The Spirit of the Old West Alive Bob Boze Bell Interview
Featured November 19th at Bison Western Museum
The 3000 Club Food Rescue benefits from auction
(SCOTTSDALE) – The Spirit of the Old West Alive lecture series continued November 19th, the second in the series to honor people who have “kept the spirit of the old west alive”. Bob Boze Bell Executive Editor of True West Magazine was center stage and offered some candid insight to events never before discussed as he was interviewed about his life and times in Arizona.
“I don’t know if I can say this if there are kids in the audience,” Bell sheepishly confided. His story continued about how the “P” word got one of his books pulled from a bookstore for indecency when a customer complained. The audience laughed at the absurdity of the situation and at the endless quips Bell let loose in the 2 hours on stage.
The Spirit of the Old West Alive (SOWA) was founded by LeeAnn Sharpe with the purpose of collecting oral histories. “Too often we see the passing of significant people in our history without their stories being recorded. It means so much more to hear their stories directly from the individual. To hear their voice, to see their body language and pick up on their personality,” Sharpe comments. These video taped interviews will be available as DVD’s and online for research.
Why Bell? “We have to honor those people who have impacted our western experience. Bob Boze Bell has written a number of books on old west characters, created western art, and brought a publication, True West, back to life and introduced the history of the west to a whole new generation.”
Bison Western Museum is an excellent partner in the SOWA program as their goal is also related to gathering history of the southwest. The lectures are presented in their theatre seating 125 people. With the gorgeous museum upstairs for guests to explore while enjoying a buffet of hor d’ouveres and a cocktail, the location is about as enjoyable as possible. (www.bisonhomes.com )
Also sponsoring the event is the Wild West Gazette dedicated to promoting Arizona history, education and tourism. Sharpe as Editor of the publication had little trouble convincing Publisher Sid Hagel to jump onboard. The current November issue of Wild West Gazette boldly depicts the first two lectures in the series. ( www.wildwestgazette.com )
The 3000 Club Food Rescue (www.the3000club.org) was a beneficiary of a third of the evenings receipts. The 3000 Club Food Rescue, with founder Lon Taylor and Ethel Luzario, do incredible work transporting produce that can not make it to market to food banks that would be otherwise sent to landfills. Their program makes a major impact feeding the hungry with high quality nutritious produce. A portion of the proceeds from the SOWA lecture will support their efforts. Taylor took the stage to describe the work they do in these much needed times. He told how they had lost a major sponsor and needed to raise $30,000 to replace that income to keep the project going. “We need 3000 members to donate as little as $100 to make this happen,” Taylor commented. The audience responded with questions of how to join. The website above has an application online. Or call 602-549-1011.
The next lecture will be January 7th and honor Wyatt Earp Grandnephew of the famous lawman. as one of the people who keep the “Spirit of the Old West Alive.” Earp has preserved the family history and performs a one man show. He has traveled the world with his show and certainly is deserving of this honor.
Bison Western Museum is located at 16641 N. 91st St., Scottsdale, AZ (just north of Bell Road) Parking is free and admission is a $15 donation to benefit our selected charities. Doors open at 5PM, Cocktail hour begins at 6pm and the program will begin at 7pm and last until 9pm. (www.spiritoftheoldwestalive.com )
