Young performers a popular addition to Echoes festival

Echoes of the Trail organizers roped in about 650 people over the weekend for the 11th annual western-themed cowboy festival at Fort Scott Community College.

Patrons came from as far as Sioux Falls, S.D., but most of the attendees hailed from the four-state (Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Misssouri) area, Howser said. Organizers originally wanted to advertise more in a larger market such as the Kansas City area, but high costs of advertising in that area kept them from doing so, Howser said. The event will be able to grow tremendously when knowledge of the festival gets out to more people in larger surrounding cities, she said.

"We need to advertise more and it will really grow," she said. "We haven't tapped a lot of possibilities in that (K.C.) area."

Other than many new people who attend the festival each year, Howser said Echoes of the Trail is also a "fellowship" for frequent attendees and performers to enjoy the camaraderie with friends, many of whom have not seen or talked to each other in a year.

Various cowboy poets and musicians performed on stages throughout the weekend, while patrons were able to browse western art and then head outside to enjoy chuck wagon cooking as it was done on the trails of the Old West. A live auction of student welding art, which only saw one entry this year, was conducted Saturday evening.

Brooke Combs, a student at Fort Scott High School, received a $50 prize for her entry, which featured an image of a cowboy and cowgirl on a horseshoe, Howser said. Combs will also receive 75 percent of the price for which the piece is sold at the auction, which was $47.50, she said. FSHS art teacher Ellen Kendrick judged Combs' artwork. Howser said organizers have discussed the need to announce the competition at an earlier date next year, in hopes of receiving more entries.

The Echoes of the Trail Cowboy Poetry Contest, however, saw 13 entries from area elementary school children. From those entries, the Echoes of the Trail Steering Committee took much time and consideration to choose first, second and third place winners. First place winner Monica Hershey, a student at Winfield Scott Elementary in Fort Scott, recited her poem, "Western Wind Blow," receiving a hearty round of applause. Jayden Rusher, a student at Haderlein Elementary School in Girard, won second place with her poem, "Ropin Rosie," which she recited to an enthusiastic audience. Third place winner Allison Parsons recited her original poem, "Sure Shootin' Girl," receiving an exuberant audience response.

Co-organizer Gary Wimmer said the committee was pleased with the number of area grade school student entries to the contest, which was new to the festival this year.

"We're looking forward to doing this again next year," he said.

One of the highlights of Saturday afternoon's performance occurred during the open microphone session when brothers Aiden and Craig Wilkerson, ages 11 and 7 years old respectively, took the stage and performed several numbers on their fiddles with cowboy musician and Echoes co-founder Johnny Kendrick accompanying them on the guitar. Aiden had performed during the Echoes open mike session in 2006. Both boys are from the Uniontown area.

Kendrick said it was a surprise when Aiden, who came up to the stage and performed first, called on his younger brother to come up and join him.

"That's very encouraging to me to see these young guys up here, playing "old timey" music," Kendrick said with a grin.

In the opening show, Friday night, Kendrick performed with two other young musicians, his sons Jackson and Sam Kendrick. Jackson, a Pittsburg State University student, sang and played guitar with his father, and Sam played the fiddle. Their performance drew cheers and applause from the audience, many of whose members have watched both Kendrick sons grow up over the years. Sam is a student at Fort Scott Middle School.

Kara Comstock, a student cowboy poet at Truman Elementary School in Nevada, Mo., braved the often daunting prospect of stepping up to the microphone alone and received a lively round of applause for her performance.

Despite the rain on Sunday morning, the performers took their cowboy church service inside, where audience members joined them for inspirational worship in song and prayer.

Ticket prices for the event this year were $15 for adults, while children 12 years of age and younger received free admission. Senior citizens were able to purchase two tickets for $20. All proceeds from the festival go toward planning the following year's event.

Despite an increase in admission prices, and other factors that could might have deterred people from traveling to the event this year, planners still said the weekend was a success.

"I think the parking lot was full all the time," co-organizer and committee member Judy Howser said. "I was really worried, because gas prices are up and we raised our prices -- it was good, if not better than ever."