songs and harmonize you right into blissful listenin’ and then catch you laughin’ ‘til yer
ears start fallin’ off. If yer wantin’ to waltz yer filly around a bit you can do that, too., but before you git all lassooed together, you git to hear how that rip roarin’ R.P. Smith makes them thar cows on his ranch bellar in rhyme, and a cowboy cuss without sayin’ a single dirty word. You’ll won’t believe how he can recite them poems he writes. And then yer gonna hear one of the sweetest voices in all the West, when Awele Makeba gits to tellin’ an ol’ trail story. She’s finer than a frog hair split in half when she gits to talkin’ ‘bout cowpokes pushin’ dogies. You don’t wanna be the last cowpoke in line fer victuals and miss out on Awele. Now, git to movin’. That grand ol’ hotel can’t hold the whole town, so tickets aren’t just flyin’ in the wind. You gotta nab em quick from that Chamber of Commerce, Hershbergers’ Music Store, McCook National Bank or Sehnert’s Bake Store. The whole evenin’s fixins are dog cheap – 30 bucks. But to let you in on a little secret, if you register for dancin’ lessons with that college place, you can git
the lessons and the Jamboree for $29! Now, don’t be no tenderfoot. Take off yer spurs and git to learnin’ to waltz, twostep, swing and how to wiggle in them thar lines, so you can kick up yer heels when the Wranglers get fired up. And you gotta know that after the Jamboree, the ghosts are gonna be a howlin’ at the Bieroc. You won’t want to miss what they got t0 say. That’s not only dog cheap, it’s free, but more fun than a million smackers. The Jamboree is guaranteed to be the best thing you’ve done in a coon’s age, but if you’ve been ambushed to head down the trail another direction, you might consider gittin’ to the Fox Theatre at 7:30 on Saturday night. That show, “Happy Tales to You,” won’t be just a flash in the pan either. You git to hear the Wranglers, R.P. and Awele, too. Most area homesteaders and cowpokes will wanna do both ‘cause you won’t hear the same stories, poems or songs at both shindigs. For $10, or less if yer a youngin, you can amble into the Fox, put yer back pockets in a red velvet seat, and enjoy the finest talent in all the West.
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Lookinʼ fer a fun feast? Head ʻem up and move ʻem out to the first-ever Buffalo Commons Chuckwagon Jamboree, startinʼ at 6:30 p.m., Friday, June 10 at the Keystone.
Fer more information, you can git on one of those gall dang computers and go to the Buffalo Commons website. And don’t forget ‘bout those dance lessons. Yer schoolmarm Robin Marks and her cohort Dave Black from Holdrege will sure ‘nough count you absent.
Local Stories Preserve Most Important Treasures 4 – Buffalo Commons Festival Guide
“Head ‘em up! Move ‘em out! Rawhide.” After the Civil War the cowboys drove cattle from Texas to the Union Pacific railroad tracks in Ogallala during one of the most colorful sagas of the Wild West. Cattle towns like Culbertson and Imperial thrived. This year on June 10 and 11 the Buffalo Commons Storytelling Festival will celebrate those stories. The Wild West Bus ride will travel to the trail ruts and historic cattle trail sites in Wauneta and Imperial. Jack and Carol Maddux will tell the cattle stories of the day. Jack is a third generation rancher, storyteller’s storyteller and local historian. Rancher Jim Applegate of Sutherland and Gary and Margaret Kraisinger of Halstead, Kansas will join them.
