• 11 AM     Big Spike Henry
• 11:30      Comfortable Shoes
• Noon      Franco-Americana
• 12:30      Someday Soon
• 1 PM       Marta McKim
• 1:30        Sizzle Biscuit
• 2 PM       Jamie
• 2:30        Ashes to Immortality
• 3 PM       Pop & the Boys
• 3:30        Signal Ridge
• 4 PM       Kris Harris
• 4:30        Deadman Flats
• 5 PM       The Boondogglers
• 5:30        Safety First
• 6 PM       The Ready Brothers
• 6:30        Dollars Taxes
• 7 PM       Fiasco Brothers
• 7:30        Simone Du Garfunk
• 8 PM       Blue Root
• 8:30         J. L. Herrmann
• 9 PM       Raleigh
• 9:30         L A Fahy
• 10 PM      Ho’Made Bluegrass Jam
• 10:30       Stillwater Camp
• 11 PM      Tornado Rose
• 11:30        Blue Ribbon Healers
• Midnight   3 Trails West
• 12:30        My Grass Is Blue
• 1 AM         Tragic Prelude
• 1:30          80 Proof Engine
• STAGE CLOSED

It’s Tuesday in the grove and things are gaining momentum .. tomorrow (Wednesday) is sign-up day for Stage 5 .. that happens at around 9 AM.  There is so much fun stuff happening throughout the campgrounds .. the Stillwater Camp tandem bike race, the Rat Camp band scramble, tons of picking, hijynx and and just plain old fun.  At 6 PM the winners from the band scramble will present their winning songs on Stage 5 followed by the fingerstyle guitar pickers hosted by Brian Hinke and then there will be some open stage time.  Then Thursday thru Saturday is nonstop music on Stage 5 which runs from 11 AM each day until  around 2 AM all three days.

We are always willing to try something new here at Stage 5 so we invite you to join us in our living room as we view some fine video entertainment starting at around dusk tonight.  So if you are a bonafide Dapper Dan man you will sure want to be here.

If the Cowley County Fairgrounds are not the center of the universe they should be.  The camaraderie, love and just general “lets all get along and have some fun, make some music, cook, camp, catch up with old friends and make some new ones”, is a lesson that a lot of folks in this crazy world could benefit from.  The fellowship and goodwill that emanates through the pecan trees along the Walnut River is a sign to the world that there is still hope for the human race.  For politicians and terrorists a “Winfieldlike” experience should be mandatory.  I think they have forgotten how to have fun, treat one another and commune with nature.  I know that this subject matter is a little deep but as I perused the headlines this evening for the first time in several days I saw that not much has changed out there beyond the confines of Winfield, Kansas.  People shooting others, heads of state imposing their will on the people, governments warring and disasters of all kinds.  I like the closeness of friends and folks having a great time singing and playing song after song after song.  If these trees could speak the stories they could tell .. of how to live together and and treat each other right and have a little fun along the way.

I told a friend today that the Cowley County Fairgrounds were one of my favorite places on Earth … now you know why.

The landrush is over and we are camped in and this morning we went to pick up the truck (Stage 5).  Even through all of the rumors of Stage 5 being stolen have been greatly exaggerated, including a elicit trip to Tijuana Mexico and thirty illegal Mexicans .. Stage 5 has finally arrived at Winfield!!  Craig and A.J. are giving the old ’54 a fresh coat of wax and buffing it up real “purddy”.  Ya’ll come by and say hi …. as Craig says ….. Yeeeeeee Haaaaaaaw.

Five words I will never forget .. I will never forget that morning in the Pecan Grove … or the days that followed.

I was the only one awake at camp when Bob Dorman came into camp from town and said he had heard something on the radio about the twin towers on fire … we rigged up an old black and white TV with wires connected to the carport awning for better reception.  As others in camp began to awake Dave Stewart came around the corner and said he had a color TV with better reception …  … and the walls came tumblin’ down.

NEVER FORGET 9.11.2001