|
|
|
Nearly 400 people packed the Koshare Kiva Saturday to hear Baxter Black, America’s most recognizable cowboy poet and storyteller, perform a benefit for the Not 1 More Acre organization.
Not 1 More Acre has filed a lawsuit in federal district court in Denver to stop the U.S. Army from expanding Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site. Briefs have been filed in district court and are being reviewed by Judge Richard Matsch, who hasn’t issued a statement on how he might let the case proceed.
The event Saturday night, though, was to help the threesome who started Not 1 More Acre – rancher Mack Louden, Jim Herrwll from Otero Junior College, and Jean Aguerre from the Trinidad area – offset the tremendous costs in fighting the legal battles in court.
They enlisted the aid of Kerry Lewis, daughter of Kimmi Lewis, to organize the event. Lewis said that with all the other events going on in the area, including the Kids Rodeo and Lincoln County Fair, she wasn’t certain how the event she organized would turn out.
“But I thoughr it went really well; better than expected,” Kerry Lewis said. “I had a lot of people come up to me and ask how they could help. I told them to make a donation. It would help offset the legal expenses.”
Louden, Aguerre and Herrell got a standing ovation when they were introduced by Black, who spent nearly two hours on stage telling his hilarious stories, all in poetic format, and making people laugh until they had tears in their eyes.
A former veterinarian who practiced for 13 years, Black now spends the greater portion of his time performing across America, writing books and his syndicated column, which appears on a weekly basis in the Ag Journal. He resides in Benson, Ariz., with his extended family and claims he still doesn’t own a television or a cell phone.
He compared the proposed expansion of Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site, to the failed attempt of former Gov. Richard Lamm to import water from the San Luis Valley to the Denver Metropolitan area in the 1980s, “so they wouldn’t have to build a dam in one of their canyons (on the South Platte River) west of Denver.”
“This type of deal isn’t new at all,” Black said.
The biggest difference Army officials who have proposed expanding its 238,000-acre maneuver site in Las Animas County is that, “They will look you in the eye and tell you, ‘It’s not personal.”
“Anytime you put up with your land being taken, you tell them, 'It’s personal,'” Black said. “We are of the land ... from the glimmer of hope in our parents’ eyes to the grave.”
Black said it’s personal because the land forces those who own it to take care of it daily. It is the focus of their livelihood.
In that vein, the crowd gave a standing ovation to the FFA group of students from Hoehne. Their instructor, Steve Karspect, and Kim FFA instructor Lee Hollingsworth, were credited with making a huge impact on the Colorado Legislature this year when it was considering an act that would ban the State Land Board from selling or leasing its land to the Army as part of the expansion. The act was sponsored by State Reps. Wes McKinley and Sal Pace and carried in the Senate by Ken Kester. FFA Members like John Sherhorn said he and his family might have lost all their land to the Army, so they went to the capital to protest the expansion and testify for McKinley's bill.
It passed overwhelmingly and was signed into law by Gov. Bill Ritter this summer, thanks in great part, McKinley said, to the testimony of the FFA students.
McKinley and his campaign trail fellow guitartist Billy Whitfield performed country songs for about a half-hour before the Not 1 More Acre founders were introduced and Black came on stage to perform.
There were ranchers and farmers from across Eastern Colorado, and from other states, too, who came to the event to support the cause.
John Reid, who ranches north of Ordway, said he was there "just to support the ranchers in Pinon Canyon so they can control their own destiny. This freedom to farm and ranch certainly to us represents the heart of America. We don’t want to lose that.”
Ken Schweizer from Rocky Ford said he knows what expansion of PCMS “would do to our valley. It doesn’t look like it would directly hurt us, but it would. It would destroy our area.”
Louden said the event was merely a “fun get-together.” But turning serious and pointing to the crowd he said, “Look at all the people united against this. We are here tonight to catch our breath and wait for the next round. It’s not over, not by a long way.
“We’ll keep pressing on with legislation to stop this thing once and for all,” Louden said. “Our coalition keeps growing and growing all the time. As people hear about what the Army has proposed, the tell is that it just can’t be right.”
Louden said in the ranching world, a person’s word is their bond. That’s not so with the Army, though. he added.
“They said they’d never be back for more land, and there’d be no live fire at the site. They broke both of those promises,” he said. “That’s what makes people in the ranching community so mad, because our word is our bond.”
Louden and the Not 1 More Acre group recognized members of the Pinon Canyon Expansion Opposition Coalition for laying the groundwork first in the fight. They also recognized the Indenpendent Cattlemen’s Association for buying a large group of tickets to support the cause.
In addition to hearing Black, McKinley and Whittfield perform, Not 1 More Acre had John Campbell, president of Winter Livestock, conduct a live auction that raised thousands of dollars, and the Koshare Kiva museum was filled with dozens of items donated by artists that were sold by silent auction. Lewis said he hadn’t compiled a list of how much the total event raised, but noted the turnout, the live auction and the silent auction helped the cause considerably.
