Western Folklife Center
Ask a Cowboy Poet: "Seasonal Change"

This month, the cowboy poets describe their observations of the fall season as they answer this question posed by Feeling like Fall, “How does the land, and the animals you surround yourself with, change as the days get shorter and darker?”

Ask a Cowboy Poet: "Seasonal Change"
Western Folklife Center
Ask a Cowboy Poet: "Distilling Vast Vistas"

This month, the cowboy poets whittle down a wide question about their writing as they answer this quandary asked by @carteagraphy, "How do you distill the vastness of the vistas you encounter into the slim space of a poem?"

Ask a Cowboy Poet: "Distilling Vast Vistas"
Western Folklife Center
Making Makilak

This month, Elko local and Basque elder Bob Echeverria tells us about the practice of makila carving.

Making Makilak
Western Folklife Center
Ask a Cowboy Poet: "Transition Planning"

This month, the cowboy poets mull over a dilemma “as old as human fingernails” as they answer a question about transition planning for generational ranches.

Ask a Cowboy Poet: "Transition Planning"
Western Folklife Center
Ask a Cowboy Poet: "Favorite Place on Earth"

This month, the poets describe their “heaven on earth” as they answer this question asked by Anonymous, “What is your favorite place on Earth?”

Ask a Cowboy Poet: "Favorite Place on Earth"

behind the scenes

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.

 
 

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