volume 3, issue 3, january 2015

Gathering Gazette
Voume 2, Issue 2
Volume 3, Issue 3
ROUNDUPS
AND RODEOS!
Roundups and Rodeos!
Editor—Ival Secrest
The final Round Up of volunteers and artists will be over by February 1, 2015 so the
Rodeo, the 2015 Cochise Cowboy Poetry and Music Gathering (CCPMG), can begin
on Friday February 6, 2015.
This is the last communication from the CCPMG Board and Committee Chairs to the volunteers and
the public who will have access to this newsletter via our website. You should read all the articles
and if you have any question please contact the appropriate chairperson. We do not want anyone to
have any doubts or confusion.
Those of you who participated as volunteers or just attended the 2014 Gathering know that it is a fun
time. Please note the article by our Artist Liaison, Margaret Glenn. There you will learn about artists
performing at various venues on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday before the Gathering begins on
Friday February 6. 2015.
Some people may view this event as just good entertainment but it is much more. A primary
objective of the Gathering is to keep the Western Heritage and Culture alive. The article by our
Historian, Bob Levline describes the Heritage and Culture based on the past. The objective of the
Gathering’s program with the Cochise County schools through poetry is to keep that Heritage and
Culture alive. The article by Schools/Western Heritage co-chair, Eileen Ahearn, describes the scope
of the program for the 2015 Gathering.
Learn all you need to know about Gathering tickets in the article by our Ticket manager, Steve
Rietkerk. There has been some confusion in the past and we hope Steve’s article helps clarify and
answer your questions. If not, please contact Steve immediately.
It takes more than ticket sales to fund the Gathering. That fact is amplified with the article on
Sponsorship by Carmen Faucon and the article about Host Families by the Co-Chairs, Lang Secrest
& Mary Boyles.
Volunteers make this event happen!!! Some are still needed as highlighted in the article by the
Volunteer coordinators, Genie & Tom Kelly.
Fortunately, we can provide some rewards for our volunteers, sponsors and artists with some
special social events. If you are a volunteer or sponsor, please see the article by our Social
Coordinator, Midge Grieshop.
It has been my pleasure to compile and editor the newsletters leading up to the 2015 CCPMG.
Looking forward to seeing you at the Gathering.
Happy Trails!
Gathering Gazette
2
Gathering Co-Chairs
Nancy Fusco
George Wheat
Howdy from Sierra Vista, AZ! We hope you had a most wonderful holiday season and we wish
you a very prosperous New Year. Time is indeed, flying and we are in the final preparations for
our 2015 Gathering, February 6, 7 and 8, 2015. Our theme this year is Roundups & Rodeos and
we are celebrating not only our 23rd Gathering but also the 20th Anniversary of our Western
Heritage Schools Outreach Schools Program.
Our team has rounded up a great line-up of well-known artists and new artists for your enjoyment.
For a complete line-up for our Headline and Saturday Day performances, please check out our
website, www.cowboypoets.com.
Our tickets are on sale now at all of our outlets, Spur Western Wear, the Sierra Vista Chamber of
Commerce, National Bank of Arizona (located on Fry Blvd.), the Sierra Vista Visitor’s Center,
Safeway and our newest location, The Mall at Sierra Vista. You can also purchase tickets on line
and over the phone with Spur Western Wear. The phone number is 1-866-458-2262. Our ticket
prices for our Headline performances are $20.00 each. Our Headline Performances start at 7 p.m.
with the doors opening at 6:30 p.m.
We are proud to again offer our very popular Saturday day events. Starting at 10:00 a.m. until
4:00 p.m., there will be over 30 artists and student poetry winners performing in various rooms at
Buena High School. Each session is 50 minutes of wonderful music and poetry. Our
Consignment table will be open so you can pick up a variety of CDs, tapes, and books by our
visiting artists. Also, available will be our Commemorative Art work which includes theme related
merchandise, pins, coffee cups, and t-shirts. You will be able to pick up a copy of our Saddle
Bags of Poems which is full of our student poets winning poems. This year, we are awarding two
scholarships to graduating seniors. The students will be reciting their award winning poems during
the Saturday Day Event and during the Headline Performances. There is an entrance fee of
$10.00 on Saturday which will be collected at the door. The doors open at 8:30 a.m.