Nearly 400 people packed the Koshare Kiva Saturday to hear Baxter Black, America’s most recognizable cowboy poet and storyteller, perform a benefit for the Not 1 More Acre organization.
Not 1 More Acre has filed a lawsuit in federal district court in Denver to stop the U.S. Army from expanding Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site. Briefs have been filed in district court and are being reviewed by Judge Richard Matsch, who hasn’t issued a statement on how he might let the case proceed.
The event Saturday night, though, was to help the threesome who started Not 1 More Acre – rancher Mack Louden, Jim Herrwll from Otero Junior College, and Jean Aguerre from the Trinidad area – offset the tremendous costs in fighting the legal battles in court.
They enlisted the aid of Kerry Lewis, daughter of Kimmi Lewis, to organize the event. Lewis said that with all the other events going on in the area, including the Kids Rodeo and Lincoln County Fair, she wasn’t certain how the event she organized would turn out.
“But I thoughr it went really well; better than expected,” Kerry Lewis said. “I had a lot of people come up to me and ask how they could help. I told them to make a donation. It would help offset the legal expenses.”
Louden, Aguerre and Herrell got a standing ovation when they were introduced by Black, who spent nearly two hours on stage telling his hilarious stories, all in poetic format, and making people laugh until they had tears in their eyes.
A former veterinarian who practiced for 13 years, Black now spends the greater portion of his time performing across America, writing books and his syndicated column, which appears on a weekly basis in the Ag Journal. He resides in Benson, Ariz., with his extended family and claims he still doesn’t own a television or a cell phone.
He compared the proposed expansion of Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site, to the failed attempt of former Gov. Richard Lamm to import water from the San Luis Valley to the Denver Metropolitan area in the 1980s, “so they wouldn’t have to build a dam in one of their canyons (on the South Platte River) west of Denver.”
“This type of deal isn’t new at all,” Black said.
The biggest difference Army officials who have proposed expanding its 238,000-acre maneuver site in Las Animas County is that, “They will look you in the eye and tell you, ‘It’s not personal.”
“Anytime you put up with your land being taken, you tell them, 'It’s personal,'” Black said. “We are of the land ... from the glimmer of hope in our parents’ eyes to the grave.”
Black said it’s personal because the land forces those who own it to take care of it daily. It is the focus of their livelihood.
In that vein, the crowd gave a standing ovation to the FFA group of students from Hoehne. Their instructor, Steve Karspect, and Kim FFA instructor Lee Hollingsworth, were credited with making a huge impact on the Colorado Legislature this year when it was considering an act that would ban the State Land Board from selling or leasing its land to the Army as part of the expansion. The act was sponsored by State Reps. Wes McKinley and Sal Pace and carried in the Senate by Ken Kester. FFA Members like John Sherhorn said he and his family might have lost all their land to the Army, so they went to the capital to protest the expansion and testify for McKinley's bill.
It passed overwhelmingly and was signed into law by Gov. Bill Ritter this summer, thanks in great part, McKinley said, to the testimony of the FFA students.
McKinley and his campaign trail fellow guitartist Billy Whitfield performed country songs for about a half-hour before the Not 1 More Acre founders were introduced and Black came on stage to perform.
There were ranchers and farmers from across Eastern Colorado, and from other states, too, who came to the event to support the cause.
John Reid, who ranches north of Ordway, said he was there "just to support the ranchers in Pinon Canyon so they can control their own destiny. This freedom to farm and ranch certainly to us represents the heart of America. We don’t want to lose that.”
Ken Schweizer from Rocky Ford said he knows what expansion of PCMS “would do to our valley. It doesn’t look like it would directly hurt us, but it would. It would destroy our area.”
Louden said the event was merely a “fun get-together.” But turning serious and pointing to the crowd he said, “Look at all the people united against this. We are here tonight to catch our breath and wait for the next round. It’s not over, not by a long way.
“We’ll keep pressing on with legislation to stop this thing once and for all,” Louden said. “Our coalition keeps growing and growing all the time. As people hear about what the Army has proposed, the tell is that it just can’t be right.”
Louden said in the ranching world, a person’s word is their bond. That’s not so with the Army, though. he added.
“They said they’d never be back for more land, and there’d be no live fire at the site. They broke both of those promises,” he said. “That’s what makes people in the ranching community so mad, because our word is our bond.”
Louden and the Not 1 More Acre group recognized members of the Pinon Canyon Expansion Opposition Coalition for laying the groundwork first in the fight. They also recognized the Indenpendent Cattlemen’s Association for buying a large group of tickets to support the cause.
In addition to hearing Black, McKinley and Whittfield perform, Not 1 More Acre had John Campbell, president of Winter Livestock, conduct a live auction that raised thousands of dollars, and the Koshare Kiva museum was filled with dozens of items donated by artists that were sold by silent auction. Lewis said he hadn’t compiled a list of how much the total event raised, but noted the turnout, the live auction and the silent auction helped the cause considerably.