June 10-11, 2011
The Kraisingers wrote the book, “The Western, The Greatest Texas Cattle Trail, 1874-1886.” They tell the tales and true accounts about cowboys,
cattle, saloons, and watering holes on the trail north as related by cowboys and homesteaders – the stories that became today’s beef industry. On Saturday, June 11, 9:00 a.m., the community storytelling session at
the High Plains Museum in McCook will feature the Kraisingers, Applegate and local cattlemen and women – one of the descendants of Tom Wray, founder of Wray, Colorado, and early citizen of Culbertson has also been invited. “Community Stories” has always been the outstanding offering of the Buffalo Commons Storytelling Festival,” says Cloyd Clark, Co-Chair of the Festival. “I remember when Mary Ellen Goodenberger of Trenton, dressed in her work clothes, told the story of a lost calf. She demonstrated with an unborn calf skin, an old stoneware churn, and a butcher knife that had been worn by sharpening until there was hardly any blade left.” The
MCC to Host ‘Wild West’ Bus Tour
The 2011 Buffalo Commons Storytelling Festival will kick off with a “Wild West Bus Tour” Friday, June 10, leaving McCook Community College at 10:00 a.m. and returning at 3:00 p.m. Cost for the tour is $19. Those who sign up can ride the Texas Trail with Festival headliners the Kraisingers, R.P. Smith and the Diamond W Wranglers as the group tours the canyon lands of the Republican River and Frenchman and Stinking Water Creeks. Participants will be able to explore the history and culture of 19th Century Southwest Nebraska, the cattle drives, and the origins of the beef industry. Bus tourists will be able to recall the struggles of the pioneers, the friendships, the
tempestuous relationships pioneers had with the land, and encounters with Native Americans. Heading west, the bus will trace the historic cattle trails that meander through the rugged Southwest Nebraska hills. Margaret and Gary Kraisinger, Halstead, Kansas, historians and authors of “The Western: The Greatest Texas Cattle Trail 1874-1886,” will share tales of conflicts between the drovers and homesteaders, Indian encounters and the lives of the tenacious cowboys who shepherded the thousands of cattle to market. Adding to the tales will be cattlemen and storytellers Jack Maddux, Wauneta, and Jim
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Applegate, Sutherland. Cowboy poet R.P. Smith, Broken Bow, will make sure the lighter side of tales and trails is not overlooked by adding some sidesplitting humor from his perspective. No Buffalo Commons event is complete without storytelling through music. The Diamond W Wranglers, from Wichita, Kansas, will entertain the travelers along the way. At 10:45 a.m. Central time the bus will stop at the Texas Trail site east of Wauneta, at 11:45 a.m. Central time the tour will arrive at the Texas Trail Stone Corral near Imperial, followed by lunch and a 2 p.m. presentation at the Wauneta Public Library. Total cost for the tour is $19,
knife was sharpened on the unglazed lip of the churn. That story taught Clark the value of colorful anecdotes in stories. Goodenberger has co-led the open mike sessions at the Bieroc Café with Walt Sehnert for many years. This year Mary Ellen and Walt will gather local storytellers again on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. “These stories are always entertaining,” Clark said. Everyone is urged to join in the stories at this year’s Festival. Tell a story, listen to a story, recount history, or enjoy a stretcher. Everyone is welcome. This year’s Festival is co-sponsored by the Nebraska Humanities Council, the Nebraska Arts Council, and the McCook Arts Council. The Festival motto is “Next to God and family, our stories are our most important treasure.”
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A “Wild West Bus Tour,” set to leave McCook at 10 a.m. on Friday, June 10, will open this yearʼs storytelling festival.
catered lunch included. Space is limited and pre-registration is required. When organizers offered a bus tour in conjunction with the storytelling festival in 2009, the
bus tour was sold out well in advance, so those interested are encouraged to register early. Call 308-345-8122 or visit register.CenterForEnterprise.com to register today. 602 West B Street McCook 308.345.1555
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Buffalo Commons Festival Guide
June 10-11, 2011 – 5
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Bringing inspiring harmonies, quirky humor and galloping guitar to the festival are Diamond W Wranglers Steve Crawford, Stu Stuart, Jim Farrell and Chip Worthington.
