The Nucla-Naturita Area Chamber of Commerce held the 10th annual West End Cowboy Gathering, showcasing cowboy poetry, and country and western music, from well-known performers in the region.
While the event was scheduled for Nucla Town Park, the storms warranted moving it inside to Nucla Community Center. The Spruce and Columbine Garden Club fed ticket holders a meal of sloppy joes, cole slaw, potato chips and a variety of desserts.
Terry Nash, a cattleman from Grand Junction, opened the festivities and also read poetry pieces throughout the evening. He was the 2018 “Male Poet of the Year” for the Western Music Association.
Farrier and singer-songwriter Doug Figgs, of New Mexico, performed both original music and some covers, including “Everything that Glitters” by Dan Seals with his acoustic guitar, while his wife and their hound sat off-stage. For Bri Bonacquista’s daughter, Brynna, Figgs dedicated and performed “Yellow Horse.”
Those who’ve been to the West End Cowboy Gathering know the Beard family, husband and wife Floyd and Valerie, who run Corriente cattle in eastern Colorado. Valerie Beard had the ladies laughing with a poem about staying married. The theme was that when ranching, a couple basically has to stay together. One of her lines mentioned a wife wanting to leave her husband — only to realize the family needed to brand calves the next day.
Floyd Beard recited “The Man From Snowy River” by AB Banjo Patterson, on which the award-winning film in the 1980s was based. He also performed his “Papa Noel” Christmas poem, a Latino version of “The Night Before Christmas,” with a well-executed accent and references to his beloved Corriente cows.
Carla Reams, local poet, has been to the event before. A lover of cowboy poetry and ranching stories, she said she appreciated the whole evening, and especially the Beards.
"The Beards are talented poets, who I admire not only for their great writing, but for their strong marital relationship," Reams said. "Valerie always says, 'Floyd is the true talent' and she’s just the eye candy, but truly, they are both incredibly talented and relatable country folk."
Melanie LaRue, the youngest on stage, showed up with her acoustic guitar and original music, based on authentic cowgirl life in Utah. She sang one about a black mare she started, loved, still rides and later bred. The crowd laughed when she performed another song about what she’d do if she won the lottery; of course, she’d buy expensive Metallic Cat-bred cow horses and get more dogs.
Darrell Holden, a rookie poet out of Utah, brought the crowd to tears with a poem about an influencer. He prefaced the poem by speaking about influencers on social media, those with big ideas who want to shape values and behaviors. His poem was about working cows, being out on his horse, while having a conversation with his dad and his uncle. Listeners could picture the three cowboys talking, taking a break, cutting an apple and feeding pieces to their horses.
The poem revealed though, the poet was only imagining. The uncle and dad had passed on; he was speaking to their ghosts. Still, they remain Holden’s real influencers, those who taught him about being a man and a cowboy. Many in the audience reached for tissues to dry their eyes when he finished.
In closing, Nash thanked the chamber for hosting and asked for the 11th annual West End Cowboy Gathering to be held a year from now again in Nucla.
Sponsors were Williams Construction, the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority, San Miguel Power Association, Paradox Cycle, Citizen’s State Bank. Contributors were Ruth’s Toffee, Brock Benson, Nucla Country Co-op, the Town of Nucla, Spruce and Columbine Garden Club and the San Miguel Basin Forum.
