Buffalo Commons 2015 -- Stories plentiful about newspaper's founder

A McCook man who pioneered the art of storytelling in Southwest Nebraska will be the subject of the free Saturday events in conjunction with the 2015 Buffalo Commons Storytelling Festival June 12-13 in McCook.

Stories about Harry Strunk -- who became a McCook newspaper publisher as a teenager -- will kick off the free Saturday activities June 13 at the High Plains Museum in McCook starting at 9 a.m.

The Rev. Dr. Charles A. Peek, has assembled a collection of anecdotes about Harry Strunk from local residents who knew the "Boy Editor" including: Art Herman, Dick Merrill and Gwen McKensie. The panel will also feature long-time McCook Daily Gazette Publisher Gene O. Morris.

In addition to these stories, members of the audience are encouraged to recall their own stories of Strunk.

When Harry Strunk was 14 he was forced by family financial crisis to quit school and take a job as a "Printer's Devil" for the Pawnee City Republican, and later to the newspaper in Fairbury. When he was 16, he returned to the Pawnee City Republican to fill in for the editor who had become ill and became known as "Boy Editor."

Strunk was on his way to find his fortune in California when he answered an advertisement at the McCook Tribune saying they needed a printer, which he performed for nine months, until he and a fellow workman left to start their own job printing shop and six months later launched a new, semi-weekly paper, the Red Willow County Gazette. In 1911, overwhelmed by the heavy debt the two faced, Harry Strunk's partner killed himself on the morning of the second edition of the paper -- leaving responsibility for the entire debt and the future of the Gazette squarely on the shoulders of teenager, Harry Strunk.

In 1924, Strunk turned the McCook Gazette into a daily newspaper as McCook became the smallest city in Nebraska to be able to boast a daily paper. In 1929 he gained national attention for the area when he bought a high-winged Curtiss Robin monoplane "Newsboy," to deliver the daily Gazette across a 389-mile route, to 46 communities in Southwest Nebraska and Northwest Kansas. His promotional efforts drew governors from three states to join a crowd of 20,000 people in McCook, to witness the historic event.

Peek who has a fascination with Strunk's life said of his own life that he has "had a brush with three careers: university teacher of English (composition and composition theory, American Literature, Bible as Literature, History of the English Language), active priest in the Episcopal Church, and aspiring essayist/blogger-to-be/poet/public humanities raconteur.

He was named a Fulbright Senior Lecturer and Senior Specialist, being awarded the Mildred Bennett Award by the Nebraska Center for the Book, winning both the Leland Holt Award for Excellence and the Pratt-Heins Excellence in Teaching Award, and enjoying a life-long relationship with many former students.

He published A William Faulkner Encyclopedia and Companion to Faulkner Studies and numerous articles, as well as being an invited speaker at international conferences in the United States, France, Italy, Spain, Canada, and China. He is a past president of the Cather Foundation.

Following the stories about Harry Strunk, the Republican River Hoot turns the spotlight on folk music featuring two-time Grammy award-winning musician Bill Harley as well as folk-rock duo Michael Merenda and Ruthy Ungar.

The festival starts Friday, June 12 with two events co-sponsored by McCook Community College: a "History's Mysteries" bus trip to the former Indianola WW II Prisoner of War Camp, and a campus performance workshop on how to research, write, produce and perform stories for the public, combining complementary arts for effect, story, music, poetry, and film.

To encourage the art of storytelling between generations, McCook City Library and the McCook Library Foundation will co-sponsor and host a free KidsFest from 1:30-3 p.m. at the library for younger tellers and a workshop for those wanting to use storytelling for teaching and connecting to young people.

Tickets for Friday Night's 6:30 p.m. Dinner Cabaret featuring Bill Harley, Chuck Peek, and the Mike + Ruthy Folk-Rock Duo are available at Sehnert's Bakery or by calling 308-345-6500. Tickets must be purchased in advance. Price is $40 for dinner and show.

Following Saturday morning's free events at the High Plains Museum other events on the schedule include:

12:30 p.m. -- Bieroc Café Open Mic. Walt Sehnert, Author of "Faces of McCook,"

1:30 p.m. -- McCook City Library. "Peanut Butter Theater" Kidsfest with food, stories and activities, featuring storyteller Bill Harley.

1:30 p.m. -- Bieroc Café. Grand Slam -- Poetry in partnership with area English and speech teachers. Refereed by Nebraska Poet Chuck Peek.

3 p.m. -- Nebraska State Historical Society's Norris House -- garden setting gathering with Senator George W. Norris and his wife Ellie, portrayed by Clark and Dawna Bates.

Tickets for Saturday's "Grand Finale" at the Historic Fox Theatre can be purchased online at www.buffalocommons.org or from McCook Chamber of Commerce, Sehnert's Bakery, McCook National Bank, Hershberger Music and at the door if tickets are still available.

For a complete listing of all the events associated with the 2015 Buffalo Commons Storytelling Festival visit: http://buffalocommons.org