Buffalo Commons shows community pride

Ed Stivender has been compared to Garrison Keillor and Robin Williams, and we can understand why.

He certainly has the storytelling capabilities of Keillor, and his ad-libs about the rain and audience distractions do bring Robin Williams to mind.

But we'd like to offer another comparison: James Brown.

While Brown is known as "the hardest working man in show business," we nominate Ed Stivender as "the hardest working man in storytelling."

Those who paid to see him perform at the Fox Theater on Friday or Saturday night got one of the best per-word bargains ever offered in the 10 years of the Buffalo Commons Storytelling Festival.

His fast-paced patter, accompanied by banjo, and perhaps the first Morris Dance performed in McCook, was a certainly a change from the usual down-home drawl we think of at the storytelling festival.

It also was good to see "slam poet" Matt Mason back in town, with his appeal to the younger set as well as the more experienced among us, as well as perennial Nebraska favorite musicians David Fowler, Peter Blakeslee and John Walker adding their own brand of musical storytelling.

That's not to forget local tale-spinners Walt Sehnert and Mary Ellen Goodenberger, as well as musicians Walt and Jean Sehnert, Angie Reiners and many others in their performances at the Bieroc Cafe, High Plains Museum and Norris Park.

And, what better investment in the future than bringing in students from the Wind on the Buffalo Grass writing camp for Saturday afternoon's event.

It was truly a community effort, and a tribute to 10 years of Buffalo Commons Storytelling Festivals.

McCook has some great venues for events like the storytelling festival, ranging from intimate listening rooms like the Bieroc Cafe, through the Fox Theater, High Plains Museum and Norris Park. It appears, however, that the Norris Park bandshell is in need of some sprucing up, and possible restrictions as to how it is used. It's a community centerpiece that needs to reflect our town's pride.