April 2024 Edition
Howdy All!
As the year has progressed, it’s been a good one. We find by celebrating milestones, we take stock and are surprised by all that’s been accomplished. Celebrations of Life have a way of helping us to know more about that person. It seems we’ve attended too many of those.
Birthdays are a happier benchmarks, especially significant birthdays like 80 and 75, excuses to celebrate with friends and family. December, 2023 and March, 2024 have been the months that Jim and I have been doing that.
MHCP likewise, young as it is, has much to be proud of. We’ve had 4 western music and cowboy poetry events. (I’d love to say we had 5 events because in 2021 we were set to go, then Covid stopped it short.) We’ve posted 43 videos (credit to Cheryl Dust the videographer on our board) and published 3 books and 2 memoirs. Not bad for a five-year-old organization. Credit and many thanks to all the talented and ambitious people on our board and our roster of willing volunteers.
Budgets
It’s that time of year, it’s when you estimate how much money you need to fulfil your reason for being. One of our important missions is to promote and perform western music and cowboy poetry in the Medicine Hat area. That is accomplished in part by our annual event giving stage time to western musicians and cowboy poets (accomplished and those wanting to give it a try). It’s purpose is also to have folks become familiar with the wholesome entertainment and the humor this unique genre provides.
Thus far the year has been generous to us with some donations as well as a grant from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts to reimburse us for a portion of last year’s event entertainers.
Even so, as the budget for our 2024 event is being drawn up, we wish we could offer the artists a better honorarium to pay for the worth of their talent and cover their travel expenses.
Meanwhile it’s business as usual for MHCP. We have monthly meetings (via Zoom) because our board members come from Calgary, Hilda and Coalhurst as well as Medicine Hat. Every month there is business on the agenda, there are group decisions that need to be made and committees give their reports to keep us informed. Here’s our effort to also keep you “In the Loop”
New on the Website
Harry Forbes Remembers: Canadian Spring Blizzards
Yarns by Ol’ Ugly: We’re privileged to have this well-known storyteller inventing interesting characters that live around here. He has them in places you can almost recognize, getting into unusual situations. Story #5 Snaky Seniors and Story #6 Messing with the Mule
Did You Know…About Horses? Prevent injuries and discomfort to your horse. Here is a plan for the horse that hasn’t been working for several weeks or months. Spring Conditioning Your Horse
Hilda Barn Stories … Coming soon!!!
Under the guidance of Cindy and Ross Straub (residents near Hilda), Cheryl Dust (MHCP’s videographer and photographer) took pictures of all the old barns in the Hilda area to include in Hilda’s 100th anniversary history book. It was me that compiled stories as well as the history of the barns based on interviews with their owners. We waited until the history book was distributed before proceeding to post them as a series on our website.
Taber Cowboy Poetry & Western Music Round-up
The Taber community and an ambitious committee hosted their “Round up” for the second year in a row (after a hiatus). Medicine Hat Cowboy poetry was happy to support them and at the same time treat ourselves to a day of wholesome entertainment. We thoroughly enjoyed headliners Doris Daley and her husband Doc Mehl. How many remember them at our MHCP event in 2020 when it was held at the band shell at Kin Coulee Park, outdoors because of Covid restrictions?
Library Corner:
Two books I’ve been reading, all available at the Med. Hat Public Library.
Wild Ride, The History and Lore of Rodeo
ISBN 791.84 BER
The author keeps his readers engaged by organizing rodeo history into chapters with subheading making it easy to refer back. He includes an abundance of archive photos, brief biographies and interesting anecdotes. Most surprising to me was the number of ladies that competed on bucking broncs and bulls alongside men in early rodeos (early 1900’s to the 1940’s). Included are photos of them in the clothing they wore.
