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Buffalo Commons: Canteen, connection and community
McCOOK, Neb. — The Buffalo Commons Storytelling and Music Festival is in its 29th year of providing an experience of music, art and storytelling integration, and the much-awaited gathering seems to get better every year.
This year, June 12 through 14, the festival will feature Grammy-award-winning musicians, well-known scholars and nationally in-demand artists, as well as tours, open mic events, food, kids events and performances.
One event the committee is anticipating is The Canteen Experience Tour. The tour, an all-day event on June 12, will carry history buffs back in time to World War II when Nebraskans swarmed every troop train from Christmas 1941 to April 1946 at the North Platte depot.
“The canteen is such a special story. Even though our country was at war in Europe and in the Pacific, there were things that people did here,” said Linda Crandall, chair of the Buffalo Commons Storytelling and Music Festival Committee. “We’ve always heard about Rosie the Riveter and all the women working in the factories. But in North Platte, all the soldiers went through on the train to be deployed, and so the North Platte women started serving them coffee and sandwiches. They’ve preserved this history, and there will be some people there to help tell us about the history of that and some of the stories involved.”
This effort became known as the North Platte Canteen. Each day, up to 32 trains made a 10-minute stop at the depot. More than six million soldiers passed through the canteen, and Nebraskans stepped up to give them a small moment of much-needed normalcy. The patriotic greeters cared for millions of uniformed soldiers during their stops, caring for them with nourishment for the stomach and the soul.
“I know it brings tears to my eyes to think about it,” Crandall said. “Beyond what the women did at the canteen … sometimes they resulted in long-term relationships and marriages and families. Some of them resulted in amazing love stories. So sweet. ”
Playwright Jeffrey Horner of Minden, who wrote a play inspired by discovered letters that had been exchanged between soldiers and the ladies who worked in the canteen, will put on a presentation at Artbank McCook before the bus tour leaves.
The patriotic efforts of those who volunteered at the canteen created a lasting impact and connection with not just those soldiers but also with the state as a whole. Patriots from across 125 communities took part. The stories born from those interactions have withstood the test of time and are still connecting people decades later through events such as this one.
And that’s what Buffalo Commons Storytelling and Music Festival is all about. Connection. It’s about connecting history and the present. It’s about connecting human beings across the country by discovering common ground. It’s about connecting with yourself at a deeper level by gaining a better understanding of who you are by knowing where and who you came from.
People like Horner and nationally known events like the festival help make that possible.
“I think that’s a big thing with the storytelling festival, the connection, because we have participants who come and they listen and they think, ‘Oh my gosh, we did that in my family’,” said Mary Dueland, festival chair. “And these stories, they begin to remember things of their own and tell other stories, and it really is a connection of people.”
Crandall said that people often believe that storytelling is simply fairy tales or tall tales. However, she said, people forget about the sharing of experiences and history, and connecting with others through those stories.
As part of the tour, the group will visit Lincoln County Historical Museum and the 20th Century Veterans’ Memorial. To register for the tour, visit discover.mpcc.edu or call McCook Community College at (308) 344-8604. The cost of the tour, lunch included, is $45.
“We’ll actually even have a lunch similar to what they would have served to the soldiers,” Crandall said.
Other Buffalo Commons events on Friday include the Artbank McCook free event, an art exhibit by nationally-acclaimed photographer Wesaam Al-Badry of Lincoln. The George Norris Historical Site will be open for tours in the afternoon. In the evening, the historic Fox Theatre will host some “rootin’ tootin’ cowboy fun” with storytellers, poets and musicians, featuring Dr. Chuck Peek. Peek is a professor emeritus at University of Nebraska-Kearney, poet and essayist.
On Saturday, Museum of the High Plains will host a morning meet and greet, a presentation by Al-Badry, music and stories from Grammy-award-winner Dom Flemons, and a music and poetry session with Grand Ole Opry frequenter Andy Hedges. In the afternoon, an open mic session is scheduled, as well as George Norris Historical site home tours and a garden party with historical reenacting.
Al-Badry’s exhibit runs again on Saturday, along with another presentation. McCook City Library will host Kids Fest with stories, crafts and activities. That evening, Lucy’s Bakery and Cafe will host a Cowboy Dinner Cabaret called “The Old West Comes Alive!,” featuring performances by Hedges and Flemons.
Sunday’s main attraction is the High Plains Museum humanities event, “Well Behaved Women Seldom Make History”, featuring a Humanities Nebraska scholar, writer and musician, Deb Carpenter-Nolting.
A full schedule of events and ticket information can be found at buffalocommons.org.
This annual festival has truly put McCook on the map nationally. People come from sea to shining sea to enjoy the historical activities each year.
“We don’t have to go to Lincoln or Omaha or San Francisco or New York,” said Crandall. “We’ve got a lot of things right here. One of the things that we always talk about for our motivation is that people who live in rural Nebraska, who are hours from a city, we have some things here for them so they don’t have to travel. But they still get the level of expertise and entertainment that you’d get in a city.”
Dueland noted that the talent brought in each year is of high quality.
The duo expressed gratitude for those who support the event each year, whether it be the sponsorships, donations or through the grants they have received. Over 40 businesses are on that list, as well as local and state organizations and groups.
“So many places have thrown their support our way in many different forms. We’re very thankful for those people who have made it last this long,” said Dueland.