One of the finest Western Music groups in the country is headlining the 2011 Buffalo Commons Storytelling Festival. Our talented neighbors to the south have won fans all across the Midwest and taken their brand across the globe. This group makes music that every age enjoys. From the oldest ballads like"Streets of Laredo" to the thundering "Ghost Riders in the Sky,” the Diamond W Wranglers bring people to their feet with their inspiring harmonies, quirky humor, and galloping guitar. The Diamond W Wranglers will be on board the “Wild West Bus Tour” on Friday morning and will be the stars at the Chuckwagon Jamboree Friday evening. Festival audiences will also get to hear their amazing music at the High Plains Museum on Saturday morning and at the Historic Fox Theatre Saturday evening. The music they perform is a combination of traditional Western music that pays homage to Western greats like the Sons of the Pioneers and their own Western originals. The Wranglers love western movie themes, and turning modern country songs into haunting cowboy ballads. They can sing cowboy songs in Chinese, and even claim "doo wop" is a part of our Western heritage! Winners of the Will Rogers Award for 2008 Western Album of the Year from the Academy of Western Artists, the Wranglers have also been honored for their original music. "Trail Dust,” penned by group arranger Jim Farrell, topped the Western Music charts for weeks. “Rolling Kansas Plains,” “Montana Anna” and “Cabezon” have
become fan favorites. The Diamond W Wranglers bring back childhood memories for the older folks, and make new memories for the kids. Most of the year they make their musical home at the Old Cowtown Museum in Wichita, Kansas – an authentic Western town of the 1870s. There they operate the Diamond W Chuckwagon Supper, and entertain thousands of people a year. Hundreds of loyal Kansas fans have followed them from Carnegie Hall to the Great Wall of China, from Nashville and Branson to the Caribbean. Known as the Prairie Rose Wranglers from 1999-2007, the Wranglers were the first musicians from the western hemisphere to perform cowboy music in China, as well as the first musicians to have a concert ON the Great Wall of China. In 2003 and 2004, the Wranglers led a troupe of Western entertainers to Carnegie Hall in New York City, to sellout crowds. Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius appointed them “Official Musical Ambassadors for Kansas.” Since then they have headlined four Cowboy Cruises in the Caribbean, and performed in Nashville and in Branson, as well as making regular visits to venues around Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Colorado. In 2010, the Diamond W Wranglers were honored to represent Kansas and Oklahoma on an official tourism marketing mission to Germany. They entertained travel agents and journalists at a special event in Munich, and serenaded thousands of Europeans attending Americana 2010 in Augsburg. The Diamond W Wranglers are Stu Stuart, Jim Farrell, Steve Crawford and Chip Worthington.
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State Poet Blazed Trails and Spurred Eloquent Tales 6 – Buffalo Commons Festival Guide
By LINDA CRANDALL
It was one of those balmy days in early summer when life bursts into full bloom. The music swayed and do-si-doed around the old Norris Park band shell as Ruthie Ungar called, "Gather 'round!" Under the canopy of an old elm, an eclectic group drew together, dissolved out again and spun a circle like pieces of a kaleidoscope. My arm slid around my eight-year-old grandson’s shoulder. We giggled as we twirled and skipped to the next outstretched hand. While we danced, Jay’s old-time fiddle beckoned the harmonies of his family band and hand clapping from the crowd lazing in lawn chairs and on blankets spread over the grass. Norris Park has been the setting for making music and stirring memories since the inception of the Buffalo Commons Storytelling Festival in 1997; however, it was during this 2002 event I realized that storytelling was much more than children’s fairytales and a dance in the park. The night before, my children and grandchildren were beside me in a row of red velvet seats at the Historic Fox Theatre, the same seats in which baby boomers gazed at newsreels of Armistice Day and savored a first kiss to strains of "Love Me Tender." Nebraska State Poet Bill Kloefkorn was now bringing belly laughs running with his
Reflections...
June 10-11, 2011