If you are a volunteer, we hope you will join us at our annual Volunteer Party scheduled on
Sunday, February 1, 2015 from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. There will be some great entertainment
and updates on our Gathering. Refreshments will be provided by the Philadelphia Baking
Company. It is very important that you RSVP NLT 5 pm 25 January. Please call 520-432-5839
or send an email to [email protected] to provide your RSVP.
George and I want to take this opportunity to thank each and every volunteer for your continuing
commitment to CCPMG. We could not put on this type of quality entertainment without you.
We also want to thank our Committee Chairs and Executive Board for all their hard work and
dedication. So let’s round ‘em up and move ‘em out and get this show on the road! Here’s to a
great 23rd Cochise Cowboy Poetry and Music Gathering!!
Gathering Gazette
3
Historian—Bob Levline
Our Heritage, Our Culture
We Americans seem to spend a lot of energy and effort preserving other peoples’ cultures while
ignoring our own. It is also interesting that an outsider is more likely to label a given people’s
culture than those living there. How we see ourselves, and our culture, is not always consistent
with how others see us.
The brief twenty years between 1866 and 1886 has become one of the most significant of our
cultural heritage. This Cowboy period, when ranching, cowboys, and western settlement dominated
America’s inertia, is that by which we are known worldwide. During this period the cattle industry
spread northward and westward from Texas to the Canadian border and the Rocky Mountains.
Finally the industry collapsed due to a dry summer in 1886, overgrazing, farming, and a terrible
1886-1887 winter that decimated the herds.
Although the cowboy’s heyday was over, it was only the beginning of the myth and legend that
developed to capture this period. Books, dime-store novels, songs, Wild West shows, plays, and
rodeos have kept the western spirit alive. Between the 1920’s and the 1960’s radio shows, movies,
and television shows about the west colored our view, as well as the world’s view, of our culture.
Fact and fiction became intertwined, but formed the basis for our heritage. Names from Cochise
County like Wyatt Earp, Tombstone, Cochise, Doc Holiday, and the OK Corral have worldwide
recognition that form a perception of our American culture and what we are like.
The upcoming Cochise Cowboy Poetry and Music Gathering is just one of the dozens of gatherings
that celebrate and preserve this unique part of our cultural heritage. The music and poetry describe
the many facets of our western period, including the humor, hardships and disappointments that
were experienced by the American cowboy and western pioneers. In many ways these
performances capture the true western spirit more accurately than the movies that formed our early
perceptions.
The Gathering is a great time to reflect on our past, consider our heritage, and help preserve a vital
part of Americana. So buy your Gathering tickets, enjoy the performances, and go hug a cowboy or
cowgirl.
Rider tossed from bronc at
Douglas Rodeo. Photo provided courtesy of Delline
Bohmfolk Mason via Midge
Grieshop.
Gathering Gazette
4
Sponsorship—Carmen Faucon
Well folks, this has been an exciting year for the Gathering with some new Sponsors and Funders onboard
for the 23rd annual Cochise Cowboy Poetry and Music Gathering. And, of course, it goes without saying we
are greatly indebted to our local sponsors that support the Gathering year after year; making it possible for us
to bring such a high caliber of Western Artists to the Cochise Public.
Late October, 2014, the AZ Humanities awarded our Western Heritage School Outreach Program a $9,000
grant. This grant was huge in allowing the WHSOP program to expand their outreach to schools throughout
Cochise County, as well as increase the accessibility and participation of our rural students and their families
with the CCPMG.
Arizona Humanities builds a just and civil society by creating opportunities to explore our
shared human experiences through discussion, learning and reflection.
