Montana native Shann Ray reads from his book American Masculine at Billings YMCA Writers Voice

Not in Wyoming but just a few miles north of the border in Billings:

THE YMCA WRITER’S VOICE presents 2010 BAKELESS PRIZE FOR FICTION WINNER SHANN RAY reading from AMERICAN MASCULINE, 7 p.m., Thursday, July 14, third floor Parmly Billings Library, 510 N. Broadway, Billings, Mont.

American Masculine, is a muscular debut story collection that reconfigures the myths of the American West; a deeply felt and fiercely written ode to the country we left behind. “Ray’s collection has an unsettling power as his roughened characters incrementally come to terms with their humanity, fallibility, and their realized capacity for atonement. This is a highly accomplished and intensely lyrical debut.” – Publishers Weekly

Shann Ray Ferch holds a PhD in psychology from the University of Alberta. His work has appeared in McSweeney’s, Story Quarterly, and other publications. He grew up in Montana, spent part of his childhood on the Northern Cheyenne reservation and was a part of two state championship high school basketball teams at Park High in Livingston, coached by his dad, Tom Ferch. He played college basketball with his brother Kral at Montana State University, then played at Pepperdine University and professionally in Germany.

Zak Pullen unveils painting of Masters Golf Tournament champs Feb. 25 at Corridor Gallery

News from Reed Merschat at the Corridor Gallery:

The Corridor Gallery in downtown Casper announces the completion and debut showing of the "Masters Grip," a painting by Casper artist resident and gallery co-owner Zachary Pullen. On Friday, Feb. 25, Masters Grip will available for viewing to the public for the first time ever. As well as the final painting, the show will also include the work leading up to the final canvas, including all preliminary sketches and layout pencil drawings to completion. Zak is off to the annual Masters Tournament hospitality venue in Augusta, Georgia, this April to announce the unveiling of his latest creation. The painting contains 75 years of history depicting those that helped write it. The public and press are invited to join Zak at the Corridor Gallery for Masters Grip world debut right here in Casper, Wyoming.

Four years ago, professional illustrator and avid golfer Zachary Pullen conceived and began creating Masters Grip. Inspiration for this painting came through a story told of Tiger Woods and Byron Nelson comparing their grips during a champion’s dinner. In 2011, Zachary is happy to announce the completion of a painting culminating his passions into one 72” x 24” canvas. At the center of the painting, seated at a table in the foreground of Amen Corner, a vibrant and expressive Robert Trent Jones, Jr., leads Zak’s rendition of the beautiful Augusta National Golf Course. Around Robert, Zak meticulously integrated the caricature portraits of all 45 professional golfers to date sharing the honor of winning the famed “green jacket." Zak, a professional illustrator for 16 years, has found success with many illustrations and paintings published in such periodicals as Golf World, Sports Illustrated, New York Times Book Review, Esquire, Penthouse, National Geographic Society and many others. In addition to periodicals, Zak’s work has been the content of multiple picture books published by Simon and Schuster, Penguin Putnam and Sleeping Bear Press. Zak has also earned notoriety by his acceptance into The Society of Illustrators and the Communication Arts best in contemporary illustration annual. Masters Grip is a project born for the love of the game. “I’m thrilled to be releasing a new work of art based upon my passions for the culture, personality and history of golf” Zak states.

EVENT DETAILS

Release Title: Masters Grip

Opening Date/Time: February 25, 2011 doors open at 7 p.m., cash bar

Showing: Regular business hours, Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sunday Noon-4 p.m.

Where: The Corridor Gallery 120 East Second Street, Casper, WY 82601

Contact: The Corridor at 307-333-7035 or Zak direct at 307-262-3549

Wyoming State Archives podcast looks back at 1969's "Black 14" controversy

The October 23 football game between the University of Wyoming and Brigham Young brings back memories of the 1960s stand-off between some of the football players and their coach in the proposed protest by the players against the LDS church's then-policy to keep African Americans from holding certain high level positions in the church heirarchy.

