The Championship Wool Riders

story and video by Michael Orton


Mt. Pleasant - the "Hub City

It wasn't ancient Crete, with its bull dancers or even Pamplona where the same adrenaline presides over the festival at St. Fermin, but if you were there, at a city in the American west that's only 150 years old this month, then you might want to be a real part of the celebration. That might include having your Dad escort you to the bucking chutes, where HE might have been before that saddle bronc tried to wipe him off on the fence and he ended up with all those pins in his leg. Or, you might be there with your grandma who still lives on the family farm nearby, even if you don't.

As in life, you don't get to choose how your ride goes... most often it's the luck of the draw. But the adrenaline and the pure guts of it are yours to own, and in the end you have the satisfaction of understanding that the crowd was cheering for only you, as you left the gate riding like hell-bent-for-leather.

Or wool.

~grin~

Snow College Hosts Julliard Jazz, Again

Ephraim, UTAH --

Scott Wilson is on a roll. Could be a drum roll into a cymbal crash, but he specializes in brass. For another year, this Snow College prof and his little-known college in central Utah hosted New York's Juilliard school and, once again, came up with some high notes. In addition to workshops for students enrolled in the department, a Tuesday night concert (last night) has become one of Utah's best-kept secrets, KUER's Steve Williams' prolific endorsements notwithstanding.

The mountains, the academic environment, the student body all prompted a former New York City musician/presenter to declare, "Man, this is abundant."