2018 Sheepherders' Gathering

 Every January, the Border Inn on US Highway 50, straddling the border of Nevada and Utah, hosts the Sheepherders' Gathering. Sheepherders, sheep owners, and sheep aficionados gather from hundreds of miles to celebrate, you've guessed it, sheep. There's lots of good food, dancing, talks, catching up with old friends and making new ones.

One of my favorite parts is the open mike night, when folks take turns sharing their sheep stories. Hank Vogler was the entertaining emcee. Denys Koyle started off the evening by announcing that although she has now retired from the Border Inn and will be living in Salt Lake, she is keeping the third weekend of January open and will be back for the Sheepherders' Gathering as long as she can get out of bed. Go, Denys! And thank you for getting this event started!

There was a good crowd and a couple video cameras taping it all.

Hank brought up the unusually warm weather we've been having this winter. "It's cold everywhere else [in the country], but warm here. Since they legalized marijuana in Nevada, there's been a real high over the state."

Mary Kaye, the first performer up, was ready with a bit of humor too.

Mary had a little lamb

but now the lamb is dead

and so she brings it up to school

between two pieces o'bread.

Then she sang "Are Your Dreams Big Enough?" If you haven't heard Mary Kaye's music, you should. She's got a beautiful, earthy voice and is a great storyteller. Check out her website for more.

Next up was John, who told about when he was 12 he was sent off for days on the mountain with a herd of sheep. When he wanted to let his mom know that it was time to pick him up (the next night, since he was far out there), he lit a cedar tree on fire.

Joe told us, "My dad had a bat habit of making me walk a lot." Eventually Joe saved enough money to buy his own horse. His mom asked his dad, "You're not going to put him on that horse, are you?" His dad said, "He's just a kid, we've got lots of them."

Then Joe shared some poems. He has a way with words and goes up to Elko for the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering.

Melanie has been performing at the Sheepherder's Gathering since she was a babe and is a natural on stage. She played two great ukulele songs.

Dave's been in the sheep business a very long time, and it was great to see him.

Desert Boy even got up on stage and told about his 4-H lamb kicking him in the eye. And how the other lamb followed him to school one day. He was so nervous about talking, but did a great job.

Next up was Clive Romney. We had seen him at the Fillmore Capitol Arts Festival, and the kids remembered his song. He told a story about the old days, when a dress wasn't thrown away when it was worn out, it was made into kids' shirts. And when they were worn out, they were made into a rug. Frugality could be the difference between life and death. He had the audience sing along with the chorus:

Use it up, Wear it out

Make it do or do without

Frugality is how we all survive

Dan got up and apparently wanted a change from sheep. So he told us his Alaska fishing story...

Next was Marlene telling of some Snake Valley sheep history. Her dad took her mom out on the desert to the sheep camp for their honeymoon, where he related that he was leasing the sheep, he didn't own them--much to his bride's surprise.

Lois recalled a very wintery winter, when her dad pulled up to a sheep camp in Burbank. He wondered why the sheepherder had such red lips. Then he came to realize that it was very windy, and the sheepherder had no chapstick, but he did find the wife's lipstick.

Kris and Kaye shared stories from the winter of 1948-49, a legendary winter. Their father, Newell Johnson, had 3,500 sheep on the desert. On January 15 he took his new pickup with one ton of cottonseed pellets for sheep plus supplies out towards them. But the highway was impassable for three days. When he finally got to he sheep, the feed was all covered up, and the sheep were starving. He did his best to get feed to them, but roads sometimes closed for a week at a time. He was the first sheepman from Delta to fly hay out to his sheep. By March 15, enough snow melted so that the sheep could forage on their own. (A movie was made about the flights to save the livestock, called Operation Haylift, and set near Ely, Nevada.)

Mary Kaye took the stage again. She related a story about a song based on an account from What Next, Doctor Peck?, a book I read many years ago while researching my Great Basin National Park: A Guide to the Park and Surrounding Area. I had fond memories of that book, and it was great to hear that it had also touched someone else.

We went back on Saturday for more of Mary Kaye's music (she's that good! if you check out her website, you'll see by all her awards that we're not the only ones that think that.). My husband and I also enjoyed the family-style Basque dinner (the beef was amazing!).

The Sheepherders' Celebration is such a neat event, and it's great that this slowly fading lifestyle is being remembered.

Here are links to past Sheepherders' Gatherings (unfortunately I got sick some years so missed some): 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009

If you like sheep, you can see posts I've written about them over the years.

Magic Steve at the 2017 Sheepherders' Gathering

Every year in January, sheepherders and aficionados of the sheep industry gather on the Nevada-Utah line at the Border Inn to celebrate at the Sheepherders' Gathering. A musician (or two or three) are invited. This year, Magic Steve from the Salida Circus came and brought his banjo. Before the gathering even started, he went to the local school and entertained the kids, teaching them a little more about music. 

The kids enjoyed it a lot. So did the adults!

Then he said that since his name was Magic Steve, he better do some magic tricks. The first volunteer helper did great.

And Magic Steve obviously enjoyed interacting with him!