Please folks, when out and about, patronize our local businesses and let them know how much you
appreciate their support of the CCPMG Gathering! Also remember to congratulate each other out
there because there are a host of individuals that also make this event happen.
TERRITORIAL GOVERNOR
Sierra Vista Herald
Windemere Hotel and Convention Center –
More than just a place to stay
CATTLE BARON
Cox Communications
Sierra Toyota/Scion, on the Feel Good
Block
Spur Western Wear
TRAIL BOSS
Cherry Creek Radio, KWCD 92.3 FM
Garden Canyon U-Store-It
Kestrel Graphic Design
KKYZ, KCDQ, and KNXN
Lawley Automotive Group
Pauline Fredericks Photography
Pioneer Title Agency
Rutherford Diversified Industries, Mike and
Lori Rutherford
Southern Arizona Media Productions
Sun Canyon Inn
Turnwater Hill Consulting
We Frame It – We Frame It All!
DROVER
Anonymous
Larry and Vivian Bruns
Steve and Marge Conroy
Jerry and Sharon Heikkinen
Life Care Center of America, Sierra Vista
WELCOME!
Outback Steakhouse
Sierra Vista Rotary Club Charities, Inc.
Ken & Norma Symmes
WRANGLER
Anonymous
Edward Bottomley
Cal & Mary Boyles
Mark Browning, CPA
Doris Caldwell
Gene and Nan Crandall
Bob and Nancy Fusco
Ellen Grombacher
Betty B. Olson
Heather Bird Photography
Just Kids, Inc., a Foundation of San
Pedro Kiwanis
Rick (F.W.) Mueller
Ed & Theresa Sims
Southwest Gas Corporation
Jane and Bob Strain
The UPS Store NEW!
Ollie and Linda White, Bob Barden
RANCH HAND
Buena Health Fitness Center
Denny and Lark Beaugureau
Hugh and Joyce Bell
John Black
Casa De San Pedro B & B Inn
Alice Christ
Coca-Cola Bottling Company
Desert Park Properties, Debra and John
Park
Jim and Joanne Dalglish
BUCKAROO
Ace Hardware, Sierra Vista, Benson and Hal and Rosemarie Decker
Jim and Janet Elkan
Bisbee
Margaret and Charles Glenn
Angel Rutherford Fine Arts
Bill and Nancy Goldcamp
Arizona Lottery NEW!
Jack and Marilyn Hewitt
David and Helen Ballenger
High Desert Massage
Big Nose Kates
Sally Holcombe
Ernie and Nancy Buhler
Neil and Renae Humburg
David & Sherry Cunningham
Robert and Norma Jones
Dillard’s Department Store
Drs. Charlie and Claudia LaClair
Carmen Faucon
Mountain Vista Golden K Kiwanis Club
Five Star Publishing/Mountain View
Don and Karen Poling
News BACK AGAIN!
Beth Roberts
Ginny Gisvold
Gary Robertson, Western Artist
Jane Gonseth
Schlotzsky’s and Cinnabon, NEW!
Midge & David Grieshop
Single Star Ranch
Dottie and Wally Hoggatt
Sierra Vista West End Rotary Club
Peter and Hank Huisking
Southern Arizona Flying Services
Thomas and Edwina Kelly
Summit Fitness BACK AGAIN!
B.J. Moore
The Quilting Penn, Gail Penny NEW!
National Bank of Arizona
Vinny’s New York Pizza WELCOME!
Peacock Restaurant NEW!
David Waldman
Philadelphia Baking Company of
Susan Walker
Arizona, the Food People NEW!
Xcel Energy (Matching Grant)
Jim and Tina Riehle
RANGE RIDER
Robert and Janet Reiner
Anonymous
Lang and Ival Secrest
AutoZone NEW!
Sulphur Springs Valley Electric
Bisbee Rotary Club
Cooperative
David and Cathy Bly
The Outriders, a Fine Western Band!
