a

Castlegar News

SECTION

Dears
Boys and |
Girls...

News has agreed
to be my helper
this year and
receive letters
from you to me.

.-These letters will
be published ina
special edition on
December 12, in
plenty of time for |
me to read them.

In your BEST
handwriting (or 4
printing), write j

your letter
to Santa
and mail it to:

Santa Claus,
co/Castlegar News,
Box 3007,
Castlegar, B.C.
VIN 3H4

Or, you may drop off
your letter at the Castlegar
News at 197 Columbia Ave

Be sure it is mailed so | receive it by noon on Dec. 12. Remember to be id
boys and girls and mind your parents. I'm starting my list right oe

‘
Love,

P.S. Be sure to put your name and age at the bottom of your letter

The Castlegar 4

By CLAUDETTE SANDECKI
Staff Writer

commit them to paper.

Slocan Park's
Jake Conkin
breaking a trail

The life of a cowboy has been‘greatly romanticized by
Hollywood, cowboy poet Gerry (Jake) Conkin says. The silver screen
likes to emphasize shootouts — not a big part of the average cowboy’s
daily life — and few movies show cowboys getting up at 3 a.m. or
performing caesarean births during calving time, he says.

But Conkin says when he writes he tries to “‘stand back and pull
some romance’’ out of the ‘‘real cowboy life.””

Conkin lives that real cowboy life for parts of each year when he
travels to the Douglas Lake Cattle Co. ranch near Merritt to ride the
ranges and drive cattle with full-time cowboys or ‘‘buckaroos.””

Conkin says he gets a sense of freedom and independence when
he’s riding the 500-square-kilometre ranch. Then he returns to the Old
Cutter Ranch, his Slocan Park home, to recall his experiences and

Conkin, 52, a former elementary school teacher and
administrator who retired at 48 “mainly because of burnout,”” points
out that cowboy poetry is ‘‘much less sophisticated"’ than many classic
forms of the art. Cowboy poetry is basically storytelling in rhyme that
come out of the traditional cowboy life where there isn’t much to do
around the campfire at night but tell tall tales, he says.

This new type of poetry, which aims to preserve the sights,
sounds and feelings of the buckaroo lifestyle, is in its infancy in North
America. The art form was started in the mid-1980s by a group of
folklorists in Salt Lake City, Utah, and the first gathering of cowboy
poets and their fans took place in Elko, Nev., in 1985.

Since then, the genre has “‘spread like wildfire’’ throughout the
U.S. and is now catching on in Alberta and B.C., Conkin says.

Conkin, who uses his childhood nickname **Jake”’ as a nom de
plume, says he must be B.C.’s first official cowboy poet. There are
few in B.C. so far — maybe half a dozen, he says.

Cowboy poet Jake Conkin surrounds himself with imoges of the cowboy tradition he writes about and lives
when he ride the range with full-time cowboys on a ranch near Merritt, B.C. cosrews photo by Cloudere Sondeck:

He has been a feature poet at a number of U.S. and Alberta
cowboy poetry and is now ing the first official
cowboy poetry gathering in B.C. The event is planned for May 24-25
at the O’Keefe Historical Ranch north of Vernon. The focus will be
on B.C., Alberta and other Canadian cowboy poets, he says.

Although he only began putting his thoughts on paper in the
form of poems a few years ago, Conkin says he has been interested in
cowboys for much of his Kfe, beginning with the love of horses
instilled in him as a child when he followed his grandfather around
tending the animals on the property where Conkin’s log cabin now
stands.

Conkin still has horses and he has surrounded himself with
paintings, posters, statues and memorabilia commemorating the
buckaroo tradition. He also has a complete set of riding gear, from

the hat to the spurs, which he wears at Douglas Lake, as well as pieces

he wears for special occasions.
He says he thinks cowboys will ‘‘always be there in one form or

another’’ since there is land, particularly in the United States, that is
not good for anything but grazing cattle.

Ranches have not become as mechanized as soom people may
believe, he says. Many large ranches still work in the traditional ways,
even to the point of using chuck wagoris, he says.

