Head’em
up move’em out!
Get your Stage tickets, gather up the wagons, pull out the
buckboard, hop the old Union Pacific, saddle up your horse.
Head for
Jean NV From
April 30th
to
May
2nd,
2010.
Find out how the real Las Vegas was started.... Long before
the flashing lights, the Marquees, and the big name draws.
That’s right The
Reenactment Guild of America and
Gold Strike Hotel & Gambling Hall want to offer you a big
HOWDEEEEEEE....and welcome you to the first Southwest gathering
of the “Old West“; Jean Nevada Style.
This event holds the promise that the
streets of Old Jean, Nevada will have you stepping back to days
long passed. Gunfighters, Chuck Wagons, Living History
Encampments include Mountain Men,
Native
Americans…. Teepees’ and all.
Click to
continue this story
Many of the groups I talked to were looking forward to
Goldstrike and the competition it is going to provide. New
faces, new groups and new formats provide a new found excitement
in the reenactment arena.
I was able to corner
the officers of the Reenactment Guild of America and they
offered an exceptional insight to the RGA.
Do you have a comment or idea for publication? Please submit it
to
publisher@wildwestgazette.com
for submission.
Judging Events by RGA
- Gary Burden (Cody) deputy director of the
Reenactment Guild of
America
(RGA) took a few minutes from his busy schedule to
provide the Wild West Gazette his perspective on this new,
effective, organization. RGA is about 4 years old and is:
an organization of Living Historians,
Educators, Entertainers
and Reenactors dedicated to the preservation of and
education regarding the History of America's 19th Century,
primarily but not restricted to the American Old West.
Cody has been a
re-enactor since 1994 and judged numerous contests throughout
those years.
Accurate portrayal is a major judging objective of the RGA.
Costumes need to be as authentic as possible in order to present
to the public an accurate representation of life in the 1800’s;
therefore, unbiased judging is required.
Rules are consistent, a
major element in unbiased judging. Non competitors, (during that
event) students of history, and western enthusiasts are great
candidates to be judges at RGA events.
Cody explained the
process as follows. Each judge is provided a score sheet. The
judge then scores the contestant, skit etc… using his/her
experience and agreed upon rules, posted on the RGA website.
The contestant, who
performs proper research, creates an authentic costume, follows
the RGA rules, especially safety; has a great chance at the 1st
place prize. A wonderful aspect of this organization and the
judging is that everyone, from novice the master, has an equal
chance based on the degree of authenticity the contestant has
developed into the character portrayed. Characters can be real
or fictional as long as they portray the ‘era’ represented. An
example is a gunslinger of the 1860’s era cannot be wearing an
1870’s era Colt Revolver.
Skits require scripts,
blocking, and acting. The “Actors” need to act out the skit, not
just shoot for the sake of shooting. Judging of the skits uses
these elements to determine the best skits.
Once the event is
closed the judges score sheets are handed to the people who
compile the scores and a winner is determined. Judges do not
confer with anyone, especially each other, and each sheet is
tallied. The highest score wins. This seems to me to be
non-political and unbiased judging.
|
 For 12 years'
Gunfighters’ have been invited to the Yuma Territorial Prison
to compete for prizes and the honor of being the best in the
southwest as a group and for individual prizes.
Texas, New Mexico, California Nevada and Utah gunfighters have
combined with Arizona gunfighter groups to create one of the
largest events in the Southwest;
‘The
Gathering of Gunfighters at Yuma.’
This
12th year was more exciting than the previous events.
Thirteen was a lucky number for this exceptional RGA event,
because 13 seasoned, well scripted, blocked action skits
competed for the top prize of.....
Click
to continue this story
Boots and Bustles
A Day at the
Gathering
of
Gunfighters
Somewhere in the middle of a long stretch of peaceful desert
between Prescott
and Quartzite my husband suddenly yells “Oh CRAP!” from the
passenger seat next to me. “What, WHAT? I yell as I slam on
the brakes, thinking we are about to hit something. “I
just realized I forgot to pack my watch!” As my heart rate
returns to normal, and I re-apply pressure to the gas pedal,
I assume my calmest “good wife” voice and ask, “Are you
sure?” It won’t be until we unload the car at the hotel in
Yuma
– our destination for the 12th annual Gathering
of the Gunfighters - that I will realize I have also
forgotten a “vital” item of clothing, which for the sake of
modesty, shall remain un-mentioned here.
Dale and I are members of a
shiny new re-enactment group called the Boots and Bustles, and
we’re anxious to make a good showing with both costumes and
skits at the weekend’s events. There have already been months of
preparation for the skit competition; writing the skits, casting
the parts, and performing endless rehearsals. And then there is
the matter of costuming. Two of our newest members didn’t seem
to grasp the concept of period-correct attire, or the fact that
their clothing must match the characters they had chosen to
play. Our bartender wanted to dress up like a cowboy, and one of
our widows had selected an outfit suitable for a saloon girl. At
this point, diplomacy – by necessity – had been refined to a
fine art.
Soon after we arrive, we gather
at the Yuma Prison and everyone gets their first look at where
we will be performing. Everything must be played out so that the
judges and audience will be able to see and hear us; no small
feat, we realize, as a train rumbles by for nearly 15 minutes
just on the other side of the wall behind us.
Saturday morning is crisp as we arrive, though nothing close to
the sub-freezing temperatures we are used to waking up to in Prescott. The vendors are
busy opening up their booths, and the smell of coffee wafts
across the prison yard from the food concession. We all step
into the courtyard on the far side of the museum to practice.
“Now hold on just a dern minute there Sam! What have you got to
offer a sweet little thing like this? You and Marsha live out
there by Lynx creek in a run-down old miner’s cabin.”
By the end of the weekend all of our hard work and preparation
had paid off. The Boots and Bustles took away 14 awards between
the skits and the costume contests, and we discovered that we
missed taking the third-place trophy by a mere two points. Only
17 points separated the first-place group and the Boots and
Bustles. It is probably a good thing that we didn’t take home a
trophy our first time out, or there would have been no living
with us. As it is, we are already writing new skits and making
plans for next year. What a ride!
All told, the best part of the
weekend was the opportunity to meet and mingle with the other
groups. New contacts and friendships begun at the gathering
carry the promise of future events and competitions, and
conversations about costumes, shootin’ irons, and how the judges
make decisions enrich the time we spend. Most importantly, there
is a sense that what we are doing will help ensure our old west
history will be kept alive for the next generation.
Sue McDonald, AKA Fannie Bashford Chairperson –
Boots and Bustles
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Gathering of the Gunfighters
Friday Jan 8th 2010
Saturday Jan 9th 2010
More Pictures of Gathering of the gunfighters
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