Merton Chun
John and Diana Voishan
Distinctive Flair, Kathy Riebock
Harvey and Linda Drake
Gail’s Finishing Touch
Nancy B. Fyffe
Julie Hill, love that Chili!
Horse’n Around Rescue
Key to Success Learning Services,
Dr. Kaye Dean
Walter Kolbe
Fran Landwehr
Madaras Gallery in Tucson NEW!
Ronald and Bonnie Peck
Pizza Hut Bistro
Joanna Pohly
Bob and Nancy Rasmussen
Gene and Sharon Raymond
Christine Rhodes
Dr. Martha J. Riedmiller Family
Chiropractic
Richard and Sara Schafer
ScentSational Medical Massage
and Aromatherapy
Sierra Vista Flowers and Gifts
Sonic Drive In NEW!
Susan Weisgram Massage and
Energy
Corky and Molle Stueve
Susan Wralstrad
Timeless Therapeutic Day Spa
Texas Roadhouse
Theresa Warrell
Louise and Andy Williamson
Special Thanks to our Ticket
Outlets:
Spur Western Wear
National Bank of Arizona
Safeway Food and Drug
Sierra Vista Area Chamber of Commerce
Sierra Vista Visitor’s Center
The Mall at Sierra Vista NEW!
Gathering Gazette
5
Volunteer Committee Co-Chairs Genie & Tom Kelly
Gathering 2015 February 6-8
Fellow Volunteers, Happy 2015! We hope this New Year will be a happy, prosperous and
healthy one for you and yours. Now to the main point of this article! We volunteers are the life’s
blood of this organization and the Gathering, which is the culmination of our year-long effort, is
just a few weeks off.
If you are fully engaged and already working on a committee to prepare for the
2015 Gathering… Great! However several key committees still need help during this final month of
preparation AND throughout the three days of the Gathering as well….So if You or someone you
know, be they a “registered” CCPMG volunteer or someone who might be interested in becoming one, is NOT fully engaged and is still looking for a way to contribute funds and/or time/
effort…Please contact us soonest so we can benefit from that thirst to serve this very worthy cause.
I (Tom) can be reached at 520-432-5839 or at [email protected]
Remember,TOO, our fun-filled, door prize laden, and tasty dessert Volunteer Reception is
scheduled for Sunday, 1 February, 2-4pm (yes…Super Bowl Sunday) at the Windermere Hotel.
Please RSVP soonest so we can add you to our list of attendees. Thank you.
All for now. See you in February! Tom & Genie Kelly, Volunteer Committee Co-Chairs
Mustering Corriedales (breed of
sheep) in Patagonia via Wikipedia
A controversial Wild Horse
Roundup in Wyoming. Rock
Springs, WY (November 21,
2013) - Living Images by
Carol Walker
Bison Roundup on Kodiak Island. Photo by Lang
Secrest 2001.
As these photos show, roundups are not limited to cattle in the Western United States.
Gathering Gazette
6
Fellow Cowboy Poetry and Music Enthusiasts! Howdy!
Hope this note finds you well as we enjoy our holiday season and get ready to celebrate a new
year. My wife Genie and I are still chairing the Volunteer Committee. We would like to thank you
for your efforts on behalf of this wonderful organization and invite you to join us from 2-4pm or
any part thereof on Sunday 1 February 2015 at the Windermere Hotel.
You will be able to enjoy some light refreshments of the dessert variety provided by the new-intown Philadelphia Bakery while we put out some good information, provide a bit of entertainment,
award quite a few exciting and valuable door prizes, and a number of highly sought after
CCPMG Volunteer Service Pins and 2015 Gathering volunteer etc. badges. Most importantly you
can renew acquaintances with your fellow CCPMG volunteers. On party day, we will be just a
week out from the 2015 Gathering and we and other committee chairpersons will be available to
answer any last minute questions.
We hope you will come and join us but it is VERY important that either way you RSVP soonest
but NLT 5 pm 25 January. Please call 520-432-5839 or send an email to
[email protected] to provide your RSVP.
