Buffalo Commons Storytelling Festival taking its show on the road

This year, organizers are taking storytellers -- and story listeners -- on a bus tour to area historical sites as part of the Friday workshop portion of the two-day festival.

A "Wild West Ride" to the Massacre Canyon Battle monument near Trenton and to Camp Duke Alexis near Hayes Center highlight this year's McCook Community College workshops along with "Buffalo Hoedown" -- a songwriting workshop.

The Power of the Bison Tour Bus is set for Friday, June 12 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and the "Stories into Songs" bluegrass songwriting workshop is set for 1-3 p.m. at MCC.

Admission to both workshops is free thanks to a major grant from the Nebraska Humanities Council, but space on the bus tour is limited and pre-registration is required. There is a $12 pre-paid fee for lunch on the bus tour at Bull's Bar and Grill in Hayes Center.

Call 308-345-8122 or email CFEMcCook@mpcc.edu to register.

Storytellers joining the "Power of the Bison Bus Tour," include Native American storyteller Dovie Thomason, Native American historian Charles "Red Willow" Trimble, local historian Wayne Mintling and tall tale spinner Bil Lepp.

The Buffalo Hoedown workshop features Finders & Youngberg -- two married couples playing original bluegrass, country, and folk. Mike and Amy Finders, and Aaron and Erin Youngberg are four distinct musicians, merging styles, songs, voices and grooves in an interplay that critics call "exhilarating, gratifying, and often hilarious."

"The way they turn every day stories into songs is amazing and we're fortunate to have them available for this workshop," said Doug Joyce, Area Dean of Economic Development and Training, Mid-Plains Center For Enterprise, in McCook.

Finders & Youngberg are young veterans of the folk and bluegrass circles, and play banjo, harmonica, bass, mandolin, pedal steel, and guitar, while they sing new songs, they tell new stories.

In addition to the Nebraska Humanities Grant, other Buffalo Commons Storytelling Festival sponsors include: McCook Arts Council, Red Willow County Visitor's Committee and Nebraska Arts Council and McCook Community College.

To register for the workshops or for more information call 308-345-8122 or email the MCC Center For Enterprise at CFEMcCook@mpcc.edu.

Friday's activities conclude with a 7:30 p.m. "Story and Song Cabaret) at the Historic Fox Theatre -- Downtown McCook featuring Dovie Thomason, Finders & Youngberg, Bil Lepp; at 10 p.m. the Bieroc Café will host ghost stories and an open microphone storytelling.

The Saturday lineup includes: sports and family stories as well as prairie bluegrass at the High Plains Museum starting at 9 a.m. and Bil Lep will be at Memorial United Methodist Church for Spiritual Tapestry at 10 a.m.

The Bieroc Café will host "Our Place on the Prairie" at 12:30 p.m. while Kids Fest begins at 1:30 p.m. in Norris Park. The event concludes with "Tall Tales and Prairie Country" featuring Lepp and Finders & Youngberg at the Fox Theater at 7:30 p.m.