And he says while North Americans are tending to cut down on
their beef consumption, people in the Orient have discovered beef and
the meat is gaining popularity in that part of the world.

Conkin also sees cowboy poetry growing in popularity. He says
cowboy readings have attracted some well-known people, such as
Canadian actor Richard Farnsworth and American actress Brooke
Shields.

The interest is probably partially due to the people’s desire for
tradition in the face of an ever-changing world, he says.

It may also be linked to the growing concern over the
‘environment, Conkin says. Cowboys are dependent on nature and
please see CONKIN page C4

Red Cross eyes help for
international services

By CasNews Staff a

When disaster strikes somewhere
in the world, the Canadian Red
Cross Society is there to help. That
help can come in a number of forms,
including raising money for those in
need or locating missing relatives and
friends of people in Canada.

But since the B.C. division of the
Red Cross set up regional offices and
shifted the focus of its work from
Vancouver, the international services
program has not received as much
attention as it needs, said Cam
Matheson, international services
program coordinator in Vancouver.

To rectify the situation, Matheson
has been travelling to the regional
offices and talking with Red Cross
volunteers in the hope that some of
them will choose to become involved
in international services. Matheson
was in the Kootenays on Saturday
for a meeting in Trail with this
region’s volunteers.

Having more intnerational services
volunteers working in the region will
mean the Red Cross in the
Kootenays will be better prepared to
handle global emergencies, said
Kootenay regional director Gary
Ockenden.

Groups and ethnic communities in

CAM MATHESON
...on the read

the area can be contacted before a
need for fundraising arises and when
an emergency does come up, the Red
Cross can help concerned groups be
more involved in aiding the victims,

Ockenden said. The society can also
go back to the groups and tell them
what their money was used for, he
added.

Besides fundraising, volunteers are

also needed for the tracing and

reunion program in the area, Ocken-
said.

The Kootenays has only one per-
son in Creston who helps regional
residents find loved ones in far-away
places, he said. The Red Cross would
like to have someone running the
program in each major community,
Ockenden said.

Volunteers can also provide the
general public with a more com-
prehensive understanding of the Red
Cross an emergency or disaster for
which the Red Cross is raising funds
and explain the circumstances of the
emergency, Ockenden said. For
example, volunteers can speak to
church groups or make classroom
visits to local school children, he

Matheson said he hopes to return
to the Kootenays in the spring with
the division's tracing and reunion
coordinator to provide in-depth
training to any volunteers who
choose to become involved in the in-
ternational services program.

After a seemingly successful
start, this year’s United Way
fundraising campaign has hit a
serious obstacle, with some areas
giving one-third or half less than
last year.

Right now, the campaign is
$10,000 behind last year’s total,
the United Way says.

“Everything seemed to indicate
that this was going to be a turn-
around year, where we
reach our goal for the first time
ever,’ Bert Rourke, campaign
chairman, said in a news release
“We were shocked to see the
lower level of contributions and

United Way fundraising
campaign hits snag

we're very worried that we'll have

to cut the money to agencies that

provide services in Castlegar.””
Rourke said he knows many

ina
their
donation this year.

“Many of your neighbors have
had to cut their donations in half
because they’re in a tight money
situation right now,” he said.
“We know they'll be back in
when they’re able, but we need

~ 7331 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m

delayed. Rourke said many
people outside Castlegar phone
in, saying the envelope they

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usually receive had not shown
up.

“If you usually give through
the mail, please contact us and
‘we'll get the mailer to you if you
haven't received it," Rourke
said.

The situation is critical because sie inka i
some member agencies may have recetve $2.00 off a min-
to cut back in services next year ppt ty acre
without the usual funding, he

Not to be co
with any other
gasoline discount
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gasoline, plus FREE git wrap Mohawk stations , FREE gift wrap

[ecteapln onty per purchase Expiry date December 15,1990 : toe
said. S

People can contact the United
Way office in Castlegar at 365

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