The Wyoming State Archives looks back on one of the darkest periods of that history with a podcast featuring a series of interviews revisiting the Black 14 incident of October 1969. The podcast includes comments by long-time Wyoming broadcaster, the late Larry Birleffi; members of the Black 14; and other Wyoming officials.

Birleffi, in an interview conducted during the early 80s, describes to interviewer Mark Junge the social climate of that time, the man that was Coach Lloyd Eaton, and his interpretation of the darkest period of Wyoming football.

Birleffi’s comments along with more recent interviews with others involved with the Black 14 incident are available on the Wyoming State Archives website. They include Dr. Willie Black, then chancellor of the Black Student Alliance; Judge James Barrett, then Wyoming’s Attorney General; and Dr. Michael C. Robinson who was a UW history student, who protested for the football players’ right to protest and then went on to join the LDS church in later years.

Log onto http://www.wyoarchives.org/ and click on “oral histories.” The oral history project is funded by the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund.

Photo of the week: Morgan Tyree

Morgan Tyree of Powell spends his autumns photographing small-town football in Wyoming and Montana. He documents his travels through words and images on his blog. In this photo, Savage freshman Cameron Hough assists teammates in neck drills prior the start of their Montana Class C six-man football game with the visiting Terriers from Terry. See the full-sized version of this photo by going to http://www.flickr.com/photos/mdt1960/5089556017/

"Deeper," new extreme snowboarding film by Teton Gravity Research of Teton Village, debuts in September

Regional tour dates:

9/15/2010, Salt Lake City, Brewvies
9/22/2010, Denver, Oriental Theater
9/23/2010, Boulder, Boulder Theatre
9/24/2010, Fort Collins, Lory Student Center

UW Chicano Studies opens baseball season with stories from the "Sugar Beet League"

From a press release:

The University of Wyoming's Chicano Studies Program will host a public event April 1, celebrating Hispanic contributions to baseball at both the regional and national levels -- a start to the Major League Baseball season.

Adrian Burgos Jr., University of Illinois associate professor of history and author of "Playing America's Game: Baseball, Latinos, and the Color Line," will give a public lecture about sports promoter Alex Pompez at 5 p.m. in the Wyoming Union West Ballroom in Laramie. Pompez helped hundreds of young baseball players from the Caribbean make the leap from sugar cane fields to major league ball fields.

Following Burgos' lecture, Gabe and Jody Lopez, finalists for the 2009 Colorado Rockies Adult Hispanic Leadership Award, will open in Ross Hall their exhibit "From Sugar Beet Fields to Fields of Dreams: Mexican/Spanish Contributions to America's Favorite Pastime."

The exhibit documents the history of the Rocky Mountain Semipro Baseball League, which got its start among Hispanic agricultural workers in the 1920s and quickly spread throughout northern Colorado, southeast Wyoming and western Nebraska.

"It was dubbed the ‘sugar beet league' because it came out of the Spanish colonies built by the Great Western Sugar Company beet field laborers," says Ed Munoz, UW Chicano Studies Program director.

A reception and book signing will take place in Room 109 of Ross Hall, where books by Burgos and the Lopezes will be available for purchase.

"Mexican baseball teams helped solidify Chicano communities during the 20th century," Munoz says. "They provided a break from hard work in the fields or on the railroad and they also served as social and political outlets for the players and their fans."

Through research, the Lopezes have located information about Wyoming baseball teams in Albin, Bitter Creek, Burns, Carpenter, Casper, Cheyenne, Cody, Creston Junction, Hanna, Laramie, Lusk, Newcastle, Piker Spring, Pine Bluffs, Rawlins, Riverton, Sinclair, Superior, Torrington, Wamsutter, Wheatland, Worland and Yoder. The exhibit will be expanded to include some of this information.

"We invite the players and their families to the exhibit to relive their playing days," Gabe Lopez says. "We want to hear their stories."

Event sponsors are the Wyoming Humanities Council, the UW Office of Diversity, Multicultural Affairs, Sigma Lambda Gamma, MEChA, Associated Students of UW, the Social Justice Research Center and KOCA 93.5 FM La Radio Montanesa.

FMI: Contact the UW Chicano Studies Program at Chicano_Studies@uwyo.edu or 307-766-4127.