famous shrill hog calls. As he recalled boyhood memories on his grandparents’ farm, I remembered catching piglets with my cousins and making beds for them in the loft of Granddad's barn. And when the poet raised one thick, white eyebrow and recalled, "Near the sink in the kitchen with its gaudy wallpaper, its curled linoleum, mother with a used bar of Lava stands ready to cleanse my mouth, . . . ," my memory takes me back to being five, near the kitchen sink in my family’s temporary one-room quarters at an old hotel in Arco, Idaho. I was certain my Swedish mother would love the stray black cat I longed to make a pet, if he were clean enough. I triumphantly plopped him into the big white sink and doused him with water and a dollop of lemony Richard Hudnut shampoo. He leapt from my hands, spreading suds and matted black hair across the oil clothed table to scratch and hiss on Mother’s one polished window. At that moment, I thought, maybe "cleanliness was not next to godliness." Kloefkorn's melodic deep voice transports us to the small-town cemetery where as a young man he had reluctantly driven his grandmother in his green Ford coupe. It was early March, and he recalled his German grandmother in her wide rosy-beige coat. "Just me and grandmother, Anna, rushing the season, placing a geranium above where grand-
1997... Guest Artists: Roger Welsch, John Stansfield, ʻCactusʼ Chris Buethe, Joel and Mary Rose Randall, Deb Carpenter Community Stories: “Tales of the Rails” John Hubert & Merrill Ream 1998... Guest Artists: Nancy Duncan, Michael Cotter, Andy Wilkinson, William Kloefkorn, ʻCactusʼ Chris Buethe Community Stories: “Flood Stories” Marlene Wilmot; “Family Stories” Mary Ellen Goodenberger; “Railroad Stories” John Hubert & Merrill Ream 1999... Guest Artists: Juli Burney, John Walker, ʻCactusʼ Chris Buethe. John Stansfield, Dr. Stan Bohadlo Community Stories: Hobe & Don Hays & Brent Cobb, “Baseball Stories”; Wayne Watkins, “Lakota Indian Stories”; John Hubert & Merrill Ream, “Once Upon a Train”; Mike Adams “Music in the Park” 2000... Guest Artists: Jay Ungar & Molly Mason, Awele Makeba, William Kloefkorn. Dr. Bob Manley Community Stories: Mary Ellen Goodenberger &
father already is, where grandmother is, she'll tell me later, about to be." I suddenly I find myself drifting to the country cemetery south of the Platte River near Elm Creek on the cold February day of my mother's funeral. Everyone has gathered in the church basement, but I see my son and daughter home from the Peace Corps standing in solitude with arms around each other watching the tractor push the dirt over my mother's grave. My daughter's long grey tweed coat billows in the wind while lacey snowflakes flutter and land, as if pulling up the covers as they say goodnight to Grandma Loraine for the final time. As Kloefkorn recounted stories of the Great Depression, I could hear my great-grandma Jane's Scottish brogue recalling my own family’s struggles. Born in 1878, she said she was one of the first babies to arrive in Williamsburg Township. When she and my grandpa Henry were married, they lived in a sod house that was a popular spot for neighborhood gatherings. "The men would get the fiddles and accordions a goin' and one of the girls would play the piano. The floors of that ol' soddy were so smooth from all the dancin', they looked like they’d been hand waxed," she said. But with the stock market crash and drought conditions on the farm, the dancing turned to depression. "We'd lost about everything," she
Steve Batty, “Republican Valley Pioneers & Events”; Merrill Ream & Jack Stewart,“Veterans of the Century, Patriotic Stories”; Mike Adams, “Music in the Bandshell”; Brenda Broeker, Tall Tales & the Oral Tradition; Wayne Watkins “Lakota Indian Stories” 2001... Guest Artists: Awele Makeba. John Walker. The Buffalo Gals, Don Welch, Craig Larson Community Stories: Mary Ellen Goodenberger & Merrill Ream, “School Stories”; Tall Tales/Liarʼs Contest 2002... Guest Artists: Jay Ungar & Molly Mason Family Band, Barbara McBride-Smith, William Kloefkorn Community Stories: Mary Ellen Goodenberger & Merrill Ream, “School Stories” 2003... Guest Artists: Toasted Ponies, Barbara McBride-Smith; Deb Carpenter; Linda Hasselstrom Community Stories: Gene Morris & Guests Frank Morrison, Ed Howard & Dick Herman, “Tales of Nebraska Politics” 2004... Guest Artists: Donald Davis, Rodney James & the Blue Flames, Jumpinʼ Jive Cats
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Nebraska State Poet Bill Kloefkorn demonstrated his champion hog call during a performance at the 2002 Buffalo Commons Storytelling Festival. This yearʼs festival will honor his memory.
