Cowboy Poetry all day

Snow in the morning, car was snow-covered, but warmer than yesterday. 9 am to 10 pm - nothing else but cowboy poetry and songs,,, One show, panel, discussion, concert after the other, we stayed in the Convention Center/Conference Center complex all day. In Germany we would have walked over from our hotel, here, wouldn't know where to walk at all.


After the Keynote Address (the opening speeches) in the large auditorium with an Native American drum group, music, poems and the Elko Highschool Band



We started off with a panel of five fine young Oregon poets

,,, on to a panel of four rodeo cowboys (saddle bronc riders) - very young and very old

,,, to a mixed show of young musicians, youngest, Marianna Mori 11 years old - on left pic - as well as Jessie Veeder, a young lady with a powerful voice


,,, and finishing with "Cyles of Live" with great Oklahoma poet Jay Snyder among others.

Not only learned about ranching and rodeoing, but also about the McKay family from Oregon - a white ranching couple who adopted six kids from Haiti. Four of them are at the NCPG, two boys as rodeo cowboys (pics above), one girl as a filmmaker, artist and poet (pic above), one girl as a singer/songwriter. We discussed world politics and nowaday's morals with famous poet John Dofflemyer and met our friends Jack & Anita from Elko/Boise. Inbetween checked out the "Mercantile" - vendors of jewelry, art work, leather stuff, etc.

Had a quick bite to eat (a nicely roasted whole Albertson's chicken) in the hotel before quitting again for one of the evening shows in the G Three Bar Theater in downtown. Burned some time at the bar with a local beer before doors were opened and three great young musicians performed: Cat Clifford, An American Forrest (pics below) und Dylan Clough (last pic below).