Photo: The 1943 Cheyenne Lobos played in the Rocky Mountain League.

UW Western Thunder Marching Band rehearsing for New Mexico Bowl appearance

From a UW press release:

They performed at the Sun Bowl in 1958, and later entertained the crowds at the Sugar, Fiesta, Holiday, Copper and Las Vegas bowls.

The University of Wyoming Western Thunder Marching Band (formerly known as the Cowboy Marching Band) will continue the tradition when it leads the crowd in the popular "Ragtime Cowboy Joe" and other songs during the Dec. 19 New Mexico Bowl in Albuquerque, N.M.

The 153-member band, led by Director Brad Williamson, will rehearse Wednesday in UW's indoor practice facility, before heading to Albuquerque the next day.

"It's nice to reward them with this opportunity after they've worked so hard this semester," says Williamson. "We appreciate the athletic department's efforts to make this happen."

Western Thunder features musicians from nearly every major on campus. They started the season the week before classes began in the fall. Students learned drills and practiced music for the season, and learned about the band's pride, spirit, and tradition.

During the school year, practices are held during class hours and on game days. The band plays at every home football game and travels with the football teams on some road trips.

Negro League's Mack Pride visits Casper as part of library's baseball exhibit

"Pride and Passion: The African-American Baseball Experience" will be at Natrona County Public Library in downtown Casper through Jan. 15. It's open to the public during regular library hours.

Mack Pride, one-time pitcher for the Kansas City Monarchs and Memphis Red Sox, came to Casper Thursday at the opening of the traveling exhibit which chronicles African-American participation in baseball from the Civil War era through integration and into modern times.

The exhibit is co-sponsored by the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., and the American Library Association. The Casper exhibit is funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The dramatic re-enactment of Jackie Robinson's Life will be resented at the library on Wednesday, Nov. 18, 6:30 p.m., by actor Gregory Gibson Kenney.

FMI: http://www.natronacountylibrary.org/

arts + skiing = economic revitalization

The following article by Tessa Schweigert appeared in today's edition of the Powell Tribune. The grand opening of the Plaza Diane Community Center for the Arts will be held Thursday (today), Aug. 27, 6-10 p.m. at the corner of 2nd and Bent in Powell. Dance music by The Fireants from Buffalo, a group on the WAC's artist roster. "Powell's Portraits" exhibit will be in the gallery, featuring the artwork of John Giarizzo and and poetry by Burt Bradley. This collaboration portrays the lives of long-time area residents. The event is free and open to the public. Wine, beer, soda and food will be available for purchase.

Here's the article:

Throughout the past year, money, sweat, hours, ink and dedication have gone into two major revitalization projects in Park County. This week, both projects — a downtown art center and a North Fork ski slope — are gaining steam.

Powell residents will celebrate completion of the Plaza Diane/Community Center for the Arts renovation with a grand opening event today (Thursday). The World War II-era filling station underwent a major facelift over the past year, thanks to a grant from the Wyoming Business Council and private donations. The downtown space was revamped to become an indoor/outdoor venue for organized events, such as art shows and classes, or impromptu get-togethers, such as afternoon picnics.

The plaza’s namesake, Diane Bonner, was an advocate for economic and cultural advancement in Powell. With the commitment of residents young and old, the community arts center has the potential to rejuvenate the downtown area for years to come.

As Powell celebrates Plaza Diane’s completion, another revitalization project outside of Cody also is being recognized this week. The Sleeping Giant ski area on the North Fork is the subject of a National Geographic show highlighting its restoration. Film crews captured helicopters flying the new ski-lift towers into place. The ski area’s opening is slated for this fall, and residents countywide have worked toward making it a successful, profitable destination for recreation.

Both Plaza Diane and Sleeping Giant could have become forgotten eyesores. Rather than decaying, they will be places of new life — where locals and tourists alike can gather and enjoy an art exhibit or an afternoon of skiing.

The dedicated residents, who formed nonprofit groups, raised funding and toiled to reopen better versions of each project deserve, recognition and thanks for their commitment to revitalize valued community spaces.