said, "but the 80 acres where we lived." One day in the mid-30s an insurance agent knocked on the door with foreclosure papers in hand. My feisty greatgrandma, raised her straw broom high over her head and chased him to his car. "You get off this place, and don’t you ever show your face here again!" According to family lore, he never did. Thirty years later, her daughter-in-law, made the final payment on the home place, where my son lives and farms today. I took my daughter's hand in mine. Tears ran into our own memories and connected her present to my past. That was the epiphany of the storytelling experience, but not the end of a magic entwining of community, family and hearts. It was the sheer beauty and grace of Jay's violin stirring
Community Stories: Gene Morris & Guests Jack McBride, Leta Powell Drake & Moe Millikin, “Early Television Days” 2005... Guest Artists: Bil Lepp, Andy Wilkinson, Amanda Shires, Deb Carpenter Community Stories: Cloyd Clark & Andy Wilkinson, “Buffalo Commons Revisited”; Mary Ellen Goodenberger & Walt Sehnert, “Farm Stories” 2006... Guest Artists: Ed Stivender, FBW Express (Dave Fowler, Pete Blakeslee and John Walker), Matt Mason Community Stories: Walt & Jean Sehnert, Jerri Lynn Karr, & Charles Coleman,“Old Time Music Review”; Mary Ellen Goodenberger & Walt Sehnert, “Farm Stories” 2007... Guest Artists: Bill Harley, The Wells Family Band Community Stories: John Hubert, Railroad Stories; Mary Ellen Goodenberger, Cloyd Clark & Merrill Ream, “Living Close to the Bone” 2008... Guest Artists: Barbara McBride-Smith, Andy Offutt Irwin, Boulder Acoustic Society
the longings of my soul with "Ashokan Farewell" and the wisdom Bill Kloefkorn found in everyday life that made me realize that without story in song, in narrative, in poetry, in the moments we share with those we love, we lose a bit of ourselves. I know that when my two young children pushed their toy tractors through the corn stubble at the end of the field north of where my greatgrandparents’ sod house stood, they could hear the music because they knew the stories. If you would like to hear the music of your past and make memories for your future, come be a part of the 15th annual Buffalo Commons Storytelling Festival June 10-11, which will honor Bill Kloefkorn who played an enormous role in shaping the festival and inspiring local audiences.
Community Stories: “Smoke on the Steel” Railroad Stories, John Hubert; “The Power of Story.” McCook Ministerial Association, Rev. Dr. Dennis Smith & Barbara McBride-Smith; “Bulls I Have Known,” Mary Ellen Goodenberger & Walt Sehnert 2009... Guest Artists: Bil Lepp, Dovey Thomason, Finders & Youngberg, Chuck Trimble, Wayne Mintling Community Stories: Power of the Bison Bus Tour, McCook Community College; Mighty Bison Battles-Sports Stories, Duane Tappe; “Spiritual Tapestry” McCook Ministerial Association, Bil Lepp; “Our Place on the Prairie,” M.E. Goodenberger & Walt Sehnert 2010... Guest Artists: Tim Tingle, Don Welch, Craig Larson, Anne & Pete Sibley Community Stories: “Readinʼ, Ritinʼ & Rithmetic” School Stories, Al Cuellar; “Heart, Soul & Spirit” McCook Ministerial Association, Tim Tingle; “Treasures of the Heart” Hometown Stories, M.E. Goodenberger & Walt Sehnert; “Final Journey to McCook,” Norris Home, Clark & Dawna Bates; “No Place Like Music in the Bandshell” Jason & Spencer VanPelt, Colten Hiatt, Austin Edwards
Enjoy Tea and Conversation with Senator George W. Norris Buffalo Commons Festival Guide
June 10-11, 2011 – 7
Does the hectic pace of today’s life have you wishing for those summers of yesteryear? Do you remember a time when life seemed more manageable, and there were opportunities to sit on the porch with a glass of lemonade or spend an afternoon in the hammock with a good book? We cannot completely restore the era of bygone days, but the Buffalo Commons Storytelling Festival together with the George W. Norris Historic Site will provide an opportunity to experience those memorable times. If you love a good conversation
Youth to Blaze New Storytelling Trails Jeremy Blomstedt/McCook Daily Gazette
Senator George W. Norrisʼ home will be open Saturday, June 11, from 1:30-2:30 p.m.
Storytelling may be for the young at heart, but it’s definitely not just for kids. A new event for this year’s Buffalo Commons Storytelling Festival will feature high school and college age voices in song, poetry and stories. This exciting gathering will take place at the Bieroc Café on Saturday afternoon, June 11 from 1:30-2:30. Clavinova Skies, an acoustic folk group, will open. Austin Edwards (acoustic guitar and
vocals), Colten Hiatt (electric guitar and vocals), and Spencer VanPelt (percussion) will perform their original music. The group is made up entirely of local talent and features a strong mix of folk and Christian selections. An open mic for original storytelling, poetry or music will follow. Youth through 20-somethings are invited to share. There is no need to register in advance, simply bring
your material and take the microphone. If you’ve written something for a class, simply have a good story to tell or would like to be inspired by the stories others share, don’t miss this special time to enjoy the entertainment and camaraderie at one of McCook’s favorite gathering places. Contact Megan Friesen at (308)345-8156 if you have any questions about the event.
