The folks that make it happen

Back in the early days there were just four people on the Stage 5 crew .. Russell Brace, Sherry Merry, Bob Ennis & Steve Keen.  Through the years we have added crew members to help with the work as it became more and more difficult to make it happen with just the four original members of the crew.  Additionally, due to life changes and circumstances, some of the original crew no longer are able to attend the festivities.  One of our crew members is here because he just wanted to a part of what was happening and was around helping so much that we made him an official crew member.  So the present crew now consists of .. Owners – Russell & Sherry Brace, Craig & Gwen Barber, Bob Dorman, Bill Hoy, Kirby & Dulcie Guinty, Art Charlet, Curt & Dee VanBoening, and Kenny & Christy Chavez.  The assembled crew comes from Kansas, Oklahoma & Texas.  Throughout the years our crew has changed and as situations change we strive to bring on crew members with a heart for the mission of Stage 5 and a heart for acoustic music.  From the beginning we have been blessed with the generous amount of emergency help from folks who camp nearby when we need an extra hand … to all of you (you know who you are) we so appriciate your willingness to help when we call.

Curt, Craig, Kenny, Christy, Bob, Bill, Kirby, Dulcie, Russell, Gwen, Sherry.
Not pictured: Art & Dee

Stage 5 Motel in the Pecan Grove

Stage 5 Motel

After being the “Hopelessly Lost At C” Ship for 20 years, and the Stage 5 Gypsy Wagon for 4 years, for our 25th year we felt the need to change again.  We met and conseptualized and planned and this is what we came up with.  A 50’s style motel look called the Stage 5 Motel.  The idea was that this is what you would see from the parking lot as you pulled in for the night.  Obviously there was a jam going on in Room #5.

So welcome to the Stage 5 Motel pull in for the night and stay awhile.

Building the Stage 5 Motel

Here are a few picks of the building of the Stage 5 Motel.  It was 3 days in the summer of 2011 and the temperature was 100 degrees or higher in the day and around 85 degrees at night.  Building the lighting for the sign and painting the fence took place 2 weeks later it was still over 100 degrees in the day …  but the paint dried fast.

 


In the Beginning….

My wife Sherry and I own Stage 5.  Stage 5 is a 1954 Chevrolet 1 1/2 ton flatbed farm truck.  We have owned it for 25 years as of this writing.  We are the 3rd owners of the truck the original owner was George Lawless a farmer from the Belle Plaine, Kansas area.  The 2nd owner was our friend Jim Nix who sold us the truck in the winter of 1986, we bought it for $800.  The truck was my only transportation so naturally I drove it to the Walnut Valley Festival in Sept of ’87 and during that week in Winfield, Kansas Stage 5 was conceived and built for the 1st time … and so there it began.  In September of 2011 with our faithful, hard working crew and the entire musical gathering at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas we celebrated 25 years of Stage 5.