NOTE: Host Families please provide your RSVP directly to Lang Secrest who in turn will
provide me with a final count.
Thank you and we look forward to hearing from you.
Tom Kelly
Winter herding increased the
challenging tasks and risks for
moving cattle to long distances.
Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho youths learning to brand
cattle at the Seger Indian School, Oklahoma Territory, ca.
1900.
Theodore Roosevelt (shown on
horseback,1898)
helped popularize
the image of the
American cowboy
through his writings.
Gathering Gazette
7
Artist Liaison – Margaret Glenn
Time is fast approaching and the artists are very enthusiastic about performing. Several of our
artists have performed in the area recently. We attended the Belinda Gail and Arvel Bird performances at the Arizona Folklore Preserve and both were well attended and excellent.
I received this note from Doris Daley, another one of our featured artist.
“In November I was one of 12 Canadians invited to give a Ted Talk at the TEDx chapter in Calgary. My invitation was twofold: come and entertain, and (because the theme this year was
TRUTH), tell us where Doris Daley finds her truth. Inspired by the west, trying to make a living in
the arts, travelling the gravel roads and jet streams of life, in love with the English language...what
are my truths? And do all of the above in 14 minutes”.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hor3deAfTKM
During the Gathering weekend, we will be having 2 performances at the food court at the Sierra
Vista Mall. On Friday evening (5-6), Doc Mehl and Washtub Jerry will be performing and again on
Sat (4-5) Miss Devon and the Outlaw along with Kristyn Harris will be there.
Wednesday evening several of the artists are performing at local RV parks and community centers. The artists are always interested in doing additional performances to make a little more money, so if you know of anyone that might be interested in scheduling a performance, let me know
and perhaps we can set something up.
This year, as our Western Heritage program becomes more popular, we have artists performing
at over 30 schools in Cochise Country, as far away as Elfrida and Cochise. The artists are very
excited about meeting the students and some of our poetry writing winners.
The Sierra Vista Farmers Market has offered us the use of their performance tent on Thursday
from 10-2. Not sure who is going to be there yet, but hopefully we can advertise our Gathering
with some live entertainment there.
Friday morning instead of performing at a school, Trails and Rails will be performing at Sierra
Vista Toyota, one of our major sponsors. Also, the Arizona Folklore Preserve is having their annual show then with the performances of Carol Martin, Sam Deleeuw, Jim Jones and Kristyn Harris.
You will want to make your reservations early.
So as you can see a lot is going on here the weekend of the Gathering. Hope you can help
spread the enthusiasm throughout the community.
Peggy Malone
Saddle Strings
Three of our featured artists
Al ‘Doc’ Mehl
Gathering Gazette
8
Stephen Rietkerk—Tickets
Yes, tickets are needed for all of the events and I’m confident all of you know the reasons.
Tickets for the main performances for Friday night, Saturday night, and Sunday matinee are
$20.00 for regular admission and $6.00 for children/teenagers 12th grade and younger. These
tickets can be purchased in advanced as well as on the day of the performance. The regular
entrance fee to the Saturday Day event is $10.00 per person with children/teenagers 12th grade
and younger Free. This entrance fee is collected at the door ONLY and cash is preferred. Credit
cards will not be accepted for the Saturday Day performance.
Advanced tickets for the main performances on Friday night, Saturday night, and the Sunday
matinee can be purchased at Spur Western Wear, Sierra Vista Chamber of Commerce, Safeway,
National Bank of Arizona (1160 Fry Blvd), Sierra Vista Visitor Center (Oscar Yrun Community
Center) and The Mall at Sierra Vista.
Tickets for the main performances can also be purchased online at our website at
www.cowboypoets.com. Click on the “Gathering Info” tab and select Tickets. These tickets will
be available for pick up at the Will Call table an hour before the doors open at each main event
and during the Saturday Day event at the inner Ticket Booth of Buena High School from 10:00am
to 4:00pm. Please bring your receipt to verify the purchase of your tickets.