Western Dance Lessons Highlight Friday Afternoon Festival Activities
The 2011 Buffalo Commons Storytelling Festival will add a new wrinkle in its offering this summer with western dance lessons on Friday, June 10. Sponsored by McCook Community College, the “Waltz Along the Texas Trail” Western Dance Workshop will be held 4:30-6:00 p.m. at the Fox Theatre. Cost for this workshop is $29, and those who attend will have the opportunity to do some “boot-scootin’ boogie” after the lessons with the Diamond W Wranglers of Wichita, Kansas. Conducting the lessons will be wellknown area dance instructor Robin Marks, assisted by Dave Black of Holdrege. Students will learn Western favorites such as the waltz, two-step, swing and maybe even a little line dancing. The Diamond W Wranglers (previously known as Prairie Rose Wranglers) formed in 1999 to entertain at the Prairie Rose Chuckwagon Supper. They perform classic Western Music of the silver-screen cowboy era, such as “Cool Water, “Tum-
bling Tumbleweeds,” and “Ghost Riders in The Sky,” as well as classic cowboy trail songs and Diamond W Wrangler originals. Organizers of the event say this is a terrific opportunity to make music and learn from “some of the best Western music creators” in the nation and is something that “shouldn’t be missed.” Following the dance lessons, the group will move next door to the newly renovated Keystone Business Center, for the Chuckwagon Jamboree featuring good eatin’, all the headliners from this year’s festival and the opportunity to try out the dance moves learned in the class. Space is limited and pre-registration is required for the dance workshop, which is $29, including dance lesson, dinner, and show. Sign up for the BCSF Dance Workshop and you’ll save a buck on the dinner and show! Call 308-345-8122 or visit register.CenterForEnterprise.com to register today.
enhanced by some fascinating historic facts, plan to join Senator George W. Norris for a relaxing cup of tea and a dainty cookie or two. His home, just west of Norris Park in McCook, will be open on Saturday afternoon, June 11, 1:30-2:30 p.m. Slow down, sit for a spell and listen to Senator Norris as he recalls memories of seeking justice for people living in the rural areas of this country. In fact, you might even overhear a few remarks about his role in controlling the type of flooding that parts of the Midwest and South have experienced in May 2011.
Courtesy photo
McCook High School grads Colten Hiatt, Spencer VanPelt and Austin Edwards will launch a new event to inspire youth to tell their stories in song, poetry or narrative. The members of Clavinova Skies, an acoustic folk group, will open at 1:30 p.m. at the Bieroc Cafe on Saturday.
Honored Storytellers
In an effort to recognize individuals who have made extraorinary contributions to the art and preservation of storytelling, Buffalo Commons annually recognizes storytellers with the Master Storyteller Award. Recipients are presented a sculpture designed for Buffalo Commons by Sondra Johnson in 1997 and incorporated in the Festival’s unique logo. Don Welch....................2010 Bil Lepp........................2009 Matt Sehnert.................2009 John and Eileen Hubert...........2008 Craig Larson.................2007 Mary Ellen Goodenberger..........2007 John Walker................. 2006 Deb Carpenter..............2005 Walt Sehnert.................2004
Barbara McBride-Smith.........2003 Jay Ungar and Molly Mason............2002 Awele Makeba.............2001 Bill Kloefkorn ...............2000 John Stansfield............1999 Nancy Duncan.............1998 Roger Welsch..............1997
The 2011 Master Storytellers will be announced during the Fox Theater performances.
8 – Buffalo Commons Festival Guide
June 10-11, 2011
Please let our sponsors know how much you enjoyed the festival, and acknowledge them with your thanks and your business. Without their generous support, the 2011 Buffalo Commons Storytelling Festival would not be possible.
