Celebrate America's Western Heritage
at the only event of its kind in
Southeast Kansas!

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2008 Echoes of the Trail Lineup

It'll be here before you know it! Plans are underway for another exciting Echoes of the Trail Cowboy Gathering the second full weekend in June, starting Friday, June 13th and ending Sunday, June 15th. Bring Dad for a great Father's Day treat!

Barry Ward 2008 Featured Performer

This year Echoes is bringing back Barry Ward as our Saturday night featured performer, and Barry plans to be on hand for Sunday morning Cowboy church as well. Fans will recall tapping their feet to his booming baritone, and being touched by his original songs about life on a four-generation farm in Western Kansas.

Plenty of Cowboy Talent!

Also back by popular request is Gerry Allen of Parkville, Mo., who never fails to fill the Round Room with laughter with his hilarious spoof on Ghost Riders in the Sky. Gerry has many loyal fans in Fort Scott, and a few of them are related to him!

We welcome back long timer Echoes cowboy entertainers Harold Carpenter, Wanda Cothren, Richard Dunlap, D. J. Fry, Joe Lester, Ron Ratliff, Cliff Sexton, Del Shields, Jake White, and Ron Wilson.

New Cowboy Performers!

We like to give newcomers a chance each year, and we have invited Sam Kiefer of Lebo, Kan. Sam impressed us on the open microphone last year, and we know he has a wide array of original cowboy poetry for us to enjoy.

Another new performer will be Steven Spalding, who started out in Nashville and quit that scene to be a cowboy singer with an emphasis on serving God. Steve's voice is reminiscent of Johnny Cash and we know you'll love him. Also, he is a talented western artist and craftsman, so you'll have a chance to visit with him in the halls as he displays his work.

Friday Night Show

Echoes of the Trail will kick off our 12th anniversary Friday night with six of our performers and our own cowboy musician extraordinaire, Johnny Kendrick. If we're lucky, his sons will again join him on stage.

Other Highlights

Johnny Kendrick also will open Saturday night's show along with Echoes co-founder Arnold Schofield. During the break Saturday night, the silent auction will end and lucky winning bidders will take home western art, jewelry, home decor, and much more.

All day Saturday, from 10 a.m. on, twelve talented cowboy poets and singers will entertain on two stages (the Round Room and the Gordon Parks Center) in the FSCC Academic Building. The entrance will be on the south side of the building this year.

Jeanne Rowland will serve her fabulous Mexican food from the snack bar this year, while hubby Buck sells his hand-made tack nearby.

In the halls, fans will find new western goods to peruse, and a special treat this year will be western and summer clothing by Key Industries. Key plans to return a portion of the sales to support future Echoes gatherings, so be sure to buy a western shirt or other duds from them!

Shirley Willis plans to return with her fine silver and turquoise jewelry, and Joe and Kathy Lester will be there with their wonderful array of leather goods, pottery, western music, clothing, wild rags, and much more. Lynn Doughty will bring his fabulous western carvings this year, and Debbie Atkins plans to display her copper and glass crosses and other unique jewelry. Colette Lefebvre-Davis plans to sell desserts and books, and Judy Renard will again display an array of western items from Country Cupboard in Fort Scott. These are just a few of our Western Trade Show participants.

Kids from Bourbon, Crawford, and Linn counties in Kansas and Vernon and Bates counties in Missouri are busy creating poems in hopes of winning cash during our Student Cowboy Poetry contest. The winners will read or recite their prize poetry at 3 p.m. Saturday in the Round Room, and entries will be displayed on this web site.

Following the kids' presentation, the microphone will be open to anyone who wants to perform.

As usual, you'll smell the aroma of biscuits, pies, hot coffee and more cooking over campfires out by the chuck wagons, and you can slurp up some good cowboy grub at noon on Saturday, as well as for breakfast after Cowboy Church Sunday morning. Kids and adults alike feel part of the Old West as they sit around the chuck wagons. And there's usually a blacksmith pumping bellows, working on an anvil the way it was done in the 1800s.

This fun and nostalgic weekend ends Sunday morning with Cowboy Church with old time hymns and guitar pickin' outdoors if weather permits, followed by a hearty chuck wagon breakfast. Chuck wagon food is provided as long as it lasts, for only a free-will donation.

ADMISSION PRICES '08

Admittance to the event is only $15 for the whole weekend.(Friday night to Sunday 1 p.m.) Otherwise, cost is only $10 for either Friday or Saturday night, or daytime Saturday. What a bargain for three days of non-stop, high quality western music and cowboy poetry, a western trade show Saturday, great Mexican and chuck wagon food, and the fellowship and camaraderie unique to cowboys! And senior citizens can purchase all weekend weekend tickets for two for $20. Children 12 and under are admitted free.

MISSION STATEMENT

To promote and encourage the artistic and historical heritage of western culture, especially as it has developed in Kansas.

To provide a broad-based venue for the preservation and promotion of the subject heritage.

To provide varied, high-quality programming consisting of presenters of western and cowboy history, literature, music, and art that appeals to all age groups and is suitable family entertainment.

PLEASE DONATE

Echoes of the Trail is possible only through the generosity of those on our Echoes Wall Of Fame page. Our expenses each year include performer fees and lodging, advertising, contest prizes and awards, and more. The cowboy poets and musicians who attend are dedicated to our goal of preserving the history and memory of the cowboy in the Old West. Please help us to continue this worthwhile, high quality, cultural event by making a donation, which is tax deductible under the Historic Preservation Association of Bourbon County, Kansas.

You can also mail a check of support to:

Echoes of the Trail
2280 Hackberry Rd.
Fort Scott, KS 66701

Celebrate America's Western Heritage at the only event of its kind in Southeast Kansas!