More shots from Winterset, Iowa and the big 100th birthday celebration at the John Wayne Birthplace. Here's the director of the gift shop, Carolyn Wilson, on Friday, when I walked in to touch base with her. She told me she was up at 3 A.M. and looked quite fried. Meanwhile, out in the store, the place was full of people like this (below right) who were buying everything in sight. My unofficial, random polling indicates that the fans were spending about $100 per person, with more than a few in the $1,000 range, and it wasn't all men. At the Friday night dinner I sat next to a couple, Nick and Terry Schaub, who started the statue fund several years ago (which led to the unveiling on Saturday). They have a tricked out van with John Wayne scenes painted on every square inch of the vehicle, and here's the kicker: Terry is the John Wayne nut. On their first date, she picked the movie, a John Wayne Western of course.
Also at the dinner, I fell in love with the trio "Carin Mari and Pony Express" who played as we were getting seated. The little band consists of two brothers and a sister, from Buena Vista, Colorado. The lead singer, Carin, is 16 (and she was discovered by Michael Martin Murphy); the mandolin player, Colin, 15; and Evan, the bass player, is 12. One of their songs, "Buckaroo Man," made me grin (great song) and I went up and asked if they had a CD. Went right out in the hall and paid $15 for "Old Log Barn" which has the Buckaroo Man tune on it, then proceeded to play it in my rental car over and over (I am quite obsessive when it comes to tunes I like) all the way to Des Moines and back to Winterset. Check them out at:
www.carinmarimusic.com
I met their parents (below) and we had a nice talk the next day at the fairgrounds. Mom is an artist and dad is a land surveyor (and harp player), so we had a whole bunch to compare about rear chainmen and drummers, both of which I was at one time.
"Communication is best achived when pictures and words reinforce each other, when they can be made to work in concert."
—Angus McDougall
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