More helpers were needed in the make-the-pink-hankie-disappear-and-then-reappear-in-his-taped-mouth trick.

Desert Girl got called up to be a helper, which she certainly enjoyed because she's been doing her own magic tricks at home. She needs a bit more practice to master the sleight of hand that Magic Steve uses. His tricks seemed to go off effortlessly.

It was a very entertaining hour, and I'm glad I got to go, especially since I was sick the rest of the weekend so missed all the other events. But if you do a search on this blog for "Sheepherders," you'll find more about this unique annual gathering.

Fire and Ice 2017

Last weekend we went to the Fire and Ice Festival at Cave Lake, near Ely. This is a fun event that we've been to many times (with blog posts from 2009, 2011 (Day 1) and 2001 (Day 2), 2013, and 2016). This year we arranged to meet friends there and go ice skating. Desert Girl was eager to put her new ice skates to use and also met a new friend who was willing to help her out. She enjoyed it a lot.

Desert Boy wasn't feeling so well, so he didn't skate long. The ice was really bumpy, so I didn't either. But a couple other kids got to use his skates, so that was good.

Jenny and Meg showed off their prowess on skates.

And although it was cloudy, it was a nice temperature to be out.

We also had sleds so that was another activity.

We also took time to look at the snow sculptures. This was an unofficial one.

There were only seven entries this year, quite a contrast from last year when there were so many fantastic ones. The lack of snow made it a little more difficult for entrants to make big sculptures this year.

This was the winning sculpture, Hi-bear-nation. They won $1000.

Second prize was Quarter Size Charcoal Ovens. They looked really good.

This was a cute entry. There was even a guy ice fishing nearby and I even saw him caught a fish, making it even more apropos.

Watching this lady carve the snow in the 22 degree temperature made us realize how challenging it can be. The snow is definitely a lot more pliable when it's right about freezing. She came in third with this bobcat.

Another event was ice bowling. This became extra fun when we used a kid on the sled as the bowling ball. It was a fun way to spend the afternoon. And now we are thinking, Should we enter next year?  If we had a big enough group, it would be a lot of fun and not so much work! What do you think?

First Mural in Eureka, Nevada

 Just before Christmas we made the journey to Eureka, Nevada, to visit the Eureka Restoration Enterprise's (ERE) newly restored building. They are making it into an art gallery and were selling local arts and crafts for the holidays. They had asked me to include some of my works, so I thought it was only fair if I helped for a day.

From the shop we could see the newly completed mural. ERE made money for it during an Art and Wine Walk earlier in the year.

It was done by Erik Burke and Nick D'Auria. They managed to get it done despite the cold weather.

It starts on the left with a lone pinyon pine tree.


Next is the pinyon pine cut up in pieces and being burned...


...in the charcoal oven.


Then there's the silver ore (Eureka, as you might have guessed, is a mining town).


It's made into a silver bar.


And then the train transports it. This is specifically the E&P engine that hauled it from Eureka to Palisade.

The bricks on the building were really rough, so it was quite impressive how they made everything look so clear.

ERE also had one other mural done in town, a profile of a cowboy, but I didn't get a photo of it. However, you can check it out, plus there other efforts, on their Facebook page. I have a feeling Eureka is going to become a much more interesting and beautiful town in the upcoming years!

Christmas Eve Nativity Play

 One of our Christmas traditions when we're in town is to go to a neighboring community and attend the Christmas Eve Nativity Play. Children are the actors, and our kids have participated several years. This year we were wondering if little Lily would be willing to be one of the sheep. You can see what she thinks about that!

Desert Boy was cast as Gabriel and Desert Girl as Mary. They started the play with quite a few lines.

They both did well. They really like the costumes!

Usually the play has more younger kids, but there weren't enough in town, so some of the older kids were gracious enough to fill in.

The role of the guard is always a favorite, with "Hark ye, hark ye" as the opening words. You can hear the kids pretending they're the guard before the play and saying those words!

The play has several songs, so the kids learn the basic Christmas carols.

Joseph, Mary, and baby Jesus in the stable. Mary got a little lesson on how to pick up baby Jesus so she wouldn't cause him whiplash.

The angels head out to shepherd hill to make their proclamation about the newborn King.

Then the three wise men go and visit King Herod. He is obviously thrilled with the visit. The guard thinks it's pretty cool to hang out, too. Even the angels on their heavenly cloud are amused.

The three wise men then visit the newborn King.

Angel Gabriel tells Joseph in a dream to flee to Egypt. Joseph made sure none of the gifts were left behind. It was quite cute.

The king and guard hang out at the palace until King Herod dies. These two are both kindergarteners and were so fun to watch!

Then at the end is a rousing rendition of Joy to the World. And in twenty minutes, it's a wrap!

Mary is ready to hold on to baby Jesus and do the final bow holding hands with the actors next to her. (Mom taught her that move!)

Next it was time to change out of costumes and participate in a beautiful candlelight service. I thought Desert Boy would resist going, but he said he found the service relaxing. A dessert potluck followed, so that was extra incentive to stay!

The whole evening really put us in the Christmas spirit.