Finally, tickets for the main performances will be available for purchase at the inner Ticket Booth
of Buena High School on the day of each performance. The Ticket Booth will be open an hour
before the doors open to the Buena Performing Arts Center through intermission on the day of the
performance of each main event. They are also available during the Saturday Day event from
10:00am to 4:00pm at the Ticket Booth. Cash, checks, and credit cards will be accepted at the
Ticket Booth for main event tickets.
Don’t miss out on one of the premier events of Sierra Vista. We look forward to seeing you there!
Rider tossed from bull at Douglas Rodeo circa 1950.
Photo provided courtesy of Delline Bohmfolk Mason via
Midge Grieshop.
Gathering Gazette
Schools/Western Heritage Co-Chairs
Eileen Ahearn and David Walker
Western Heritage Schools Outreach Program
We are excited to let you know about this year’s Western Heritage Schools Outreach Program.
We contacted the 60+ schools in Cochise Country and made presentations in 26 of them. In
addition teachers made presentations in four other schools on our behalf (former Educator of
the Year winners). The list of schools visited this year included three new schools from Benson,
Cochise and Apache, Arizona, so we are taking the WHSOP to the far reaches of Cochise
County!!!.
In total we made presentations to nearly 3600 students. Of those we received nearly 500 poems to include 40+ for scholarship competition. The judges had a hard time this year but finally
settled on 39 poetry winners to include two scholarship winners. Their names are posted on
our CCPMG website, check out the Schools tab.
Our January event for the student winners was the CowPie Party on Saturday, January 10th.
We got to enjoy hearing them recite their poems for the first time. They chowed down on pizza
donated by Vinny’s New York pizza while enjoying the entertainment provided by Steve Conroy
and The Outriders. We hope they enjoyed the CowPies too.
In addition to the AZ Humanities Grant $$ that Carmen so graciously worked hard to earn for
us, we are also raffling off a boot quilt (see picture). Tickets are $5 each. All the money earned
will be used to support the school’s program so please support us!!! The drawing will be Sunday, February 8th, 2015. We’ll be selling tickets at the Volunteer Party and all throughout the
Gathering. Get your tickets!!!
This is a photo of the quilt described in
Eileen’s article above.
9
Gathering Gazette
10
Housing/Host Families Co-Chairs—Mary Boyles &
Lang Secrest
Our Host Families have already been in communication with their guest artist(s). We are grateful to
all who volunteered to be on this committee. Because of these wonderful people, we can bring more
artists here than would be possible if we had to provide hotel and motel rooms. These hosts save
the Gathering quite a bit of money.
Our host families have their guests for several nights and provide breakfast each morning. Often the
artist and hosts form friendships that last many years. As Co-Chairmen, we try to match artists and
hosts as best we can. If you would be interested in being a host in the future or have questions
about this committee, please call Mary Boyles at 803-7033 or Lang Secrest at 458-6698.
In times past, it was not unusual to have a dance during or following a Rodeo. Occasionally you my still find
a dance if you go to a Rodeo or Stampede.
This is a picture of one of those dances at the Gadsen
Hotel in Douglas sometime during the 1950s. Photo
courtesy of Delline Bohmfolk Mason via Midge
Grieshop.
Social Events – Midge Grieshop
2015 Gathering Social Venues and Times
Attention volunteers!!
New venues will be featured for some of our Social events. The Volunteer Dessert Reception will be
at the Windemere again on February 1, 2015 at 2:00 PM. This year the Philadelphia Baking
Company oif AZ will provide the desserts. Jam sessions on February 6 & 7, 2015 will be at the
Windemere beginning around 9:30 PM. The reception for the artists and major sponsors will be on
February 6, 2015 at 3:30 PM at the Peacock Restaurant. The breakfast for artists, major sponsors
and host families will be at the Knights of Columbus on February 8, 2015 with the doors opening at
8:30 AM.
You must have a reservation to attend these events!!!!