Buffalo Commons festival bringing back 'Old West'
McCOOK, Neb. — Nationally acclaimed storytellers are once again heading the lineup for this year’s Buffalo Commons Storytelling Festival – but this year that national talent is from nearby, and there will be a whole lot the “Old West” in this year’s event.
R.P. Smith, a rancher near Broken Bow who performed as a regional storyteller at the 2011 festival is back this year as the lead storyteller and will be joined by Jake Riley, a writer and poet who lives near Kearney. The Diamond W Wranglers, who were featured at the 2011 festival and were very popular with the audience, are back to be part of the cowboy poetry and stories this year. Alan Bartels, who tells his stories in “Nebraska Life” magazine will share his stories – for adults and children – for the first time as part the McCook festival.
This year’s event takes place over Memorial Day weekend, May 31 - June 2 and includes a history-themed old west bus adventure to Trenton and Massacre Canyon, ticketed dinner cabaret and stage show with the headliners Friday and Saturday, as well as a number of free events Saturday including free museum concert and storytelling, local stories and songs, open mic opportunities, children's story theatre a garden party, bison viewing, and a free Sunday cemetery tour.
Over the past few years R.P. Smith has supported his ranching habit by entertaining audiences across the country with his brand of cowboy poetry and country commentary. In his travels he’s had the chance to work with some of the top names in the world of western entertainment as well as being the featured entertainer at some of the largest cowboy poetry gatherings in the country. His fame has been boosted by his rural radio network show, Home Grown.
"Home Grown gives me a chance to run by some of my newest efforts and an opportunity to share the poetic and musical talents of some of the folks I have worked with,” he said. “It is great stuff, and not something you will hear anywhere else."
Jake Riley is originally from Colorado, but the writer and poet now lives near Kearney. He is an emerging talent whose work covers everything from humor to philosophy and theology, and various combinations thereof.
For him, poetry is an overflow of life. He admits to being a “closet poet” for the most part -- until recently, first performing poetry for his church -- but for the past two years he’s performed at the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada.
The Diamond W Wranglers perform a combination of traditional Western music that pays homage to Western greats like Sons of the Pioneers and their own Western originals. They love western movie themes and turning modern country songs into haunting cowboy ballads. They can sing Cowboy songs in Chinese and even claim “doo wop” is part of our Western heritage.
Also joining this year’s festival is the man who brings Nebraska’s best stories to light in “Nebraska Life Magazine,” Alan Bartels, assistant editor of the magazine first appeared in the magazine in 2007 and continued contributing until he was hired full-time by “Nebraska Life” three years later. He currently serves as assistant editor. He has also authored a children’s book entitled, “What’s Going Down in Prairie Dog Town?” which includes a forward by his conservationist mentor, Jane Goodall.
“This was an opportunity I could not let pass by," Bartels said. "It was a dream come true, and I get to live that dream everyday while meeting, photographing and telling stories about the people I meet through the pages of Nebraska Life Magazine."
Kicking off this year’s festival May 31 is McCook Community College’s Histories Mysteries Bus Tour, this year called “Go West.” It starts at 8:30 a.m. at the MCC Student Union and the bus will head west to learn area history including a stop at Hitchcock County Museum in Trenton, and at the Massacre Canyon historical site where the last battle between the Pawnee and the Sioux Indians was staged. Cost for this tour is $39 and includes lunch, the bus will return to McCook at 3 p.m. To register, call the college at 308-345-8122.
Also Friday, at 6:30 p.m. at the Bieroc Café is the Music and Storytelling Dinner Cabaret which features cowboy poets and storytellers Jake Riley and R.P. Smith and the Diamond W Wranglers Band. The evening includes dinner. Cost is $45 and reservations required. You can purchase these tickets at the Bieroc Cafe or call 308-345-6500.
All the events Saturday morning and afternoon events are free and include: free music and storytelling from the headliners at the High Plains Museum from 9 a.m.-noon; stories, poetry, music and open microphone opportunities at the Bieroc Café starting at 12:30 p.m. Children’s stories at the McCook City Library with Alan Bartels from 1:30-2:30 p.m.; and from 3-4 p.m. you can “Meet Senator George W. and Ellie Norris” at a garden party hosted by Clark and Dawna Bates at the Nebraska State Historical Site.
Darrell Meister, who was part of the Buffalo Commons History’s Mysteries tour last year, plans bison viewings at 5 p.m., Saturday, and 9:30 a.m., Sunday, visitors will need a park permit. Also the Lighthouse Marina plans a "Bison breakfast special" Sunday morning.
Tickets for Saturday night’s grand finale - "How the West Has Fun" stage show at the Historic Fox Theater are $15 for adults and $5 for students. It starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available at: McCook National Bank, Sehnert's Bakery and Bieroc Cafe (308) 345-6500, McCook Chamber of Commerce (308) 345-3200 and at the door.
On Sunday from 2-4 p.m. is the free Heritage Cemetery Tour of Memorial Park and Riverview Cemeteries sponsored by the McCook Chamber of Commerce, Southwest Genealogy Society and Southwest Nebraska Community Theater Association.
For more information about this year’s performances and schedules please visit the Buffalo Commons Storytelling and Music Festival.