Croutons on a Cowpie, Volume II: Cowboy Poetry by Baxter Black
ISBN 811.54 BLA
I am so thankful Baxter Black has left behind a legacy of the best cowboy poetry ever. As usual, this anthology “captures the life of the contemporary cowboy with affection and respectful irreverence,” as noted on the book’s jacket. Each of his poems has an undercurrent of amusement. Cartoon illustrations (by talented cowboys) add to the humor of about each of his poems.
Cowboy Vernacular for Money
- actual – officially coined or stamped metal currency
- bit – 1/8 of a dollar, two bits is a quarter
- cash – money given in coins or notes (not a cheque, money order or IOU)
- chink – coin, ready cash
- Boston dollar – a dollar (presumably because an item that cost a dollar out West might might only be worth a penny in Boston
- buck – a dollar
- chicken feed – small sum of money
- copper – copper coin, money (How much copper you got on you?)
- dough – money (in earlier days both bread and money were essentials in life, without either it was impossible to get by)
- greenbacks – paper money
- hard money – term for coins rather than paper money
- cartwheel – silver dollar
- nest egg – something saved for the future, usually money
- rock dimes – term started when pebbles were used as money
- scuds – money
- slug – a coin of no value
- tin – money (now TIN is a taxpayer’s identification number)
Cowboy Wisdom
- Keeping your word may cost you some money but it’ll never cost you your reputation
- Profits, like prayers, often get put on hold
- Don’t throw good money after bad
- He’s all flash, no cash
- Why is money called “dough”? Because we ‘knead’ it
Poem of the Month
It was in mid February that June Wagman passed away at the age of 83. Her photo, her bio and the poem about her story are in our first book, “Stories From Seniors” (pages 61-63) and a video of her telling the story is on our website, MHCowboyLife.com. Though I never met her in person, I can still hear her voice and see her facial expressions on the video Isaac Wells sent me. For many years our band has entertained once a month at River Ridge. When Covid hit, a way of helping seniors cope with isolation was to interview them, have them remember when. The first two interviews in our “Stories From Seniors” series were captured on Isaac Wells’ cell phone (he’s the recreation director at River Ridge). Since then (and for the past three years) I’ve been doing interviews/visits by telephone.
June Wagman’s story is typical of many: city-raised rural-schoolteacher meets husband there and becomes a farm wife. Typical too are brother/sister relationships and teasing names. I also had a ‘kid name’ and it was boy cousins that teased me with that name because they knew how much I disliked it.
A NAME CAN BE A CURSE
June Wagman’s story put to verse by Jen Zollner
Names can be a blessing, names can be a curse,
I loved to be called June Bug, my brother called me worse.
Now if he'd kept it to himself, but no, he did not;
He'd call me Plug, that awful name, when sister and I fought.
He knew that it would stop us short; he didn't mean no harm,
But did he know he crossed the line telling school boys from the farm?
The dread was hanging over me each day I went to school,
What if those rowdy farm boys use that name instead of June?
This one boy was determined he would get real close to me,
It was one of those crude farm boys, did he smell like bovine tea?
Nor was I encouraging, the town girl that I was;
A teacher in a country school, that was my future cause.
Years later I'm a school ma'rm in the local curling rink,
When who should on the other sheet be giving me a wink.
He was a dairy farmer, oh my fears were long forgotten___
How I felt about those farm boys and the smells I thought were rotten.
Then wife I was, the first one to the barn that stinks like pee,
Had long shut out that awful name my brother gave to me,
When in comes hubby to the barn, a grin upon his face,
I knew with that smug look he had more mischief than a trace.
We'd got a call the day before. Adopt! We'd get our son!
But what he had to say, well I just nearly came undone.
He said, “We need to name our son, want one that likes to hug,
I know you'll like the name I picked, I think we'll call him... Plug!”
Again I was that kid again, my shout did not rehearse,
“Who told on me? I'll have you know, I won't pass on that curse!”
On behalf of the MHCP Board
Enjoy the Sprinter Season (spring/winter)
And Happy Trails!
Jen