Sisters folks trek to Elko for 'Gathering'

Every year at the end of January, a sizeable contingent of folks from Sisters hits the snow-blown highways headed for a little city in the middle of the high desert of Nevada.

They gladly make the 10-hour drive to Elko, Nevada, for the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, which just finished its 24th annual event January 26-February 2. The Gathering, commonly known simply as "Elko," features the finest poets and musicians of a thriving subculture of Western art in a week-long celebration of ranching culture.

It is an international event; each year there is a cultural exchange. This year, the visiting ranching culture represented Sonora, Mexico, which was a thrill for Rossy Gomez-Pullig of Sisters.

"It's super special," she said. "Couldn't be better."

Sonoran ranchers participated in symposia on ranching, demonstrated Sonoran ranch skills, including tortilla-making, and screened a powerful documentary on the history of the Sonora vaquero. Sonoran musicians also performed the running ballads known as corridos, the signature folk music style of Sonora, Chihuahua and the Tex-Mex border region.

Gomez-Pullig, who has attended Elko for the past six years, brought her husband along this year. Jeff Pullig said the event measured up to all he has heard about it from Rossy and her friends.

"Other than the weather, I think it's spectacular," he said.

Rossy, whose family owns a 40-acre ejido (landholding) in Sonora near Hermosillo, was moved by the chance to connect with her native culture.

"I almost cried during the movie," she said.

Dick and Trudi Kalac have been going to Elko for six years running.

"We enjoy the music, the poetry, the comedy and the tears," Trudi said. "I love it all. I love that you can go from one thing to another all day long."

Dick Kalac got some business done on the way to Elko, stopping in Winnemucca to call on a client for his horse tack business. It is, after all, genuine horse country.

The celebration of the remnants of an authentic American folk culture is part of the attraction.

Laurene Fitzjarrel has been coming to Elko for five years to enjoy "the culture that most people are not fortunate enough to see and hear."

For more information on the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, visit http://www.westernfolklife.org.