Organizational Sponsors Kids fest
Scenes from the 2010 BCSF Kids Fest in Norris Park. The Kids Fest is cosponsored by the Southwest Nebraska Reading Council and Alpha Iota Chapter of Alpha Delta Kappa, the honorary organization for women educators. Shary Skiles/McCook Daily Gazette
Acknowledgments I John & Eileen Hubert, Gene Morris & the Fox Theatre Committee for arrangements and accommodations in the use of the Historic Fox Theatre I Richard Tubbs, Doug Joyce & Mid-Plains Community College Center for Enterprise for the college courses I The Red Willow County Ministerial Association & Memorial United Methodist Church for hosting R.P. Smith's Inspirational Workshop "In the Saddle with the Lord" I Gene Morris and Cal Seigfried for emceeing the Friday and Saturday night shows I Russ Ankersen and Tor Olson for sound support I Dawna Bates for providing stage decor at the Fox I Pam Harsh, Linda Thieben & McCook Chamber of Commerce for promotion & ticket sales I Hershberger Music, McCook National Bank, & Sehnert’s Bakery for ticket sales I Southwest Nebraska Reading Council &
Alpha Delta Kappa for the Kids Fest I City of McCook grounds crew for Norris Park facilities I Matt Sehnert (Bieroc Cafe) & Chris McCarty (Mac’s Drive-In) for partnering with BCSF to provide meals for performers I Becky Kilpatrick for hosting guest artists for the pre-performance gathering Saturday evening I Wal-Mart & Schmick’s Market for providing cookies I John Hubert & the High Plains Museum for providing the venue for Saturday morning events I Sehnert’s Dutch Oven & Bieroc Cafe for hosting the many gatherings and food I McCook Community College graphic design instructor Becky Meyers and her student Veronica Waddell for designing publicity materials I And all the other wonderful people who have given many hours & provided assistance & support in so many ways!
Buffalo Commons Committee Members
The Nebraska Arts Council, a state agency, has supported this arts event through its matching grants program funded by the Nebraska Legislature, the National Endowment for the Arts, and generous contributors. The Nebraska Arts Council has a variety of grants and service programs to help support arts events throughout Nebraska. For information on how the Nebraska Arts Council can be helpful to your community or organization, contact: Nebraska Arts Council, Plaza Level, Burlington Building, 1004 Farnum Street, Omaha, NE 68102. Phone: 1-800-341-4067. The Nebraska Humanities Council, a state agency, supports programs with humanities content such as this festival throughout the state. Further information about their programs is available at (402) 477-2131 or contact Annette Eisenhart at (308) 278-2559. Annette serves the Southwest Nebraska area as our representative on the Nebraska Humanities Council. The Festival’s local sponsor is the McCook Arts Council, founded in 1993 as an umbrella for the existing community cultural organizations. In 1993, they were the McCook Concert Association, Southwest Nebraska Community Theatre Association, Rotary Travel and Adventure Film Series, McCook Art Guild and the Community Chorus. In 1998 the Buffalo Commons Storytelling Festival was added to the Council membership and in 2006, the Prairie Statesmen. The mission of the McCook Arts Council is to unify member organizations and arts fund-raising, and to promote, coordinate and support their activities as they work to serve the cultural needs of McCook and the surrounding area. Red Willow County Visitors Committee provided funds to promote the Festival. This allowed the Festival to advertise in a wide area, so that more and more people can enjoy the stories and music that nestle in your mind, tingle in your heart and lighten your soul. Mid-Plains Community College Center for Enterprise offers a broad range of support services for businesses, local agencies, and community groups, including college courses offered in conjunction with Buffalo Commons. The mission of the Nebraska State Reading Association is to lead in the promotion of literacy in the state of Nebraska through collaboration, advocacy, and professional development. The organization in partnership with the Southwest Nebraska Reading Council supports the BCSF Kids Fest .
Supporters
McCook Museumofofthe theHigh HighPlains Plains McCookArea AreaChamber Chamberof ofCommerce Commerce •* Museum Many Volunteers & Generous People High Plains Radio • Many Volunteers & Generous People
Mary Dueland - Festival Director Cloyd Clark & Megan Friesen - Co-Chairs Dale Dueland & Matt Sehnert - Program Directors Kim Baumbach - Treasurer Becky Kilpatrick - Publicity Director Chuck Salestrom - Public Relations/Publicity Linda Crandall - Arts Council Representative/Publicity Sharon Bohling - Ticket Sales Manager
Steve Batty & Matt Winder - Webmasters Dawna Bates & Mary Hendricks - Arts Council Representatives Linda Clark - Photographer Members: Justin Bass, Clark Bates, Kay Flaska, Mary Ellen Goodenberger, John Hubert, Sondra Jonson, Doug Joyce, Craig Larson, Cathy & Bruce McDowell, Gene Morris, Ginny Odenbach, Walt Sehnert, Lonnie Weyeneth, Matt Sehnert, Duane Tappe, Susan Yates